1 00:00:00,000 --> 00:00:03,920 People can end up doing questionable things when they're desperate, and the current GPU 2 00:00:03,920 --> 00:00:10,560 shortage has definitely made some people desperate, with many spending way above MSRP on GPUs 3 00:00:10,560 --> 00:00:16,320 and game consoles from scalpers. But by now, you've probably already heard enough pleas to 4 00:00:16,320 --> 00:00:22,640 not give your hard-earned money to shady resellers. So what are some other really bad ideas you 5 00:00:22,640 --> 00:00:29,280 should avoid? Well, some common GPU scams are relatively easy to spot. Someone on a marketplace 6 00:00:29,280 --> 00:00:35,040 style site claiming to sell a coveted GPU for well under market value or even MSRP? 7 00:00:35,040 --> 00:00:40,560 That could easily be an invitation to a mugging, so at the very least, bring a bulky friend. 8 00:00:40,560 --> 00:00:43,760 Just remember that old adage about things that seem too good to be true. 9 00:00:44,320 --> 00:00:50,720 But some scams are a lot less obvious. Be wary of listings on sites like Aliexpress and Wish 10 00:00:50,720 --> 00:00:55,680 that allow third-party sellers to pedal their wares, because they could result in you getting 11 00:00:55,760 --> 00:01:01,680 something different than what you expected. Now, thanks to buyer protection schemes on sites like 12 00:01:01,680 --> 00:01:06,480 eBay and Aliexpress for that matter, it's relatively uncommon for a seller to simply 13 00:01:07,120 --> 00:01:12,720 ship a brick to you, unless you get in touch with the seller and they con you into paying 14 00:01:12,720 --> 00:01:18,240 off-platform with crypto or something. Please don't do that. But even if you're paying through the 15 00:01:18,240 --> 00:01:22,560 platform, that doesn't mean it's always safe either. A long-running scam that we've actually 16 00:01:22,560 --> 00:01:27,840 covered before involves scammers getting their hands on obsolete GPUs by the truckload, 17 00:01:28,400 --> 00:01:35,680 remanufacturing those onto new boards, and then modifying those boards to report a modern model 18 00:01:35,680 --> 00:01:41,920 number. They then sell these at too-good-to-be-true prices. Take this example, where the buyer thought 19 00:01:41,920 --> 00:01:47,920 they were getting a 1050TI, and in fact, their system even reported that it was a 1050TI, 20 00:01:47,920 --> 00:01:53,200 but they couldn't install NVIDIA drivers, and it turned out they got a GTS 450 instead. 21 00:01:54,000 --> 00:01:58,880 Some of these scammers have even gotten so brazen that their listings straight up say 22 00:01:58,880 --> 00:02:03,840 that the performance of the card won't match the reported model number. And this example is from 23 00:02:03,840 --> 00:02:09,200 the New Egg marketplace. So the point here is that you should exercise extreme caution when 24 00:02:09,200 --> 00:02:15,120 you're buying a no-name card from a third-party seller. Buying a used card from a seller that you 25 00:02:15,120 --> 00:02:21,360 trust, though, can be a good idea. Just be wary of heavily used GPUs, especially if they've been 26 00:02:21,360 --> 00:02:27,600 used for mining. Now, many miners actually run their cards at lower voltages and do take care of 27 00:02:27,600 --> 00:02:32,960 their equipment, but careless miners could have them running full tilt in an overheating or dusty 28 00:02:32,960 --> 00:02:39,120 warehouse, which could have an effect on a GPU's life expectancy. And something to note is that 29 00:02:39,120 --> 00:02:45,440 failed GPUs, due to overuse, can be resurrected with tricks like baking them in the oven to 30 00:02:45,440 --> 00:02:50,400 reflow the solder joints. But from talking to Lewis Rossman about this technique, he feels that it's 31 00:02:50,400 --> 00:02:55,360 not a proper repair, and if you bought a GPU that was subjected to a procedure like that, 32 00:02:55,360 --> 00:03:00,800 it probably