WEBVTT 00:00:00.000 --> 00:00:03.920 People can end up doing questionable things when they're desperate, and the current GPU 00:00:03.920 --> 00:00:10.560 shortage has definitely made some people desperate, with many spending way above MSRP on GPUs 00:00:10.560 --> 00:00:16.320 and game consoles from scalpers. But by now, you've probably already heard enough pleas to 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 00:00:22.640 --> 00:00:29.280 should avoid? Well, some common GPU scams are relatively easy to spot. Someone on a marketplace 00:00:29.280 --> 00:00:35.040 style site claiming to sell a coveted GPU for well under market value or even MSRP? 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. 00:00:40.560 --> 00:00:43.760 Just remember that old adage about things that seem too good to be true. 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 00:00:50.720 --> 00:00:55.680 that allow third-party sellers to pedal their wares, because they could result in you getting 00:00:55.760 --> 00:01:01.680 something different than what you expected. Now, thanks to buyer protection schemes on sites like 00:01:01.680 --> 00:01:06.480 eBay and Aliexpress for that matter, it's relatively uncommon for a seller to simply 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 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 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 00:01:22.560 --> 00:01:27.840 covered before involves scammers getting their hands on obsolete GPUs by the truckload, 00:01:28.400 --> 00:01:35.680 remanufacturing those onto new boards, and then modifying those boards to report a modern model 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 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, 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. 00:01:54.000 --> 00:01:58.880 Some of these scammers have even gotten so brazen that their listings straight up say 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 00:02:03.840 --> 00:02:09.200 the New Egg marketplace. So the point here is that you should exercise extreme caution when 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 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 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 00:02:27.600 --> 00:02:32.960 their equipment, but careless miners could have them running full tilt in an overheating or dusty 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 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 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 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, 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 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 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, 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, 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, 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 00:03:31.520 --> 00:03:37.200 enough on paper, it could suck back a prohibitively high amount of power for that performance, 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 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. 00:03:49.200 --> 00:03:53.440 You know, those small ones that typically take up a single slot in your case and 00:03:53.440 --> 00:03:57.840 might not need an additional power cord coming from your power supply. On the NVIDIA side, 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 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 00:04:11.840 --> 00:04:16.240 is that even though you will get exactly what you thought you were going to get, 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, 00:04:21.520 --> 00:04:26.400 they're still generally too expensive to justify for the performance that you get. 00:04:27.200 --> 00:04:33.360 Older ones, such as NVIDIA's GT730, often lose out to even integrated graphics solutions like 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. 00:04:39.200 --> 00:04:45.840 Like, what? And then you've got newer ones, like the GT1030 with GDDR5 memory, which 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, 00:04:52.080 --> 00:04:57.360 with the appropriate precautions, you can get something significantly better, like a used 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. 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, 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 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 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, 00:05:24.240 --> 00:05:28.800 unless you know a specific low-end card can hit the FPS targets that you have 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 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 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, 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 00:05:49.040 --> 00:05:52.560 have a suggestion for what we can do better, and don't forget to subscribe.