{"id":4780,"date":"2018-02-06T21:37:11","date_gmt":"2018-02-06T21:37:11","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/davidgerard.co.uk\/blockchain\/?p=4780"},"modified":"2018-02-20T13:15:55","modified_gmt":"2018-02-20T13:15:55","slug":"video-cards-are-getting-cheap-again-proceed-with-caution","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/davidgerard.co.uk\/blockchain\/2018\/02\/06\/video-cards-are-getting-cheap-again-proceed-with-caution\/","title":{"rendered":"Video cards are getting cheap again! Proceed with caution"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>The pumpers are desperately trying to keep the price up \u2014 the GDAX price chart is still <a href=\"https:\/\/davidgerard.co.uk\/blockchain\/2018\/02\/03\/notes-from-the-crash-watching-the-bitcoin-pumps-and-dumps-live-on-gdax\/\">a comedy marathon for the avid buttcoiner,<\/a> with frantic (and expensive!) pumps followed by a decline within the hour, rinse and repeat \u2014 but the party&#8217;s over for now.<\/p>\n<p>And altcoins are priced in Bitcoin. And altcoin mining is a knife-edge business even for the few who make a profit. And the miners are selling up.<\/p>\n<p>Gamers, after <a href=\"https:\/\/www.theverge.com\/2018\/1\/30\/16949550\/bitcoin-graphics-cards-pc-prices-surge\">wanting to kill all Bitcoiners<\/a> for the past few months \u2014 this is your moment! But <i>buy wisely.<\/i> That is to say, not from a miner.<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/davidgerard.co.uk\/blockchain\/2017\/12\/11\/bitcoin-mining-accidents-2017-updated-version-with-photos\/mining-rig\/\" rel=\"attachment wp-att-2999\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"aligncenter size-full wp-image-2999\" src=\"https:\/\/davidgerard.co.uk\/blockchain\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/12\/mining-rig.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"640\" height=\"533\" srcset=\"https:\/\/davidgerard.co.uk\/blockchain\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/12\/mining-rig.jpg 640w, https:\/\/davidgerard.co.uk\/blockchain\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/12\/mining-rig-300x250.jpg 300w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 640px) 100vw, 640px\" \/><\/a><\/p>\n<p><center><small><i>A classic Bitcoin mining accident, from back in the day. This one features in <a href=\"https:\/\/davidgerard.co.uk\/blockchain\/table-of-contents\/\">chapter 5<\/a> of <a href=\"https:\/\/davidgerard.co.uk\/blockchain\/book\/\">the book.<\/a><\/i><\/small><\/center>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>Remember \u2014 miners treat their GPUs <i>badly.<\/i> There&#8217;s lots of people in mining forums today talking about how to break up their rig for saleable parts. They all swear blind they&#8217;ve treated these cards like their precious babies and totally haven&#8217;t been running a <a href=\"https:\/\/davidgerard.co.uk\/blockchain\/2017\/12\/11\/bitcoin-mining-accidents-2017-updated-version-with-photos\/\">Bitcoin mining accident<\/a> \u2014 and I don&#8217;t believe a word of it, and neither should you.<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/davidgerard.co.uk\/blockchain\/2018\/02\/06\/video-cards-are-getting-cheap-again-proceed-with-caution\/new-in-box-honest\/\" rel=\"attachment wp-att-4781\"><img decoding=\"async\" class=\"aligncenter size-full wp-image-4781\" src=\"https:\/\/davidgerard.co.uk\/blockchain\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/02\/new-in-box-honest.png\" alt=\"\" width=\"80%\" srcset=\"https:\/\/davidgerard.co.uk\/blockchain\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/02\/new-in-box-honest.png 813w, https:\/\/davidgerard.co.uk\/blockchain\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/02\/new-in-box-honest-300x173.png 300w, https:\/\/davidgerard.co.uk\/blockchain\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/02\/new-in-box-honest-768x443.png 768w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 813px) 100vw, 813px\" \/><\/a><\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>New in box, honest! By the way, here&#8217;s the hash rate.<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/davidgerard.co.uk\/blockchain\/2018\/02\/06\/video-cards-are-getting-cheap-again-proceed-with-caution\/craigslist-mining-rig-sale\/\" rel=\"attachment wp-att-4782\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"aligncenter size-full wp-image-4782\" src=\"https:\/\/davidgerard.co.uk\/blockchain\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/02\/craigslist-mining-rig-sale.