Miners are currently trying by all means to get rid of their used graphics cards. Because “GPU mining is dead” and many are trying at least to limit their losses. In doing so, they also resort to unfair means.
Our lead image in the article is a symbolic image.
Why are miners selling their graphics cards? At the end of 2022, there was a major change in Ethereum, one of the most important cryptocurrencies. Simply put, powerful graphics cards now play only a minor role in cryptocurrency mining. Or as a well-known miner already tweeted: “GPU mining is dead” (via twitter.com).
For this reason, miners are now selling their graphics cards more or less “desperately” (via pcgamer.com). It even goes so far that miners repaint their graphics cards or otherwise “refurbish” them to then offer them as “new”. Knowing that the graphics cards are definitely not new anymore.
Graphics cards are allegedly being painted and sold as “new,” even though they are not new
Where does the information come from? An investigation by YouTubers Iskandar Souza and Paulo Gomes claims that some third-party sellers in China are selling GPUs that seem to be new but have been refurbished. In this way, they want to hide the fact that they have been used for crypto mining.
We have embedded the video of YouTuber Iskandar Souza here. You can also clearly see the color differences. The video particularly features RTX graphics cards from Nvidia.
The YouTube channel TechLab had also already pointed out these issues (via YouTube.com). Here, some graphics cards had a different color than GPUs from other sellers, which puzzled the testers.
Thanks to extensive information, they were able to quickly confirm that the Brazilian company was selling old mining cards to unsuspecting customers.
How can you recognize such a graphics card? The YouTubers provide a few tips. Pay attention to the coloring of the memory on a graphics card. If the graphics card has been used for a long time, the memory turns yellow. The YouTuber explains that the memory on new cards is black and then slowly changes color.
To hide this, some miners now go and dye the graphics card black – this way, they can conceal the yellowish tone of the memory. However, there are also other signs of a used graphics card:
- missing or discolored warranty stickers.
- missing or loose screws.
- discoloration on the chip or memory of the graphics card.
Resoldering memory onto a new board is a common practice in the repair and refurbishment of graphics cards. In this case, the product is often labeled as “refurbished” and not as “new” when sold in retail.
Because in Germany, used items must also be declared as used. Products like graphics cards are only considered new if they have not been used, installed, and made from new materials.
More about mining: It is not the first time that miners bring their old graphics cards to the market. While such cheap graphics cards may initially sound tempting, you should still be careful about what kind of graphics card you ultimately buy:
