TechSpot's Annual Guide to Buying a Used Graphics Card
- Thread starter Steve
- Start date
I bought my gtx 1080 ti (used), paid about 350-400$ a year ago for 1440p 100-140 fps. RTX is a lie, so no better choice still exists, 2080 ti is only 25%-35% more fps(no rtx/dxr), but +100% (or more) price - no reason to upgrade. 1080 ti is 3 (!) years old model and is still so strong, no upgrade makes sense in 2020 - shame on nGreedia 
Last edited:
Beerfloat
Posts: 848 +1,573
It's not my, (C) is HardOCP - and their statement still mostly holds as of 04/2020. I find no major "RTX on" releases that could make me buy 2080ti (for RTX feature alone) right now. Maybe later when smth more exciting is out, if we get it in near future. Or ... if the price of 2080ti is no more than 600-700$
defaultname365
Posts: 34 +23
1080 Ti user here... bought a used one during the mining craze year of 2018 and when the 20-series was about to launch. The seller claims it is not a mining card (used for video editing purposes apparently), and came with the box and all (it is an EVGA 1080 Ti FTW3). I bought it for $450! Still working great in 2020... will only upgrade to RTX with the 30-series.
We'll see if 30-series is strong enough to replace 1080 ti: if >= 2X FPS(no RTX) upgrade then it's OK. For 1440p this may even be too much sometimes, but for 4K could get 90-100 fps.
Does anyone do the same type of review for pro video editing, or is that anathema in gaming circles? We do get a lot of guidance via gaming websites etc, for instance when buying laptops for heavy duty live streaming.
hahahanoobs
Posts: 5,225 +3,076
Thank you. Can you point me to a link that best shows this with older cards?
And if older Nvidia cards are that bad with DX12, why avoid showing it? You could have done 3 game average with DX12 and 3 game average with DX11. It's a little confusing when the article just says "Nvidia bad" so we'll move the goal posts for them, and we won't show you why. I would have shown both with disclaimer included just for education purposes if anything.
Last edited:
Nobina
Posts: 4,506 +5,516
Bought many things used, last GPU also and it's still perfect. Buying used isn't easy and it's for experienced buyers but you gotta take your time to make sure you get the best deal. I know some people who will just buy whatever is cheapest but there are a lot of shady sellers there. It's best to look for someone with good reviews and make sure you ask anything you think might be important. It's also good to give the person a call, texting is the easiest way to get scammed. When I decide I'm gonna buy something used I usually don't get it done the same day. It's best to shortlist a few deals you think are good and then go from there. Usually, ads with the best description that's not just copy/paste from items page are better than the ones where it just says "a video card" with no pics or pics downloaded from the internet.
It's not really an 'and if' type situation, it's well known at this point that AMD's 5th gen GCN architecture has better low level API support than Pascal (not Turning). It's why Nvidia got the developers of Ashes of the Singularity to dial back the games use of async compute all those years ago.
As a more recent example you can see Vega 56 dominating the GTX 1070 in titles such as Red Dead Redemption 2, World War Z, Rainbow Six Siege (using Vulkan), Resident Evil 2 (using DX12), Control, Metro Exodus, Borderlands 3, Sniper Elite 4, Strange Brigade, Battlefield V (DX12) and so on.
The moving of the 'goal posts' as you put it is simple. Here I've tested an insane 80 GPU configurations in 3 games. So obviously testing a wide range of scenarios just isn't possible. In a lot of the games just mentioned you can still use DX11 and here the Pascal and older GPUs do well. But rather than mix APIs, test AMD with DX12 and some Nvidia GPUs with DX11, I compared them all using the same API.
In reality AMD will fair a little better overall (in some modern triple A titles) than what's shown in this guide, but that also assumes you don't play popular titles such as Fortnite, GS:GO and GTAV for example. So I think if we take a picture of the entire gaming market, the results shown here are quite fair and cover a wide range of scenarios.
hahahanoobs
Posts: 5,225 +3,076
So basically don't buy Nvidia if you play DX12 and Vulkan titles. Got it.
Don't know what the point of this test was even for now if you removed two of the newest API's out there with one of them being used in the large majority of the games you test regularly.
I just don't see how this test is complete for used card buyers.