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"959\" height=\"525\" srcset=\"https:\/\/davidgerard.co.uk\/blockchain\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/02\/craigslist-mining-rig-sale.jpg 959w, https:\/\/davidgerard.co.uk\/blockchain\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/02\/craigslist-mining-rig-sale-300x164.jpg 300w, https:\/\/davidgerard.co.uk\/blockchain\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/02\/craigslist-mining-rig-sale-768x420.jpg 768w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 959px) 100vw, 959px\" \/><\/a><\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>Ex-mining GPUs off Craigslist are <i>just<\/i> what you were after! We only ran them at 100% load 24\/7 in terrible conditions for less than six months!<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<blockquote class=\"twitter-tweet\" data-width=\"550\" data-dnt=\"true\">\n<p lang=\"en\" dir=\"ltr\">These were returned tonight. This is what happens when Bitcoin crashes. Maybe GPUs will actually be back to normal soon. <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/ButtCoin?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">@ButtCoin<\/a> <a href=\"https:\/\/t.co\/8OEJ2ZRZyN\">pic.twitter.com\/8OEJ2ZRZyN<\/a><\/p>\n<p>&mdash; Kermomancer (@Cloud3514) <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/Cloud3514\/status\/960725771244490752?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">February 6, 2018<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p><script async src=\"https:\/\/platform.twitter.com\/widgets.js\" charset=\"utf-8\"><\/script><\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>When miners have kept the boxes, they may attempt to return the cards to the shop as &#8220;unused.&#8221; As such, even restocked returns can&#8217;t be trusted not to have been abused. <i>Maybe<\/i> they really didn&#8217;t thrash them! Are you feeling lucky?<\/p>\n<p>Bitcoin miners returned used cards as new a <i>lot<\/i> in 2011 and 2012 \u2014 Fry\u2019s had an incredibly generous return policy at the time. All in their original bags and boxes, <i>practically<\/i> new!<\/p>\n<p><b>My recommendation:<\/b><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>Don&#8217;t buy a second-hand video card made since 2017. Possibly 2016.<\/li>\n<li>Buy new from a shop, in person if you possibly can.<\/li>\n<li>Try not to get a restock or refurbish. Ideally, you want the manufacturer&#8217;s original seal intact.<\/li>\n<li>Be very clear and thorough when asking your warranty rights.<\/li>\n<li>Be <i>especially <\/i>clear on your warranty rights if you can only afford a restock or refurbish.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>And, gamers \u2014 feel free to ask any crypto enthusiasts you encounter how their <a href=\"http:\/\/www.thedailymash.co.uk\/news\/business\/smug-bitcoin-bastards-must-get-their-comeuppance-before-new-year-demands-britain-20171218141177\">&#8220;bot-coins&#8221;<\/a> are doing.<\/p>\n<br><br><div align=\"center\"><p><a href=\"https:\/\/www.patreon.com\/bePatron?u=8420236\"><img src=\"https:\/\/davidgerard.co.uk\/blockchain\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/10\/become_a_patron_button.svg\" alt=\"Become a Patron!\" title=\"Become a Patron!\" width=217 height=51><\/a><br><p style=\"align:center;\" class=\"patreon-badge\"><i>Your subscriptions keep this site going. <a href=\"https:\/\/www.patreon.com\/bePatron?u=8420236\">Sign up today!<\/a><\/i><\/p><\/div>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Cryptos have crashed, and altcoin miners are <i>already<\/i> selling their video cards. Buy wisely \u2014 that is to say, not from them.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"inline_featured_image":false,"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[302],"class_list":["post-4780","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorised","tag-bitcoin-mining-accidents"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/davidgerard.co.uk\/blockchain\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4780","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/davidgerard.co.uk\/blockchain\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/davidgerard.co.uk\/blockchain\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/davidgerard.co.uk\/blockchain\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/davidgerard.co.uk\/blockchain\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=4780"}],"version-history":[{"count":25,"href":"https:\/\/davidgerard.co.uk\/blockchain\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4780\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":5195,"href":"https:\/\/davidgerard.co.uk\/blockchain\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4780\/revisions\/5195"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/davidgerard.co.uk\/blockchain\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=4780"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/davidgerard.co.uk\/blockchain\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=4780"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/davidgerard.co.uk\/blockchain\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=4780"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}