The shocking tactics crypto miners use to sell ruined graphics cards and how to spot them

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A disturbing new trend has been discovered that reveals the extreme lengths that crypto miners will sell graphics cards or their components that have been used for mining.

Modified memory modules and discolored components are freebies that a graphics card has struggled to… [+] life

Iskandar Souza / Paulo Gomes

YouTuber Iskandar Souza and computer technician Paulo Gomes have discovered extreme ways to modify graphics cards so that they fetch higher prices or even be sold as new. Underneath, this hardware has endured a tough life in extreme temperatures during long periods of cryptocurrency mining – not exactly what you’d expect from a new graphics card.

In a recent video (via Videocardz), the pair investigated hardware purchased at below-average prices from Chinese outlets available online. What they found were discolored GPU cores and memory modules – a yellowish tint being a sign that these components had been running at very high temperatures for long periods of time.

Discoloration is an obvious symptom of well-used components that are anything but new.

ISKANDAR SOUZA / PAULO GOMES

Surprisingly, the memory modules, which are often under considerable load while mining, have been painted to make them look newer while others appear to have manufacturing dates obscured. This could indicate that memory chips from old cards used for mining are being transplanted to new graphics cards.

Memory modules have been discovered with paint obscuring text that usually indicates the manufacturer… [+] and date.

ISKANDAR SOUZA / PAULO GOMES

Two years ago you would have had a hard time buying new graphics card models and the available ones demanded huge premiums. The reason? In part, crypto miners were scraping cards to mine coins such as Ethereum. Now that the mining craze is over, these cards and their components are hitting auction sites in droves because cryptocurrencies such as Ethereum are no longer mineable or simply not profitable.

These graphics cards may work out of the box, but the components may not have a particularly long lifespan and may even have stability issues under high loads such as heavy gaming or content creation.

The best way to avoid falling victim is to buy from reputable retailers and avoid anything that seems too good to be true. It’s easy to say given the price of graphics cards in recent years, but if you’re spending your hard-earned money on a graphics card, spending a little extra to make sure what you’re getting is new is good advice.

The problem is, if you’re buying a new graphics card, removing the cooler to see the memory chips and core will likely void your warranty. There are other tricks you can use to check your graphics card, however, such as looking for scratches on the screws that hold it together and missing warranty stickers – sure signs that it’s been taken apart.

Avoiding older models is also a good idea – an AMD RX 7000-series card or an Nvidia 4000-series model will have been made recently and are less likely to have gotten mixed up in the sleazy world of post-crypto-mining graphics card sales. .

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