this post was submitted on 11 Mar 2025
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PC Master Race

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Hey team,

Years ago, SO gifted me an Alienware Aurora R7.

It has an Intel I7-8700 and Nvidia GTX 1080 (8GB VRAM), 16 GB of DDR 4 RAM. (what else is relevant to this question?)

My question to you is basically this -

Given that I'm not gaming with it anymore, I want to use it for only two things -

  1. Plex Server
  2. Running random local LLM stuff like Kotaemon (https://github.com/Cinnamon/kotaemon)

Let's say I have $1000 to throw at a GPU and I'd like to get 16 GB VRAM (or 24 if it's possible). I want to install it myself rather than take it into a shop.

What's a GPU I can buy that will fit,

  1. within my budget?
  2. within the chassis?
  3. with the CPU and motherboard without issues?
  4. with the needs I've detailed (namely Plex transcoding, and running ML models)?

I am an absolute noob when it comes to figuring out what hardware to buy (hey, we got us an Alienware sucker here).

So lemmings, help me out! I'd rather not ask ChatGPT.

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[–] damnthefilibuster 2 points 1 week ago (2 children)

I don’t shy away from buying refurb electronics. But is there a problem with buying used GPUs?

Not looking forward to buying new during this tariff era. So perhaps my local marketplaces might be best…

[–] deepfriedchril 3 points 1 week ago

I've bought used for my last 2 gpus, no issues.

[–] Mistic 3 points 1 week ago

Not really. You just have to make sure you got what you ordered by doing a bunch of tests. Plus, you usually don't get a warranty.