How to test a used GPU before buying

Look at the PCB through the fan gaps. You're checking for: burn marks near the VRMs, liquid metal or thermal paste bleeding out from under the die, snapped fan blades, bent I/O bracket, and missing screws around the backplate.

Spin each fan by hand. They should turn freely and quietly. A grinding or wobbly fan means bearings are shot — factor $20–40 for replacement into your offer.

Plug it into a known-good system and boot into Windows. Open Device Manager — no yellow exclamation marks on the GPU. Open GPU-Z and screenshot the sensors tab. Confirm the memory type, bus width, and BIOS version match what the seller advertised (some rebranded mining cards ship with modified vBIOS).

Run FurMark or Heaven Benchmark for 5 minutes at 1080p Ultra. Watch HWiNFO or GPU-Z sensors. Healthy numbers for most cards:

• Core temp: under 80 °C
• Hotspot / junction: under 95 °C
• Memory junction (GDDR6X): under 100 °C
• Fan RPM: ramping smoothly, not pegged at 100%

A card that hits 90 °C core in 2 minutes needs a repaste and pad replacement — knock $50–75 off, or pass.

Run Heaven or a 4K YouTube video. Watch for: flickering textures, coloured lines across the screen, black squares, or the screen going black mid-scene. Any of these = failing memory or a dying core. Do not buy.

If everything passes, cross-check the price against recent Canadian sales. Fair used pricing is 60–75% of current retail for Good condition, 75–90% for Like new. Pay via Interac e-Transfer with an auto-deposit-off email address so you can cancel if the card fails within a day.

Meeting up? Read our safe meetup guide first.