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Topic: How long will my gpu last? - page 2. (Read 2803 times)

newbie
Activity: 64
Merit: 0
September 15, 2017, 06:45:59 AM
#31
I have my R9 380 models for 2 years mining ...
but yeah it is big revolution from 380 to now models...
legendary
Activity: 1498
Merit: 1030
September 15, 2017, 06:14:20 AM
#30
3 years?

As has been said many times already, a properly cared for GPU can have a indefinite life-span with usually the part becoming obsolete before failing. This can easily mean 5+ years of operation.

Most GPUs that have some defect from manufacturing or installation damage will usually fail within the first month or so of continuous operation, which since is within the warranty period usually pose no problem other than the inconvenience of doing the RMA.

Other factors that can lead to failure have been mentioned already in the thread, but normally boils down to the care one takes to maximizing their longevity. Electrical problems (surges, brownouts, static discharge, loose connections, bad or unstable PSU) are probably near the top of the lists, along with excessive heat (higher than 80° C operating temperature), dust, dirt, humidity, and of course physical damage.


 Long term, FAN DEATH is the leading cause of card failure for cards that make it out of infant mortality.

 I've got several HD 7750 and a 7870 that date back to LITECOIN GPU mining days - they've been in pretty close to continuous usage that whole time (4 years now almost), doing mining or Distributed.Net work (which offers a VERY similar load to most cryptocoin mining algos as it IS crypto work as well).
 Had to replace the fans on all the HIS 7750 cards (junk sleeve bearing fans) in less than a year, the Sapphire HD7750 JUST had it's (ball bearing) fan die last month, and the HIS blower-type card is still going strong on the original fan (ball bearing LOW loaded big-bloody-blower, it's the IceQ model).

Everything I had before that point was either ancient pre-Stream pre-CUDA, or AMD APUs.

newbie
Activity: 47
Merit: 0
September 15, 2017, 04:08:23 AM
#29
The R9 290(X) were build to run at 95c. The fans wont sweat until you reach the 95c if you didn't set the max temp lower.

I'm running my 290x with an AIO. Stays at 61c full load.

Wonder what you are planning to mine with the 290.

 R9 290 thermal limits at 94, on the reference-board design.
 NOT a good idea to let them get that hot though, they're a lot happier for the long term if you can keep them down to around 80.

 290 is still a good ETH mining card, though I'm not sure that's the BEST option.



I have some R9 290. But I only run them at 900mV or lower. The temperature is below 70 degree C. They are long lasting.
newbie
Activity: 30
Merit: 0
September 15, 2017, 03:56:52 AM
#28
keep them cool (low 70s or under i keep mine in the mid 60s)  undervolt them. make sure they are on a GOOD psu (for the better voltage regulation). dont run fans over 80-85% it doesnt cool any better and will just kill the bearings faster, especially cheap sleeve bearings. but buy cards with ball bearing fans as they just last and last.

no reason why you can get years out of them. my HD6870 and two HD5830s went a few years 24/7 during btc/ltc mining days. they still work.

my original mining card, a HD4850 single slot blower fan, the fan did die on it after about a year at 90+% fan speed. stuck an after market cooler on it and put it in a gaming rig i gave to a friend. worked for a couple more years gaming till he built a newer game machine.

oldest currently mining card is a sapphire 390 nitro, two years old i think. still running fine.

back in my folding@home days I had two GTX8800 gpus go for a couple years 24/7. they are still working last time i fired them up about 6 months ago.

probably the best investment you can make for gpu longevity (aside from some good fans blowing at the rig) is using a high quality psu. it will provide your cards with clean power. junk psus put trash on the lines that will slowly degrade the gpus, as well as the rest of the system. cant hurt use a good surge suppressor or do as i have done, install a whole house surge suppressor.



Thank you very much for sharing your experience with us. Amazing tips.
sr. member
Activity: 375
Merit: 250
September 15, 2017, 03:23:48 AM
#27
3 years?

As has been said many times already, a properly cared for GPU can have a indefinite life-span with usually the part becoming obsolete before failing. This can easily mean 5+ years of operation.

Most GPUs that have some defect from manufacturing or installation damage will usually fail within the first month or so of continuous operation, which since is within the warranty period usually pose no problem other than the inconvenience of doing the RMA.

Other factors that can lead to failure have been mentioned already in the thread, but normally boils down to the care one takes to maximizing their longevity. Electrical problems (surges, brownouts, static discharge, loose connections, bad or unstable PSU) are probably near the top of the lists, along with excessive heat (higher than 80° C operating temperature), dust, dirt, humidity, and of course physical damage.

