Some Chinese crypto miners are doing everything they can to relieve their heavily used mining GPUs now that they have nothing left to mine. They go to great lengths to sell their inventory, such as repainting them and misleading buyers by listing them as new on some shopping sites.
The Merge, which shifted crypto mining from proof-of-work to proof-of-stake, has reduced the need for warehouses full of video cards dramatically almost overnight (opens in new tab).
A research by Youtuber Iskandar Souza (opens in new tab) and Paulo Gomes (via Video cards (opens in new tab)) claims that some third-party retailers in China are selling GPUs that look new but have been updated to hide the fact that they were used for crypto mining.
The Brazilian duo shared some telltale signs that reveal whether a GPU has been used or modified in some way. The easiest method has always been to look for a yellow tint on the GPU’s memory, which can be caused in two ways; extended use or they have been re-soldered on newer boards.
The video shows the memory of a mining GPU at various stages of use, and you can see the memory is black on the brand new cards. The more they are used, the more yellow it becomes. To hide this, vendors repaint the memory chips on the GPUs so they look like new at a glance. In this part of the video (opens in new tab)you can see the paint peeling off the chip.
There are more obvious ways to tell if a card has been tampered with: missing or discolored warranty stickers, and missing or loose screws. This problem isn’t just limited to Chinese retailers either; TecLab pointed out a year ago that repainted GPUs have made their way to some Brazilian tech retailers.
Re-soldering memory onto a new board is a common industry practice for repairing and refurbishing graphics cards. Still, in that case, the product would often be listed as “refurbished” or “refurbished” in retail rather than “new.”
So if you’re in the market for one new GPUstick to first-party suppliers with generous returns policies.