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Second Hand 5870

SNORLAXIO

n00b
Joined
Mar 9, 2010
Messages
11
I just purchased a second hand 5870, and the seller is apparently getting rid as he has upgraded to a 5970.

It's only had 4 weeks use apparently, but he's offering me a 10 day warranty to test it out.

What is the best method for testing if this card is a dud or on its way out, or if it's as-new as promised.

Cheers!
 
furmark it for at least 5 hours.

Ya that's a great way to kill a card. Run Futurmark once or twice. Make sure there are no artifacting and the card is producing a good graphics score. Then have a good long gaming session trying multiple games. Paying a close eye for artifacts and monitoring temps.
 
Ya that's a great way to kill a card. Run Futurmark once or twice. Make sure there are no artifacting and the card is producing a good graphics score. Then have a good long gaming session trying multiple games. Paying a close eye for artifacts and monitoring temps.

+1 Never run hardware at full load hours at a time unless you want to replace parts in your PC on a regular basis.
 
furmark 20 mins
and or game for a few hours..
dont oc your system while testing...
 
Furmark for 15 mins or so, then game for a bit. If its unstable you wont need more than that to see it.
 
I think most of the folders in [H] would disagree with you on that.

Folding doesn't put nearly as much of a load on the chip as Furmark does. Remember, Folding only uses the shaders, which means the ROPs and Texture units are doing nothing. Furmark was designed so it loaded every part of the chip to the max all at once.
 
I would just run Crysis or Heaven on loop 5 to 10 times. Or just fold on it if you're into that stuff.
 
Folding doesn't put nearly as much of a load on the chip as Furmark does. Remember, Folding only uses the shaders, which means the ROPs and Texture units are doing nothing. Furmark was designed so it loaded every part of the chip to the max all at once.

QFT.

Anytime I purchase a video card used (the one in my sig included), I install it, run 3 or four simple benchmarking tools (far cry 2, crysis, cryostasis, 3dmark) then game on it for 2-4 hours. If it passes that, I'm fairly certain the seller has sold me a perfectly good card as far as they can tell.
 
Running your most graphic intensive games for 5 hours works without killing a card though.

Yes , if it can't game for 5 hours without crashing then there is a problem. But running furmark for 5+ hours , you might as well light it on fire and watch it burn to a crisp.
 
Thanks for all the responses guys! Will take it all into consideration (except running furmark continuously :p)

Should arrive tomorrow, will update on the state of the card. Got it for £120 cheaper than new, so if it's in good nick then i'll be very pleased.

I'm not associated with SquareTrade in any way, but they might still be an option for you to consider if you wish for more of a warranty?

http://www.resellerratings.com/store/SquareTrade

I'm based in the UK unfortunately, and it seems to me that they are a US site. Thanks for your time, though. :)
 
Well, it arrived yesterday and so far I am very impressed!

Load temps are around 61, which is good for my room (bad airflow in here) and the performance is superb! Been playing with 2x1 eyefinity until my displayport cable comes, and I really cannot wait!

40fps in BC2 @ max graphics, 2xAA, 2x 1080p resolution.
Doesn't drop below 60 in WoW at all, same for every single source game i've tried.

Incredible card.
 
+1 Never run hardware at full load hours at a time unless you want to replace parts in your PC on a regular basis.


really? shit then why hasnt my GTX 260 died? its been at full load for 9 1/2 months straight..

though your statement is almost true.. you should reword it as never run hardware hours on end with a stress testing program that is designed to put as much load as possible on the hardware like furmark.. of its stable for 45 minutes to an hour on furmark then its pretty much stable 24/7..
 
Well, it arrived yesterday and so far I am very impressed!

Load temps are around 61, which is good for my room (bad airflow in here) and the performance is superb! Been playing with 2x1 eyefinity until my displayport cable comes, and I really cannot wait!

40fps in BC2 @ max graphics, 2xAA, 2x 1080p resolution.
Doesn't drop below 60 in WoW at all, same for every single source game i've tried.

Incredible card.


Uncheck "vertical sync" in WoW should give you 100-200fps
 
Yeah I have Vsync off, but I have /console maxfps set to 60.

No need for a higher framerate and for some reason @ 60 it seems smoother than when it's fluctuating between 200 and 80~ all the time.

Sadly WoW is probably the most inconsistent game i've ever played in terms of performance and it fluctuates wildly even with top end systems. (I've even heard of people dropping to sub 40 fps on a 5970 in places like Grizzly Hills).
 
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