By being proactive and trying to minimize any of the above factors will lead to a long lifespan. I have many mining GPUs that have 4+ years on them and are still hashing away, and I have several non-mining GPUs that are 6+ years old that still work but are otherwise obsolete.

I think the majority of my GPUs will be replaced not because of failure, but because newer models are always becoming more efficient and a point in time arrives where the mining efficiency is no longer worth the operating costs. This is probably somewhere around the 4 to 5 year mark as some of my oldest cards while still viable for algorithms such as Equihash are really starting to fall behind newer cards, especially those such as the Nvidia 10xx series


Haha, I agreed... I don't think I will still using my gpu for mining after 5 years, it is old and bad hashrate at that time. But of course don't die in a few months...
newbie
Activity: 15
Merit: 1
September 15, 2017, 03:21:15 AM
#26
I have a pair of GTX650 bought in 2012 still running BOINC at 100% 24/7. Air cooled, fans on Auto, no OC with an open case. Had various other GTX running for 5 years plus no problems all on Boinc or Folding@home.

Only added Team Red to the farm since starting Alt Coin mining in last year so not sure on those, but Team Green can certainly do 5 years no problems at all.

legendary
Activity: 1078
Merit: 1011
September 14, 2017, 06:29:11 PM
#25
Keep your cards FAN not to run more than 70% , and you will have them for like 5 years.
Main factor is to keep your fan because that mostly goes to die, not gpu or their memory.
Also it is much important to clean dust from them like once per month or something that like that.

While this is true and a good idea, myself I do not consider a fan failure an actual failure of the card unless it got to the point you didn't catch it and it overheated causing damage.

I have had fans fail, especially those old 3 fan 7970's, and you can buy replacements for under $10 and easily fix them yourself, prolonging the lifespan of your graphics card. If it is under warranty you can send them in too, but $10 is usually less than the RMA shipping and it is simple enough to do it yourself.

newbie
Activity: 64
Merit: 0
September 14, 2017, 06:18:05 PM
#24
Keep your cards FAN not to run more than 70% , and you will have them for like 5 years.
Main factor is to keep your fan because that mostly goes to die, not gpu or their memory.
Also it is much important to clean dust from them like once per month or something that like that.
legendary
Activity: 1078
Merit: 1011
September 14, 2017, 05:30:00 PM
#23
3 years?

As has been said many times already, a properly cared for GPU can have a indefinite life-span with usually the part becoming obsolete before failing. This can easily mean 5+ years of operation.

Most GPUs that have some defect from manufacturing or installation damage will usually fail within the first month or so of continuous operation, which since is within the warranty period usually pose no problem other than the inconvenience of doing the RMA.

Other factors that can lead to failure have been mentioned already in the thread, but normally boils down to the care one takes to maximizing their longevity. Electrical problems (surges, brownouts, static discharge, loose connections, bad or unstable PSU) are probably near the top of the lists, along with excessive heat (higher than 80° C operating temperature), dust, dirt, humidity, and of course physical damage.

By being proactive and trying to minimize any of the above factors will lead to a long lifespan. I have many mining GPUs that have 4+ years on them and are still hashing away, and I have several non-mining GPUs that are 6+ years old that still work but are otherwise obsolete.

I think the majority of my GPUs will be replaced not because of failure, but because newer models are always becoming more efficient and a point in time arrives where the mining efficiency is no longer worth the operating costs. This is probably somewhere around the 4 to 5 year mark as some of my oldest cards while still viable for algorithms such as Equihash are really starting to fall behind newer cards, especially those such as the Nvidia 10xx series
legendary
Activity: 1498
Merit: 1030
September 14, 2017, 03:22:39 PM
#22
The R9 290(X) were build to run at 95c. The fans wont sweat until you reach the 95c if you didn't set the max temp lower.

I'm running my 290x with an AIO. Stays at 61c full load.

Wonder what you are planning to mine with the 290.

 R9 290 thermal limits at 94, on the reference-board design.
 NOT a good idea to let them get that hot though, they're a lot happier for the long term if you can keep them down to around 80.

 290 is still a good ETH mining card, though I'm not sure that's the BEST option.

newbie
Activity: 70
Merit: 0
September 14, 2017, 12:01:30 PM
#21
3 years?

I have a few HD 7990. They are already 4 years old. I do not stress them.
newbie
Activity: 54
Merit: 0
August 18, 2017, 11:37:16 PM
#20
3 years?
full member
Activity: 259
Merit: 108
August 18, 2017, 11:00:12 PM
#19
I put a box fan on my rigs and always keep my temps in the 55-65 degree region. A cool GPU is a happy GPU. My cards last me for years. I'll run them cooler over max performance because going through warranty is always a pain in the butt and time consuming.
newbie
Activity: 39
Merit: 0
August 18, 2017, 08:00:56 PM
#18
I have been using a r9 290.It's around 3 years old.How long will it last?It's not overclocked or watercooled.I've been using it for  gaming mainly.I started mining recently.The maximum temperature it rises to is 94 degrees.

