Best Used GPUs in 2023 (Second hand)

If you are looking for a way to upgrade your gaming or graphics performance without breaking the bank, buying a used GPU might be a good option for you. I have personally bought many second hand GPUs over the years and I can tell you that it is perfectly fine to do so, as long as you follow some simple rules.

In this article, I will share with you some of the best used GPUs to buy in 2023, based on their performance, price, and availability. I will also give you some tips on how to find a good deal.

Buying a used GPU in 2023 is actually a great time to do so, because the market is flooded with many options and the prices are relatively low. This is mainly due to three factors: the low demand for GPUs, Ethereum merge, and the release of the next generation of GPUs from Nvidia and AMD. These new GPUs offer amazing performance and features, but they are also very expensive. Therefore, many gamers, graphic designers, and AI enthusiasts are opting for the previous generation of GPUs, which are still very capable and can handle most games and applications at high settings.

One of the best used GPUs to buy in 2023 is the NVIDIA RTX 3080 Ti. This is a GPU I’ve personally tested and it delivers impressive gaming performance. The RTX 3080 Ti has 12GB of VRAM GDDR6 memory, which is more than enough for most games and applications. It also supports ray tracing, variable rate shading, and other advanced features that enhance the graphics quality and realism. The RTX 3080 Ti is also a good choice for running AI models locally, because of its 12GB VRAM capacity. You can find a used RTX 3080 Ti for around $500-$600 on eBay or other online platforms, which is a great deal considering its original MSRP of $1200.

Let’s look at some used second hand GPUs that makes sense to buy in 2023:

Important notice: Buying a second hand product can be risky. To minimize the risk, you should pay attention to some key points:

• Examine the ad: Are the product photos taken by the seller or from the manufacturer? How detailed is the product description?)
• Examine the seller’s profile: How long has the user been on the platform? What are the user reviews? Does the user offer a safe payment method?
• Verify that the card is working. Ask for video if possible.
• Ask questions about the product and ask for more product pictures or a receipt (How long and how often was the product used? Is it used for gaming or mining )
• If possible collect the product in person and test it before paying
• Use a safe payment method

GeForce RTX 3000 series and Radeon RX 6000 as a second hand option

Nvidia and AMD recently released their latest generations of GPUs, namely the RTX 4000 and RX 7000, towards the end of last year. As a result, the previous models, the RTX 3000 and RX 6000, are now available at discounted prices, especially in the used market.

To give you an idea of the current price range, we’ve put together an overview of the minimum prices you can expect to pay for both new and used versions of these models:

RTX 3000 series: Prices have dropped due to the release of the RTX 4000. You can find the new models at lower rates, and the used market is flooded with even more affordable options.

RX 6000 series: Similar to the RTX 3000, the RX 6000 GPUs have also seen a decrease in prices. New versions are available at discounted rates, and the used market offers great deals too.

Are older video cards good enough for today’s games?

How good are the old GPUs nowadays?

They are perfectly fine for thousands of games, and you don’t need last gen GPU in order to play the latest games. However if you want to play the latest games on high settings with high quality textures, you are probably going to need a GPU with a hefty amount of VRAM, preferably more than 8GB.

When the VRAM is full the things you start to see is stuttering and frame drops, and texture pop-ins, as the GPU has to load textures from slower memory or storage.

There are numerous games now in 2023 that require more than 8GB of ram even for 1080p and 1440p gaming – A Plague Tale Requiem, Dead Space Remake, Hogwarts Legacy are just some of the titles.

For example as I was playing Hogwarts Legacy on my RTX 3070 (8GB VRAM) I noticed several issues with the card. The RTX 3070 experiences occasional frame stutter and constantly runs out of VRAM, leading to textures disappearing and reappearing randomly. Even when standing still, the card delivered a poor-looking image.

DLSS improves frame rate performance, but the VRAM limitation remained a problem, causing textures to constantly pop in and out.

Later that day I switched to Radeon 6800 (16GB VARAM). The card handles higher quality settings without issues and has sharper textures, better lighting, and shadows.

However for slightly older games you are perfectly fine even with 6 GB for VRAM.

Here some older models that you can find online as a used model: 

RTX 2000 Series

RTX 2080 Ti is an old but still powerful graphics card that supports ray tracing and has 11 GB of VRAM. It is somewhat comparable to RTX 3070 and RTX 3070 Ti, which have less VRAM but similar performance. RTX 2080 Ti is a good choice for QHD gaming with high graphics settings, and can also handle UHD gaming with DLSS. The text advises not to pay more than the RTX 3070 for the RTX 2080 Ti, and to consider the age and warranty of the card.

RTX 2080 and RTX 2080 Super are old graphics cards that are similar to the RTX 3060 Ti, RX 6700 and A770 in performance. RTX 2080 and RTX 2080 Super are good for QHD gaming with medium to ultra settings, but they have less VRAM and more power consumption than the newer cards.

The RTX 2070 Super is an upgraded version of the RTX 2070 that was released in 2019. It has 2560 CUDA cores, 8 GB of GDDR6 memory, and a boost clock of up to 1770 MHz12. It supports ray tracing and DLSS, which improve the graphics quality and performance of some games. It is about 10% faster than the RTX 2070 but it has more power consumption than the RTX 2070. It is good for QHD gaming with high settings and UHD gaming with DLSS, but it may not be enough for future games that require more VRAM.

RX 5000 series

The RX 5700 XT is an AMD graphics card that was released in 2019. It has 2560 cores, 8 GB of GDDR6 memory, and a boost clock of up to 1775 MHz.. It is comparable to the RTX 2070 and RTX 3060 12GB in terms of gaming performance, but it has lower power consumption than the RTX 2080. It is good for QHD gaming with high settings and UHD gaming with lower settings, but it may struggle with some games that require more VRAM.

The Radeon 5600 XT is an AMD graphics card that was released in 2020. It has 2304 cores, 6 GB of GDDR6 memory, and a boost clock of up to 1375 MHz. It supports power efficiency, FreeSync, and PCIe 4.0, but not ray tracing or DLSS. It is comparable to the RTX 2060 and GTX 1070 Ti in terms of gaming performance. It is good for 1080p gaming with high settings and high frame rates, especially for competitive games like Apex Legends and Fortnite, but it may not be enough for 1440p gaming or future games that require more VRAM.

GTX 1600 series