Is it possible to buy a second-hand graphics card, how to test it?

Graphics cards are a big problem especially nowadays. In addition to the need for a quality video card to play current games with good performance, the increase in the price of video cards at an equivalent rate makes things very difficult. Even the prices of graphics cards that can show an average performance at an affordable price under the name of ‘price performance’ have become astonishing.

As such, the trend towards second-hand graphics cards has increased considerably compared to the old times. But there are some disadvantages as well as the advantages of buying a second hand graphics card. Especially since it is almost impossible to superficially understand whether there is a problem with the video cards, it may be too late when you buy a broken or problematic second-hand video card. So, what should be considered in order not to encounter such problems when deciding to buy a second-hand graphics card? We give the answer below.

Is it possible to buy a second hand graphics card? Advantages and disadvantages:

Advantages:

The price is quite cheap compared to new graphics cards

Of course, the biggest plus in your hand The fact that a second-hand video card is very cheap compared to a video card you will buy new. Although the biggest situation that makes this happen is that the graphics card is already used, this does not change the truth. If you have a good research spirit, you may be able to find a used graphics card for less than half the price.

Your chance to upgrade your card for less

Another advantage you have is that you will have a much better graphics card than the one you have. Also cheaper. Especially if you haven’t bought a video card for a long time and you have decided to make a change after years, the difference will be obvious. Although it may sound like a fairy tale, with good enough research and testing, buying a second-hand graphics card can become a more profitable business than you think.

Disadvantages:

No warranty

One of the problems we may encounter while buying a second hand graphics card is the warranty problem. Especially if the graphics card you bought is a little old, there is no such thing as a warranty. Of course, in this case, if something happens to the video card, it means that it may explode in your hand. Of course, there is a possibility that you will come across people who want to dispose of a newly purchased graphics card in certain situations, but we can say that this situation is a bit of your luck.

Not knowing the person you bought the graphics card from

If you are shopping through e-commerce sites, one of the biggest problems you may encounter is that you don’t know the person you bought it from. This is no exception when buying a graphics card. The fact that you do not know the person you bought it from can cause big problems in terms of reliability. Especially if you are buying an important part such as a video card, you can rethink 2-3 or even 4 times. Of course, even though this reliability is much higher when you shop from hand to hand compared to internet sites, it will not upset you to sit down and think about this issue again.

You don’t know how the previous owner used it

Another big problem is how the previous owner used the graphics card you want to buy. Graphics cards are not a part that you can easily wear physically. Since the piece is in the safe, you don’t have much interaction. However, if the previous owner used it by overclocking and raising the temperature of the video card and providing a performance increase, this can cause the video card to wear out much faster than it should and to decrease the performance. In addition, you need to make sure that the video card you want to buy is not mined. Not every video card is suitable for mining, but still, if the previous owner did something brave and tried, it would be useful to stay away from that video card.

It is difficult to be 100% sure whether it is working before purchasing

This is a situation that can often happen when shopping on e-commerce sites. Although there is a return option on such sites, buying a non-working video card and then dealing with a refund will be enough to lower the mood of any person. Although it is a little difficult to control this situation in internet shopping, it is very difficult to experience such a problem in traditional hand-to-hand shopping. As a result, since you will have a chance to test it by hand, it is not possible for the seller to sell a broken video card to your face.

What should be considered when buying a second hand graphics card?

• If you are buying from the e-commerce site, make sure that there is a refund.
• Make sure you get a graphics card that meets your requirements.
• Consider hand-to-hand transactions more.

If you are buying from the e-commerce site, make sure that there is a refund

We wouldn’t be lying if we say that the return is your best friend in such risky purchases. Although many reliable e-commerce sites provide return options today, make sure that the product you want to buy has a return option. It can be very upsetting that there is no return option when you encounter a potential problem after receiving the product.

Make sure you buy a graphics card that meets your needs

It is very important to get a graphics card that fits your needs. As a result, it may mean wasting your money to spend money on a graphics card that came out 5 generations ago due to its low price and is in very mediocre performance in terms of performance. Of course, although the situation here is directly proportional to the wishes of the person who wants to buy, it is useful to research the technical information of the video card you want to buy, since the purpose of a new graphics card in general is to go one step further in terms of performance.

Consider hand-to-hand shopping more

Although e-commerce sites make their difference in ease of use, traditional hand-to-hand shopping is generally safer it can happen. As a result, the number of video cards you can buy from hand is quite low compared to the e-commerce site. However, if possible, consider the traditional shopping method, as it may be a case of hand-to-hand purchases such as testing before giving the money.

How to test used video card?

If you intend to buy or have bought a second hand graphics card, the first thing you should do is to test the graphics card. Although it is possible to perform a performance test in many games through benchmarks, the test we are talking about here is a test of how healthy the graphics card is. In this case, we can say that FurMark and GPU-Z are the two most suitable programs for this situation. FurMark pushes the graphics card’s limits and measures how the graphics card performs and temperature values ​​in this forced condition. GPU-Z, on the other hand, simply displays the technical information of the video card and allows you to examine it.