wouldn't last for more than a few more weeks. Additionally, be very wary of listings 33 00:03:00,800 --> 00:03:08,000 that say four parts or untested. The seller might claim that it's untested, so you might be tempted 34 00:03:08,000 --> 00:03:13,440 to take a gamble on a cheap card like this one and see if, well, maybe it'll work in my rig, 35 00:03:13,440 --> 00:03:19,200 but with how much a GPU is worth these days working, odds are that the seller did test it, 36 00:03:19,200 --> 00:03:25,520 and it simply is broken. Another key is that if you find a used card at a price that looks kosher, 37 00:03:25,520 --> 00:03:31,520 just be sure you're not buying anything too old. Even though that card might still perform well 38 00:03:31,520 --> 00:03:37,200 enough on paper, it could suck back a prohibitively high amount of power for that performance, 39 00:03:37,200 --> 00:03:42,080 or it might not be getting updated drivers anymore, in which case it might not play nicely with newer 40 00:03:42,080 --> 00:03:49,200 games. The other big category you should probably avoid outside of marketplace scams is low-end GPUs. 41 00:03:49,200 --> 00:03:53,440 You know, those small ones that typically take up a single slot in your case and 42 00:03:53,440 --> 00:03:57,840 might not need an additional power cord coming from your power supply. On the NVIDIA side, 43 00:03:57,840 --> 00:04:04,960 these are typically branded as GT rather than GTX or RTX, and for AMD, these mostly take the form 44 00:04:04,960 --> 00:04:11,840 of older cards from the Radeon R5 lineup, as well as a few R7 models. The problem with these cards 45 00:04:11,840 --> 00:04:16,240 is that even though you will get exactly what you thought you were going to get, 46 00:04:16,240 --> 00:04:21,520 and they are cheaper than the mid-range and high-end cards that people go gaga over, 47 00:04:21,520 --> 00:04:26,400 they're still generally too expensive to justify for the performance that you get. 48 00:04:27,200 --> 00:04:33,360 Older ones, such as NVIDIA's GT730, often lose out to even integrated graphics solutions like 49 00:04:33,360 --> 00:04:39,200 Intel's HD520, yet they're still going for around $80 at the time you wrote this video. 50 00:04:39,200 --> 00:04:45,840 Like, what? And then you've got newer ones, like the GT1030 with GDDR5 memory, which 51 00:04:46,640 --> 00:04:51,520 is a definite step up from your typical IGPU. It's just that the problem is that, 52 00:04:52,080 --> 00:04:57,360 with the appropriate precautions, you can get something significantly better, like a used 53 00:04:57,440 --> 00:05:05,040 1050ti for a relatively small amount of additional money. Also, beware the DDR4 version of the 1030. 54 00:05:05,040 --> 00:05:09,440 That thing really sucks. Now, we know that money is a huge issue for a lot of people, 55 00:05:09,440 --> 00:05:14,320 especially right now, but the thing is, we also don't want you to waste what you have on something 56 00:05:14,320 --> 00:05:19,440 that's objectively a bad value. So the bottom line is, if you have an otherwise fairly modern 57 00:05:19,440 --> 00:05:24,240 system, it's probably a better idea to just roll with your integrated GPU for the time being, 58 00:05:24,240 --> 00:05:28,800 unless you know a specific low-end card can hit the FPS targets that you have 59 00:05:28,800 --> 00:05:34,320 in the games that you want to play. Fortunately, it's not all doom and gloom because we're hoping 60 00:05:34,320 --> 00:05:40,480 that Intel's upcoming ARC GPUs will swoop in and save the day, or maybe just give us 61 00:05:40,480 --> 00:05:45,520 three brands of GPUs to have a shortage of, instead of just two. If you guys enjoyed this video, 62 00:05:45,520 --> 00:05:49,040 leave a like if you didn't. You can leave a dislike too. You can also leave a comment if you 63 00:05:49,040 --> 00:05:52,560 have a suggestion for what we can do better, and don't forget to subscribe.