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Alternate cryptocurrencies => Mining (Altcoins) => Topic started by: adaseb on February 02, 2019, 09:09:18 PM



Title: Best way to test out GPUs prior to sale?
Post by: adaseb on February 02, 2019, 09:09:18 PM
I got loads of GPUs ranging from the old Radeon 6xxx series all the way up to the RX 570 series.

I am probably done with mining... and want to liquidate all these GPUs.

I want to know what the best way to sell them would be. I've actually never gamed with them and have no idea if they will even work for gaming.

Is there some software you can run to test out the GPUs like Furmark. Reading some reviews it seems that Furmark just stresses the GPU compute but doesn't really stress the memory and doesn't do a proper test. Running something like 3dmark (if it still exists) only tests the GPU for 5 minutes or so.

Is there any demo game you can download and just run the demo for like 1 hour to find out if it actually works properly?

Want to know what the fastest and least stress free way would be since I am sure 90% of these GPUs are fine but since I am selling to gamers I want to make sure they can play games properly. They all mine fine.


Title: Re: Best way to test out GPUs prior to sale?
Post by: Lunga Chung on February 02, 2019, 09:39:25 PM
Think mining in general is more stressful then gaming, by that analogy it should game just fine just revert them to original BIOS, also check fans...gamers should be fine


Title: Re: Best way to test out GPUs prior to sale?
Post by: Raja_MBZ on February 02, 2019, 11:53:01 PM
Most of the gamers only test the GPU through Furmark while buying, and if your cards are passing the stress test of Furmark, I think you're good to go. However, if you can somehow test the "GTA V (five)" (yes, the newer version of same old Grand Theft Auto) with highest possible resolution (of the game) in your system, it'll be the real test for your GPUs (especially of the cards till RX 200 series) in every possible way (stress, temperature, memory, etc). Play it for an hour, run to the Vespucci Beach (in the game of course), and see if everything's fine there. ;D


Title: Re: Best way to test out GPUs prior to sale?
Post by: FFI2013 on February 03, 2019, 12:39:28 AM
Most of the gamers only test the GPU through Furmark while buying, and if your cards are passing the stress test of Furmark, I think you're good to go. However, if you can somehow test the "GTA V (five)" (yes, the newer version of same old Grand Theft Auto) with highest possible resolution (of the game) in your system, it'll be the real test for your GPUs (especially of the cards till RX 200 series) in every possible way (stress, temperature, memory, etc). Play it for an hour, run to the Vespucci Beach (in the game of course), and see if everything's fine there. ;D
Are any of those 570's 8gb just asking because I'm willing to take a few off your hands in a couple of weeks if you still have them I'd grab them now but have to wrap up these jobs I'm on now first. If interested in selling a clip of 6 at a good price I'd do that to


Title: Re: Best way to test out GPUs prior to sale?
Post by: MATHReX on February 03, 2019, 01:46:33 PM
This is my methodology to test GPUs before selling them off.
I usually check the fans first to see if there is any mechanical issue with them by running the fans at 100% for half an hour.
If that goes well, I start with cleaning the GPU by removing the dust with compressed air, then changing the thermal paste. ( The goal is to make it look as new as possible)
Next is to run various benchmarks with HWinfo running in the background to check for high temps, Comparing the score with the identical GPU.
(Benchmarks like Firestrike, Timespy in 3DMark and Uni-engine)
At last, box it up and sale!


Title: Re: Best way to test out GPUs prior to sale?
Post by: Number6 on February 03, 2019, 04:10:53 PM
Most of the gamers only test the GPU through Furmark while buying, and if your cards are passing the stress test of Furmark, I think you're good to go. However, if you can somehow test the "GTA V (five)" (yes, the newer version of same old Grand Theft Auto) with highest possible resolution (of the game) in your system, it'll be the real test for your GPUs (especially of the cards till RX 200 series) in every possible way (stress, temperature, memory, etc). Play it for an hour, run to the Vespucci Beach (in the game of course), and see if everything's fine there. ;D

This is the process I usually follow as well before selling a used GPU. There are several "gaming" benchmarks out here, I usually use 3DMark, but any that stress the GPU are good. I usually flash BIOS back to original and fire up a benchmark and if it passes the highest test relevant of the GPUs capability I considered it stable. Some benchmarks allow multiple passes, I sometimes will run through 3 loops if I have any doubts, but even one should expose any flaws.

Also make sure you give the cards a once over with a vacuum or air duster to remove excess dirt/dust and check the function of fans as other have suggested.

I also usually state right in the listing that I verified functionality with 3 runs of Firestrike (or whatever benchmark you use) to help minimize the it didn't work type of buyer. I have had a few have buyers remorse cases and after explaining the process I go through to check each GPU for full functionality before shipping they usually reconsider their request.


