2 ms·

Yeah, I don't necessarily agree. I assume many miners didn't run these cards in temperature controlled server rooms, but in places like abandoned warehouses in

Yeah, I don't necessarily agree. I assume many miners didn't run these cards in temperature controlled server rooms, but in places like abandoned warehouses in south-east Asia, with high ambient temps and humidity, which can destroy electrical components. And even if they did, the capacitors in the VRMs of these cards are full of electrolytic capacitors which do degrade over time due to heat and chemical reactions occurring between the plates and the electrolyte as well as the evaporation of electrolyte, they not only age, but age faster over time as the degraded capacitors are put under increased stress. Besides, the assumption of running these cards underclocked and undervolted might not be true - if the folks running those obtained the electricity illegally, or incredibly cheaply, it might make more sense to run these cards hotter. Everything considered, these second hand GPUs are not even that cheap, I saw 5700 XTs going for $250 on ebay, with a comparable brand new 6600 costing about $300. Edit: The fans also have suffered serious wear and tear and are likely to fail. Considering these are often custom, you might not even be able to replace them.

PeterStuer 4y ago
Thermal cycling such as is typical in a gaming PC is far more damaging than constant temperatures. Underclock/volting cards to get a consistent higher net yield is standard practice in crypto mining, just as ovectclicking/volting is standard practice in enthusiast gamer circles. The latter being way more damaging for the GPU. Those that obtain the electricity illegally, or incredibly cheaply would not be the ones selling cards now. As for fans, the things that reduce the fan's lifetime the most is dust buildup and high positive pressure configurations. Both of these are typical for bedroom gamer setups. Miner cards run in cleaner environments and open frames. I would definetly buy a GPU from a miner over one from a gamer.
- andrekandre 4y ago
  > Thermal cycling such as is typical in a gaming PC is far more damaging than constant temperatures. the reasoning is probably pretty obvious, but what i heard is the constant expansion and contraction from heating and cooling the chips and connections is what causes the damage im those cases

PeterStuer 4y ago

Thermal cycling such as is typical in a gaming PC is far more damaging than constant temperatures. Underclock/volting cards to get a consistent higher net yield is standard practice in crypto mining, just as ovectclicking/volting is standard practice in enthusiast gamer circles. The latter being way more damaging for the GPU. Those that obtain the electricity illegally, or incredibly cheaply would not be the ones selling cards now. As for fans, the things that reduce the fan's lifetime the most is dust buildup and high positive pressure configurations. Both of these are typical for bedroom gamer setups. Miner cards run in cleaner environments and open frames. I would definetly buy a GPU from a miner over one from a gamer.

andrekandre 4y ago
> Thermal cycling such as is typical in a gaming PC is far more damaging than constant temperatures. the reasoning is probably pretty obvious, but what i heard is the constant expansion and contraction from heating and cooling the chips and connections is what causes the damage im those cases