Redditor scores a working GTX 1050 Ti for just $2 at Goodwill

A Redditor going by u/LittleBanditReddit walked into a local Goodwill and picked up a GeForce GTX 1050 Ti for two dollars. Not two hundred, not twenty. Just two.

The card was apparently just about to be placed on the shelf by staff, and the buyer grabbed it before anyone else noticed. Back home, the GPU booted up fine and ran Cyberpunk 2077 at roughly 30 FPS at 1080p with FSR set to Balanced. For a card that launched back in 2016, that is a fairly solid result on a modern game nearly a decade later.

Finding a working GPU at a thrift store for pocket change is rare enough that it tends to go viral every time it happens. Earlier this year, one gamer walked away with a GeForce RTX 3060 12GB for five dollars, and stories like these keep popping up as more people realize old office and gaming PCs often get donated with the graphics card still inside.

The GTX 1050 Ti itself is built on the same Pascal architecture that also gave us NVIDIA's celebrated GTX 1080 Ti. It packs 768 CUDA cores, 4GB of GDDR5, and a 75W power draw that does not even need a PCIe power connector, something our own review of the card pointed out back when it launched.

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That efficiency is part of why it is still floating around in old prebuilt systems today. It will not run modern AAA titles at high settings, but for esports titles, older games, or as a stopgap GPU for a machine that currently has none, it still gets the job done.

The timing of this find stands out given where GPU pricing sits right now. AMD confirmed plans to raise Radeon RX 9000 prices by as much as 15% in the back half of 2026, and NVIDIA has quietly been raising prices to its AIB partners as memory costs keep climbing. A used GTX 1050 Ti typically sells for around 100 dollars on the secondhand market these days, so paying two dollars for a working unit is close to a rounding error.

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Reactions in the comments ranged from congratulations to straight-up jealousy, which is fair given how rare it is to stumble onto working hardware like this by accident. Most secondhand GPU listings still carry a real price tag, since demand for budget cards has only grown as new GPUs get more expensive.

Frequently Asked Questions

TweakBot answers common questions about this news using TweakTown's own coverage from this page and related content from our archive. Tap a question to reveal the answer, or type your own below.

Question #1

What performance did the GTX 1050 Ti achieve in Cyberpunk 2077 and what resolution/FSR settings were used?

The GTX 1050 Ti ran Cyberpunk 2077 at roughly 30 FPS. This was at 1080p resolution with AMD FSR set to Balanced.

Answered

Question #2

What are the GTX 1050 Ti's key specs mentioned in the article (CUDA cores, memory, and power draw)?

Click to reveal answer

Question #3

Why does the GTX 1050 Ti often appear in donated or prebuilt systems?

Because the GTX 1050 Ti is a low-power, efficient Pascal-era card (75W draw with no PCIe power connector), it was commonly used in prebuilt and office systems where power and cooling are limited. As a result, many older desktops are donated with the card still installed, so the 1050 Ti frequently shows up in thrift or prebuilt system inventories.

Answered

Question #4

How does the article compare the typical secondhand price of a GTX 1050 Ti to this $2 find?

The article says a used GTX 1050 Ti typically sells for around 100 dollars on the secondhand market, so paying two dollars for a working unit is described as being "close to a rounding error."

Answered

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It probably will not replace anyone's main gaming rig, but stories like this are a reminder that not every graphics card purchase has to feel painful right now.