With the end of mining and an influx of people selling their graphics cards, Nvidia and AMD have unveiled a new generation today. But miners are still finding ways to make their second-hand graphics cards more attractive to buyers; two Youtube channels from Brazil recently reported that some miners even go as far as painting them to hide signs of use.
Second-Hand Dealers Hide Mining Traces on Graphics Cards
Crypto money mining has become increasingly popular, especially during the Covid-19 period, which caused significant supply issues for AMD RX 5000 and Nvidia RTX 30 series graphics cards. Fortunately, Ethereum’s recent switch to a Proof-of-Stake model is helping ease the strain of this market demand – providing some much-needed relief!
While it is difficult to say that cryptocurrency mining always has a negative outcome, prolonged and intensive usage of video cards may lead to their memory chips developing an undesired yellow tone. Iskandar Souza and TecLab concluded that miners often apply paint on these second-hand graphics cards in order to conceal any existing damage when selling used cards.
Second-Hand Buyers Should Be Careful
Heavy use during the mining process and repair procedures leave many traces on the graphics card. If you observe discoloration or scratches around the GPU, it could be a sign that this particular card has been used heavily.
Though a yellow tint on video card components isn’t always indicative of an issue, miners have been increasingly devising ways to get rid of their used and repaired graphics cards. Therefore, if you’re in the market for a second-hand graphics card, be sure to conduct due diligence during your inspection process. Otherwise, you risk buying something that might not meet expectations or is faulty altogether!