← Back to context

Comment by microtherion

15 hours ago

My understanding is that refurbished GPUs from e.g. crypto mining are something people are warned away from, because they've often been run into the ground. Are AI usage practices different?

It was considered a fear but I don't know if there is much truth to it. The fans and capacitors would give out long before the silicon.

Even if it say, halved the life span of the chips, that is still far longer than what most people would ever use them for.

> My understanding is that refurbished GPUs from e.g. crypto mining are something people are warned away from, because they've often been run into the ground.

No, this wasn't the case. While there were never comprehensive studies various tech media purchased these cards to run testing and found that, other than scammers, they all performed to expectation.

  • You can buy used car tires with 1% of thread left and they'll perform amazingly during your one time test too

    • Car tire is a moving part that wears in use. Only moving parts a GPU has are its fans, which can be replaced. The rest may last really long, or fail brand new.

      2 replies →