I've been upgrading my PC gradually, but current GPU prices are out of my budget. I'm currently using a GTX 1050 Ti and recently found an abandoned mining rig containing three RX 580 8GB cards and three RX 570s. The rig reportedly ran for about a year and then sat unused.
A friend may give me one or two of the RX 580s for free or very cheaply. I know very little about GPUs that were used for mining, so I'm wondering what problems I should expect. Could the cards need a modified BIOS, clock-speed changes, or something like Pixel Patcher? I'm not comfortable changing BIOS settings unless absolutely necessary.
What should I check before using one, and how can I test whether it's healthy? I mainly play older games from around 2015–2020, so I'm not expecting to run the newest titles at maximum settings. Even a modest improvement over my 1050 Ti would be useful, as long as these cards don't turn into a major repair project.
4 Answers
Test the card before relying on it. Use a GPU monitoring tool such as GPU-Z to watch temperatures, clock speeds, fan behavior, and memory readings, then run a demanding 3D test or game for a while. Look for crashes, visual artifacts, driver resets, abnormal temperatures, or fans that fail to spin. Testing more than one card is useful because mining rigs can contain both healthy cards and ones with worn-out fans or memory problems.
An RX 580 8GB should generally outperform a GTX 1050 Ti, especially in older games, and it can be a perfectly usable budget card. Mining use doesn’t automatically mean the card is damaged. The main things to verify are whether the fans work, whether the card displays an image, and whether it remains stable under load. You’ll also need to check the exact power connectors and make sure your power supply has the required six- or eight-pin cable.
Don’t flash the BIOS or change anything immediately. Mining cards sometimes have modified BIOS settings, but many work normally without being altered. Install the card with its current firmware first and only investigate a BIOS flash if you find a specific problem, such as incorrect memory behavior or instability. BIOS flashing has some risk, so it’s better treated as a last resort.
I haven’t worked with GPU BIOS flashing before, so I’ll leave that alone unless testing shows it’s actually necessary.
The cards may have been used in Linux or with mining-specific settings, but that doesn’t necessarily affect normal gaming. After installing one, remove any old graphics drivers if needed and install the current compatible AMD driver. Also inspect the card for dust, corrosion, damaged fans, or loose heatsinks before powering it on. Since the rig’s previous owner may not know how it was configured, you’ll probably need to diagnose each card individually.
I’m mostly playing older games, and since these may be free or nearly free, even a moderate upgrade would be worthwhile for me. I’ll check the power requirements before installing one.