A player reports that he obtained his Nvidia RTX 3090 for under 10 euros. His former employer did not realize at the time what the graphics card was really worth.
A user reports that he has had an Nvidia RTX 3090 in his computer for 2 years. The RTX 3090 was considered the fastest graphics card back then and is still regarded as a very good high-end model if you can still find it used. The MSRP of the graphics card was adjusted after some price changes to 1,999 euros.
However, the user explained that he only paid 10 euros for his RTX 3090 because his employer did not know what the graphics card was actually worth at the time.
Player salvages usable RTX 3090 from 1.5 tons of graphics cards that actually works
The player reports: The user stated on Reddit that he would be working in the “tech recycling” sector. At his employer’s place was a huge box with 1,500 kg of old RTX 3000 series graphics cards that were to be dismantled.
The user learned about this from a colleague and decided to acquire some models. The trick in the operation to pay only a few euros: The managers in the company did not know the true value of the cards and sold them to him for just scrap value:
Since it is electronic waste and my managers are not very technically inclined, they sold us the parts for the raw material value, which was only 10 dollars.
I bought an RTX 3080 TI that looked in perfect condition, but it couldn’t connect, so I tried it with this slightly battered RTX 3090 – aside from a broken fan and a slightly bent cover, it started immediately and has been my main GPU for 2 years now.My colleague also got a 3070 TI, but it had a line on the display. In the end, he returned it via RMA and got a fully functional 3070 TI for $30.
Unfortunately, according to the user, the upper management caught on at some point and ended the resale of the graphics cards from recycling. He himself stated that he made some good finds during that time:
Unfortunately, upper management found out and no longer sold us cheap parts, but I got some good deals while I was there.
Since his employer found out that you can take very good hardware for little money, the user claims that working there is no longer worth it.
What else did he receive at a low price?
- Sennheiser HD 598s for 10 US dollars
- Meta Quest 2 for 10 US dollars
- Samsung 980 Pro 2 TB for 20 US dollars
- Nintendo Switch for 10 US dollars
- ASUS TUF laptop with RTX 3050 Ti for about 200 US dollars
- Xbox Series X controller,
- Samsung curved monitor (3440×1440) with 100 Hz for 50 US dollars.
In another post on Reddit, he added that there was of course a certain risk involved with each of the offers. Because you couldn’t test the items at work:
We couldn’t test them at work, so we always took a risk. But most of the time, it worked out.
Another player upgraded his gaming PC and stated that he purchased an RTX 3090 Ti for 1,600 euros to skip the 4000 series. Now he wants to upgrade his computer again with the 5000 series. But after a month, he wants to return his RTX 5090. Because he is not really satisfied: Gamer buys a graphics card for 2,600 euros, already draws a disappointed conclusion after 1 month
