safe to buy a used gtx 680

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El Tigre
You will have better luck trying Craigslist because that's wbere I purchased both my GTX 680s super cheap. Since the cards are sold locally, I was able to get the seller to test them and they work great. I bought my EVGA GTX 680 FTW+ 4GB with a complete EK FC680FTW water block for $150. All that was wrong as some odd stuttering for the first 20 minutes of the PC running. Fortunately, I was able to RMA the card and get a great working refurbished one that's still working great for over a year now and I still have about a yr left on the warranty. Now, my second EVGA GTX 680 Superclocked+ 4GB, I bought it for $25 because it did not boot past Post. It ended up being 2 blown capacitors that I replaced myself and the card has been...
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Agera One

Agera One

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Apr 11, 2014
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I recommend to buy a new GPU always.. The used GPUs might have worn out fans, highly used capacitors.. That GPU might have been used for more hours continuously for many hours at full load.. You can't know (unless you're getting it from trusted person).. Also, the 2st thing you've to think is "Why that person is selling that card now?" GTX 680 is still a powerful enough card to play latest games, then why he is selling? What if it goes useless after 1 year since you bought? (Sorry for grammar mistakes LOL)
 
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modernwar99

modernwar99

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Jul 9, 2014
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The seller also doesn't accept returns.

I bought a used GTX 650 off of ebay from a top rated seller and it got shipped to me and turns out the board was literally fried. PayPal refunded the cost without any hassle and few questions asked.

I also bought a used HD 6950 for a friend off of ebay for 50% it's retail price and it's lasted my friend 2 years so far.
It's really hit/miss on ebay... Stick to Newegg, NCIX, and reputable places like that.
 
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Christiaan Lourens

Christiaan Lourens

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Never do this rather sit with your old pc for longer and play on low graphics, shadows off, no anti aliasing ect. or play older games while you wait and save money to buy a new GPU. By new I mean either released the year you are buying or the previous gen (the year before) never go more backwards than that. The only reason to buy the previous gen is to get a bargain, if possible always buy current gen. Rather buy a 760 or equivalent than buying a 600series or equivalent. in other words buy the mid range / entry level card of the current gen. They can usually play on high at least, sometimes even ultra. As a rule of thumb wait for the next gen to be released so you can get the 700 series for cheaper. Also if you are strapped for cash why not consider AMD? They are usually a bit cheaper and have similar performance.

You might get more bang for your buck with AMD
 
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Cristi72

Cristi72

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Jun 25, 2014
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Hello,

I would not go for that card, although the actual owner seems to be legit (scratches everywhere, dirty fan - possibly cigarette smoke -, dirty PCI-E contacts).
 
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leeb2013

leeb2013

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Aug 5, 2013
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if it's a lot cheaper than a new 770 then go for it. The 680 is awesome and is the same as the 770, which just has higher factory clocks, it's not next gen or anything special.

The reference cooler isn't great, so make sure it's at the lower end of what 680's go for.

It does look well used (dust on fan), but they get like that quickly in a dusty room. You'll probably have to take the cooler off and clean it, but it's not difficult.

Paypal will cover you except for return postage (which has to be signed for)

$200 would be good, $250 max. Usually though, people think it's still a recent top end card and end up bidding more than a new GTX770!

I bought (and sold) GTX680 and HD7950 s/h off ebay.
 
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Xtwargodtx

Xtwargodtx

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Dec 21, 2013
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So I have explored the amd route for a gpu this one looks a lot more promising its a 7950 that's new: http://m.ebay.com/itm/121396193188?nav=SEARCH. Also if you guys could help me out and find cards on eBay that look good that would gladly be appericated
 
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Mahisse

Mahisse

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Nov 26, 2012
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As stated before no one will recommend a used car but that card is stated to be unused so if that's true it's a good card for a fair price.
Most important aspect when looking at ebay is the return policy:
No returns or exchanges, but item is covered by the eBay Money Back Guarantee.

Not near as fast as the 680 though.
 
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RobCrezz

RobCrezz

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Mar 14, 2013
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I would (and did).

My current GTX 680 I bought used on ebay, have now liquid cooled it and overclocked it quite a lot and still runs fine.

Ive also had the following used graphics cards with no issues, all are still working:

GTX 460 (at least 3)
GTX 560 x2
GTX 560 Ti 448 core
GTX 650 Ti Boost
GTX 660 OEM
GTX 680
 
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RobCrezz

RobCrezz

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Or get a cheap used 680 and get much better performance.
 
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Xtwargodtx

Xtwargodtx

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Well I guess I'll wait till tomorrow and see what card has a better price but currently I am leaning towards the 7950 side unless any of you can find another gpu that looks good to you and is under $160 used then I will probably be getting the 7950
 
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Mahisse

Mahisse

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It's not that it's a bad thing to buy a used graphics card but people on Tom's tend to not recommend it because there's no guarantee that the deal will be a good experience and Tom's hardware is more about getting hands on the best quality for the best price and quality cannot be determined for a used card.

That being said most modern cards doesn't break so easy as they used to and if it's overheating it's usually something you can deal with yourself (clean card and replace thermal paste)
 
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RobCrezz

RobCrezz

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GTX 670 and 7950 can also be good used purchases also in terms of price/performance.
 
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Mahisse

Mahisse

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Cristi72

Cristi72

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Core clock: 3600MHz; that's clearly a legit card!
 
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El Tigre

El Tigre

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You will have better luck trying Craigslist because that's wbere I purchased both my GTX 680s super cheap. Since the cards are sold locally, I was able to get the seller to test them and they work great. I bought my EVGA GTX 680 FTW+ 4GB with a complete EK FC680FTW water block for $150. All that was wrong as some odd stuttering for the first 20 minutes of the PC running. Fortunately, I was able to RMA the card and get a great working refurbished one that's still working great for over a year now and I still have about a yr left on the warranty. Now, my second EVGA GTX 680 Superclocked+ 4GB, I bought it for $25 because it did not boot past Post. It ended up being 2 blown capacitors that I replaced myself and the card has been working for about yr until it took a dump yesterday, lol. But I also registered it and that card has 2 years left on the warranty. I will be RMAing this card next week and I should have a good working refurbished one soon. So for a grand total of $175, I bought 2 GTX 680 4GB cards for my current SLI setup as shipping them for RMA is free for me being a UPS employee, lol.

The point is you have better luck buying used locally because you can drive to and test the card before yoh buy.
 
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