Last edited:
Use DX11 when it's an option (which it is for most titles still). Most people buying older graphics cards aren't looking to play all the latest and greatest titles with advanced API's and max quality settings. Most are interested in playing the popular titles I mentioned, or enjoying modern titles with dialed down quality settings.
As I said, the margins here are what you'll typically see across a widespread of games, so it serves well as a guide. Testing with DOOM Eternal, Red Dead Redemption 2 and Control for example would make this a latest and greatest triple A title guide and that's it. Not super useful for some one buying a graphics card for $50.
"I just don't see how this test is complete for used card buyers."
I invite you to create a more complete used graphics card guide. I'm sure you can take some time out from your busy 'fight with everyone on tech forums job' and get it done
Last edited:
I'd highly recommend the Sapphire Nitro R9 380x 4Gb. I have been able to do iRacing in 1080p & "class 2" iRacing graphics settings, with a couple of extra tweaks like heat haze turned on & the framerate unlocked. It runs at a Consistent 120-300fps except when stationary when it drops to 85.
When considering a possible swap deal of a gtx980ti 4Gb & other parts not relevant here, I put the GTX980ti in to test it and it didn't even come close to the R9 380x performance, & I spent 2 days getting the maximum out of it possible! Bottom line is AMD have long been underrated,and another one of the things that sets AMD apart from as Intel, is that it is much more forgiving when OC'ing. Not bulletproof, but better.
But-no matter what you do with a gpu, the processor & RAM has to be good enough or all you'll do is create Red Screen freezes from bottlenecks and have to turn down your gpu & graphics settings , negating the point of getting it in the first place, you might as well have got an Nvidia GT610 or R7 2XX.
When considering a possible swap deal of a gtx980ti 4Gb & other parts not relevant here, I put the GTX980ti in to test it and it didn't even come close to the R9 380x performance, & I spent 2 days getting the maximum out of it possible! Bottom line is AMD have long been underrated,and another one of the things that sets AMD apart from as Intel, is that it is much more forgiving when OC'ing. Not bulletproof, but better.
But-no matter what you do with a gpu, the processor & RAM has to be good enough or all you'll do is create Red Screen freezes from bottlenecks and have to turn down your gpu & graphics settings , negating the point of getting it in the first place, you might as well have got an Nvidia GT610 or R7 2XX.
A good point about Miners. I would also like to know which cards would be best for mining, as I would be willing to take the risk at the right price & spec.
And finally we get to the point that some people are missing.
If you're rocking a very old GPU and have only enough money to upgrade to a used previous-gen GPU, you're not looking to spend $40-60 each on a bunch of today's AAA titles. Because you could jettison a single one of those and get a much better GPU.
Instead you're looking for good deals on older AAA games for less than $10 on sale like Rise of the Tomb Raider and The Witcher 3. The overwhelming number of these games run DX11 though there's DOOM with Vulkan. DX11 is where most people will be playing older games on previous gen GFX cards
Neatfeatguy
Posts: 1,624 +3,056
I don't think I've ever bought an amd vga card yet and I've been building my PC's for more than 20 years now
My current PC has an evga gtx 980 and I'm probably going to hand it over to my kids.
Should I just buy another 980 and any other card for the older PC or just buy a new card?
SLI was great back in the day. I ran SLI setups from 7600 GT up to my 980Ti - though my 980Ti cards didn't fit as well as I hoped (AMP! Omega), the top card was hugging the bottom and would choke from lack of air flow. So I moved the second card to another PC the kids can use for gaming from time to time.....
Seeing as how DX12 is pushing the envelope of development for gaming, the developers must code into the game the use of multi GPUs. If they don't, multiple GPU configurations are worthless. DX11 and under games can utilize SLI/Crossfire if the drivers are built to provide support.
SLI is kind of a thing of the past and is getting less and less love from developers, not to mention that Nvidia has been slowly fading it out since the 10xx series launched.
SLI, when it's supported properly can provide up to almost 100% scalability, but that's rare. Usually you'll see 40-90% boost in FPS.
SLI Pros:
* 2 high end older gen cards can give great performance to match and even out perform a current higher end card (depending on the game and SLI support it has).
* can save you money if you find a great deal on a second card
SLI Cons:
* extra power draw. Adding a second 980 could mean upwards of an extra 180W required. You may need a better PSU.
* extra heat. You now have two cards pushing out hot air. If you don't have proper spacing between the cards the top will run hot and throttle.