Use watercooling if you want to go long with your GPUs Smiley

It's a bigger initial investment, but it pays in the long-term and the maintenance is less of a hassle than with aircooling imho!

Not to mention you can scoop up cards with a water-block preinstalled for less than ones with fans. If your like me and have to spread them out in your house because of power limitations, then having them quiet is definitely a plus.
hero member
Activity: 924
Merit: 1000
August 18, 2017, 07:48:29 PM
#17
Most of my 7950 cards have worked since late 2012.
Fans started to break down or make more noise.
My 7990 from 2012 is still running like a champ.
All cards have been overclocked.
OTOH my 7870 from 2013 died.  You can also buy replacement fans on ebay too.  Be prepared to break your screw drivers as some of the screws are cemented in.

I would say expect 3-10 years out of your video cards.
member
Activity: 114
Merit: 20
August 18, 2017, 05:14:24 PM
#16
My HD 7950 is running since Octuber 2011, still working.
hero member
Activity: 1778
Merit: 907
August 18, 2017, 04:44:11 PM
#15
What's your average temperature? 94C is way too high, especially if they are running with that temperature most of the time. Try to keep yours under 80C at least, at 70's or under that it would be ideal, but it's not always possible.

Also, make sure your tower's case filters are clean and the case isn't full of dust. I would recommend to have your fans at 100%, it will wear them out quicker but it will keep the temperature down, even on 100%, the fans will last from 2-3 years, you might not even be using these cards anymore and even if you do, the fans are pretty cheap part to replace.

I have my 2x R7 260x's overclocked using MSI Afterburner, without altering the voltage, fans on 100%. Depending on the room temperature, I'm usually getting 78C~ on the one GPU and 75C~ on the other one. The highest I've seen was 84C, mostly during midday, when it's hotter.
legendary
Activity: 1078
Merit: 1011
August 18, 2017, 04:13:37 PM
#14
I am with the majority here in that if you treat them right they should last for a very long time. By keeping temperatures in check 70C or under is a good target along with using a good quality PSU as others have mentioned. Cheap PSUs can really shorten the lifespan as the power output can really be all over the place. Check http://www.jonnyguru.com/ for more information on this.

Keeping dust and dirt buildup to a minimum is important to not only to help keep things cool, but to prolong the life of your fans as well as help protect against humidity. Dust and dirt will attract and retain moisture along with the corrosive effects they can have on your GPUs over time. Going with this, is to keep them in an environment that will not be super humid. You do get a benefit here in with the heat the cards put out, a lot of them in a shed or garage can keep the surrounding air a good 10-20 degrees warmer than outside, and since warm air hold more moisture than cooler air, you can often keep humidity in check somewhat. The danger is if the power goes out for any length of time.

Ideally the best environment for your GPUs would be indoors in an air conditioned setting, but this is not always possible, especially for larger deployments. But even here, if you can keep humidity down, and address the other issues above, you can be successful. I have many GPUs going on their second year in a garage that is exposed to not only the heat of the summer but also the cold of the winter.

I guess I cannot attest to how long they will ultimately work out there but so far there have been no problems. I also have some GPUs that lived their first couple of years inside, and some of those are now among the garage dwellers, so they have a good 3-4 years on them and still going strong. Some of the earliest cards like the 7950's and 7970's needed to have some fans swapped out here and there, but an extra $8 in parts every now and then I view just as preventative maintenance more that I would as a card failure.
legendary
Activity: 910
Merit: 1000
August 18, 2017, 04:04:21 PM
#13
My GTX 1060-s one 3GB and one 6GB, both Palit StormX are running and mining 24/7 since beginning of January, their temp is down to 66 degree celsius with fans at 75%.

My GTX 1050 ti is running since early April running and mining 24/7

Both are heavily overclocked, core clock +250 and memory clock +950. Mining Zcash very happy with them but I don't know how long they will last. Should be about 2 years I believe as minimum since I am keeping their temperature below 70 degree celsius.
full member
Activity: 168
Merit: 100
August 18, 2017, 03:48:12 PM
#12
I have been using a r9 290.It's around 3 years old.How long will it last?It's not overclocked or watercooled.I've been using it for  gaming mainly.I started mining recently.The maximum temperature it rises to is 94 degrees.

Use watercooling if you want to go long with your GPUs Smiley

It's a bigger initial investment, but it pays in the long-term and the maintenance is less of a hassle than with aircooling imho!
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