Title: Re: Best way to test out GPUs prior to sale?
Post by: adaseb on February 04, 2019, 05:54:00 AM
Most of the gamers only test the GPU through Furmark while buying, and if your cards are passing the stress test of Furmark, I think you're good to go. However, if you can somehow test the "GTA V (five)" (yes, the newer version of same old Grand Theft Auto) with highest possible resolution (of the game) in your system, it'll be the real test for your GPUs (especially of the cards till RX 200 series) in every possible way (stress, temperature, memory, etc). Play it for an hour, run to the Vespucci Beach (in the game of course), and see if everything's fine there. ;D

This is the process I usually follow as well before selling a used GPU. There are several "gaming" benchmarks out here, I usually use 3DMark, but any that stress the GPU are good. I usually flash BIOS back to original and fire up a benchmark and if it passes the highest test relevant of the GPUs capability I considered it stable. Some benchmarks allow multiple passes, I sometimes will run through 3 loops if I have any doubts, but even one should expose any flaws.

Also make sure you give the cards a once over with a vacuum or air duster to remove excess dirt/dust and check the function of fans as other have suggested.

I also usually state right in the listing that I verified functionality with 3 runs of Firestrike (or whatever benchmark you use) to help minimize the it didn't work type of buyer. I have had a few have buyers remorse cases and after explaining the process I go through to check each GPU for full functionality before shipping they usually reconsider their request.

The highest grade of CPU I have is an i3 processor. It seems the type of CPU affects your score on 3dmark. So if I have a crappy CPU, does it mean it won't test the GPU to its limit and it might seem fine for me but for someone with an i7 which takes the GPU to its limit, it might have issues?

I'll try the Firestrike since there is a demo version I can download. The GTA 5 would be good but since I am never going to play the game, I rather not spend any money buying it.

Does the Firestrike stress the GPU enough to cause artifacts or do you need an actual game to detect artifacts?


Title: Re: Best way to test out GPUs prior to sale?
Post by: yobigd20 on February 05, 2019, 09:00:28 PM
Think mining in general is more stressful then gaming, by that analogy it should game just fine just revert them to original BIOS, also check fans...gamers should be fine

complete opposite.  miners tend to undervolt and underclock, not using full potential of card.  gamers damage gpus by overvolt and overclocking stressing all the components.  if theres a gpu that's more likely to fail, it will be one used by a gamer, not a miner.   thats why I love buying gpus used for mining, they've never really been stressed very hard.


Title: Re: Best way to test out GPUs prior to sale?
Post by: adaseb on February 06, 2019, 06:53:33 AM
Think mining in general is more stressful then gaming, by that analogy it should game just fine just revert them to original BIOS, also check fans...gamers should be fine

complete opposite.  miners tend to undervolt and underclock, not using full potential of card.  gamers damage gpus by overvolt and overclocking stressing all the components.  if theres a gpu that's more likely to fail, it will be one used by a gamer, not a miner.   thats why I love buying gpus used for mining, they've never really been stressed very hard.

I think this depends. Most of the RX gpus were undervolted and they used slightly less than 150 Watts or so.

However back in the Litecoin days most GPUs pulled like 300 Watts or so and were closely kept together since USB risers werent out back then and space was an issue especially with 5+ GPU rigs.

What I found is that most normal gaming never uses 100% GPU usage, so even if the card is overclocked/overvolted it never runs at full capacity anyways. The issue with most gamers is that they have bad cooling because it inside a computer case which is closed and case fans are usually slow and quiet. And if a gamer decides to SLI the rig, its even more strain on the card.



Title: Re: Best way to test out GPUs prior to sale?
Post by: _javier_ on February 06, 2019, 02:40:30 PM
I am considering selling my stack of 7950/280x too.

Most damage was suffered by fans. In many cases, i had to swap fans to aftermarket fans (frankestein style).

I´m still doubting about replacing them with "proper" fans from Aliexpress, prior to sell.


Title: Re: Best way to test out GPUs prior to sale?
Post by: fanatic26_ on February 06, 2019, 05:17:31 PM
I am impressed you guys take so much care before selling a used GPU. I figured people would just blow em off with some air and sell em to the first person that asks.

This community needs more people that care like that.


Title: Re: Best way to test out GPUs prior to sale?
Post by: yobigd20 on February 06, 2019, 09:15:11 PM
I never sell gpu with broken fans. I always order from either amazon if I can find it (but it’s usually 3x of cost of aliexpress) or from aliexpress.  Last thing I need is someone dinging my seller rating over faulty fans. Doesn’t even matter if you list it blasting broken fan all over the title condition and body, buyers never read it and will open a case against you and you will lose unless you listed it “for parts or repair” regardless of whatever you put in the description.


Title: Re: Best way to test out GPUs prior to sale?
Post by: SirVicent on February 10, 2019, 03:14:26 AM
Think mining in general is more stressful then gaming, by that analogy it should game just fine just revert them to original BIOS, also check fans...gamers should be fine

complete opposite.  miners tend to undervolt and underclock, not using full potential of card.  gamers damage gpus by overvolt and overclocking stressing all the components.  if theres a gpu that's more likely to fail, it will be one used by a gamer, not a miner.   thats why I love buying gpus used for mining, they've never really been stressed very hard.

+1 the most of actually games get more stress to the card than any miner software, although it is true that mining usually implies more hours of effective use...the eternal dilema

Sincerily I think that the method is pass an stress test check the fans and change the thermal paste, but you can download a free game like Fortnite and try with the auto config for video.