* Support is lacking. Any game prior to 2018 should do fairly well with SLI granted they have proper driver support, anything newer don't hold your breath.
* Hitching - some people are very sensitive to this. SLI makes use of Alter Frame Rendering, so even if you have high FPS from your SLI build, some games may feel like they're hitching or stuttering. Some people don't notice it much or at all.
* Drivers can at times be problematic - meaning you could run into issues with drivers working with your SLI setup correctly. Generally, this isn't an issue, but just be forewarned that there is a possibility (and as always, not every driver will function well with every hardware configuration).
* Pre DX12 days when I ran SLI I found some games don't work with SLI at all and some perform worse with SLI enabled (these games are pretty rare to come across). Just disable SLI in the Nvidia control panel, only takes about 10-15 seconds.
I kind of enjoy only using one high end card now over two higher end GPUs.
hahahanoobs
Posts: 5,225 +3,076
You have no clue what games people are buying regardless of what GPU they have.
hahahanoobs
Posts: 5,225 +3,076
Wake me when you find out what "stable" means....Use DX11 when it's an option (which it is for most titles still). Most people buying older graphics cards aren't looking to play all the latest and greatest titles with advanced API's and max quality settings. Most are interested in playing the popular titles I mentioned, or enjoying modern titles with dialed down quality settings.
As I said, the margins here are what you'll typically see across a widespread of games, so it serves well as a guide. Testing with DOOM Eternal, Red Dead Redemption 2 and Control for example would make this a latest and greatest triple A title guide and that's it. Not super useful for some one buying a graphics card for $50.
"I just don't see how this test is complete for used card buyers."
I invite you to create a more complete used graphics card guide. I'm sure you can take some time out from your busy 'fight with everyone on tech forums job' and get it done
You can do better than that: have a look at Steam's sales for 2019. Top 12 games by release year:
2019- 3
2018- 1
2017- 2
2016- 1
2015- 2
2013- 2
2012- 1
Half the games are 3 years or older and all the newer ones are listed as DX11.
Looks like choosing DX11 for the comparo is the right one.
FYI I never deleted anything, the mods did. @neeyik must have found you too toxic. Anyway, this went the way I expected it to.
Vulcanproject
Posts: 1,699 +3,210
Hey Steve, awesome test. Really appreciated.
It's great to see some golden oldies there, cards of my history like the GTX500 and GTX600 series!
It's only a 3 game test no doubt because the work load was huge as it was, but there are some interesting notes for me. Vega.
For one, Vega 56 loses to GTX1070. When Vega 56 launched, it was a little faster on every test I saw. Techspot's own Vega test was comprehensive and had it at 5 percent. That's a reversal. To my memory Vega 64 also falls back a little against 1080/1070Ti at least on these narrow tests.
My eye was also drawn to the GTX670 result, which fares surprisingly well. Still slugging it out with the 7950. They were both cracking cards, one step down but unusually close to top tier performance (680 and 7970) of the day. You could cleanly overtake a stock GTX680 with a quality overclocked GTX670 such was the narrow gap.
Techspot used a Gainward Phantom GTX670 and it did the business overclocked https://www.techspot.com/review/529-geforce-gtx-670/page11.html
Good times.
It's great to see some golden oldies there, cards of my history like the GTX500 and GTX600 series!
It's only a 3 game test no doubt because the work load was huge as it was, but there are some interesting notes for me. Vega.
For one, Vega 56 loses to GTX1070. When Vega 56 launched, it was a little faster on every test I saw. Techspot's own Vega test was comprehensive and had it at 5 percent. That's a reversal. To my memory Vega 64 also falls back a little against 1080/1070Ti at least on these narrow tests.
My eye was also drawn to the GTX670 result, which fares surprisingly well. Still slugging it out with the 7950. They were both cracking cards, one step down but unusually close to top tier performance (680 and 7970) of the day. You could cleanly overtake a stock GTX680 with a quality overclocked GTX670 such was the narrow gap.
Techspot used a Gainward Phantom GTX670 and it did the business overclocked https://www.techspot.com/review/529-geforce-gtx-670/page11.html
Good times.
Similar threads
Latest posts
-
Nvidia GeForce GTX 1080 Ti Revisit: Is this the GOAT?- Subset6 replied
-
Bang & Olufsen brings back iconic 6-disc CD changer from the 90s- p51d007 replied
