Can video card failure cause/spread problems to other hardware?

6 replies [Last post]
Mon, 02/22/2010 - 09:58
pr1de
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Joined: 02/22/2010
Posts: 8

I'm about to buy a 5970 for a very cheap price from a guy who claims it to be new, sealed and with warranty. guess the guy is in serious need of money.. either that or he's selling a damaged product. ( price is 100$ :/ )

if i were to test it and if it would fail, can it damage other hardware as well?

and as a side note, id like for you guys to come up for reasons for why would someone want to sell a new 5970 with only 100$. he says that he has a friend who owns a hardware store and does business with him all the time. i'd like some advice on that please

ty in advance

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Mon, 02/22/2010 - 10:27
#1
Vortex88
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Posts: 67

Well if the card is damaged for some reason I don't think it would be able to hurt anything else, unless it's damaged to the point that it emits sparks, overheats to a ridiculous temperature, or explodes when powered up.

What will most likely happen with a gpu failure is that the picture just won't pop up on your screen. It shouldn't damage any other components (normally). I say "normally" because a friend of mine had some capacitors explode on his old Geforce 7000 series card. We came to the conclusion that it was because his psu probably wasn't the best quality. So, with my help, he ran out and got an Antec 650 watt 80 plus silver psu and an XFX Radeon HD 5750.

Why anyone would sell a 5970 for $100 I don't know. Either he's trying to rip you off or what he says is true, and he just has some connections in the computer hardware industry. Maybe he can get them directly from the factory where they're made.

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Mon, 02/22/2010 - 12:43
#2
undeadkingpr
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DOA 5970's go for more than twice that on ebay so either it is really fried or your friend is rly nice

@University rig-Haf 922-i7 920- ASUS GENE MB- 6gb OCZ ddr3 1600-GTS 250- Acer 23'-ocz 700w psu-Altec expressionist bass speakers-LG dvd multi drive-Rosewill media reader

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Mon, 02/22/2010 - 13:53
#3
pr1de
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well he says it's brand new, unused, sealed and with warranty. he also mentioned that i could test it for a day and if i have problems i can give it back.

he says his friend owns a hardware shop and by selling it he gets a cut from god knows what business he's doing with hardware... :/

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Mon, 02/22/2010 - 14:30
#4
d3uS2029
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I would be careful if i were you. Sounds like a scam to me.

Who is this "guy"?

:.: Intel i7 920 @ 3.8Ghz :.: 12GB Corsair XMS3 @ 1704Mhz :.: ASUS P6T V2 Deluxe :.: ASUS 5870EAH :.: 120GB Vertex 2 (OS) :.: 120GB OCZ Agility (Games) :.: 2x WD Black 2TB (Data) :.: Zalman 850w PSU :.: Lite-On Blu-Ray Burner :.: HP w2207h LCD :.:

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Mon, 02/22/2010 - 14:42
#5
pr1de
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Posts: 8

colleague

still, if it were a scam, he could have sold the sucker with 200$+ with no problem since the price of the card is 400$. worst case, i lose 100 bucks. the full side of the glass would be that i end up with a cheap 5970

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Mon, 02/22/2010 - 22:22
#6
Vortex88
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Posts: 67

I'd probably go for it, lol. I mean, you know the guy and can still get a hold of him if it doesn't work. And if there are really no solutions if it turns out broken, then it's only $100.

It's a gamble, but at that price I'd probably take it.

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