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Life expectancy of a GPU

Jacky60

Jacky60

Jacky60

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I'm still using a couple of 1080TI's from March 2017 and 2019. My 1080 ti FE from Nvidia lasted 2.5 years then died Sept 2019, the Inno 3D bought Oct 2017 is still going and I'm still using the RMA replacement FE from Nvidia. I've never owned a GPU long enough for it to fail outside warranty but concerned/speculating how long this will continue. I've a mild overclock on the FE to match stock clocks on the Inno 3D x3 and they're both chugging along with no over volting or anything like that. I'm happy enough as I want a real upgrade in the games I play and some sort of availability at MSRP before spending. Just curious what other people's experience has been. At three and a half years at the moment for the Inno 3D card and fingers are crossed for another 6-12 months from them both. I sort of hope that like old soldiers they never die just gently fade away.
 
They last as long as a piece of string.

I've had cards which are still going strong 16 years after I bought it. I've also had cards doa. Electrical devices are generally designed to last around 5 years.
 
something daft already!! said:
They last as long as a piece of string.

I've had cards which are still going strong 16 years after I bought it. I've also had cards doa. Electrical devices are generally designed to last around 5 years.
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String lasts for quite a while, I sort of hope to get 5 years which would be plenty although I really can't imagine keeping AND using one for 16 years! I was asking for some sort of experiential feedback not daft copycat comments but feel free;):D.
I started with 2 Voodoo 2 12MBs in SLI and have owned pretty much every top end GPU since I just always upgraded before any had a chance to fail and the 1080ti FE was the ONLY one out of more that 30 to fail before I sold it but never owned any previous cards longer than 2-2.5 years.
 
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Retro builders having a machine sitting idle for 350 days a year isn't really what I was getting at. I'm hoping for an avalanche of meaningless and banal comments like 'it is what it is' or 'we are where we are' that would be really inspiring and informative of your experience. I mean being used on a daily basis but I figure around five years would be decent.
 
Jacky60 said:
Retro builders having a machine sitting idle for 350 days a year isn't really what I was getting at. Just say something meaningless and banal like 'it is what it is' or 'we are where we are' that would be really inspiring and informative of your experience.
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So what are you getting at? They don't have them sat 350 days idle lol. They do push them to their limits just like current builders do.
 
Bouton Aide said:
So what are you getting at? They don't have them sat 350 days idle lol. They do push them to their limits just like current builders do.
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Well fair enough I sort of figured after a certain period of time if they're going to fail they do (3-5 years) and after that they may well live forever and ever and ever or something;):).
 
Jacky60 said:
Retro builders having a machine sitting idle for 350 days a year isn't really what I was getting at. I'm hoping for an avalanche of meaningless and banal comments like 'it is what it is' or 'we are where we are' that would be really inspiring and informative of your experience. I mean being used on a daily basis but I figure around five years would be decent.
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What's your beef?
 
Jacky60 said:
Well fair enough I sort of figured after a certain period of time if they're going to fail they do (3-5 years) and after that they may well live forever and ever and ever or something;):).
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There's a reason there's warranty with them. They do fail but there isn't a set time for failure. There's a guidance time frame and that's different with each card produced. It's called MTBF.

If you push it to it's limits/overclock/push - it will or should fail quicker. (In Theory).

Make sure you check how much warranty you are getting with your cards. They cover failures for a reason. Some have 3 years some a year some 2 years.
 
Jacky60 said:
Retro builders having a machine sitting idle for 350 days a year isn't really what I was getting at. Just say something meaningless and banal like 'it is what it is' or 'we are where we are' that would be really inspiring and informative of your experience.
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There is no answer to your question. Too many variables. Graphics cards can last forever as long as nothing goes wrong with them. If there is something wrong with them they can fail after 2 days, 2 months, 2 years whenever. I know people still gaming on 8800GT cards.

The Fans and the quality of the soldering are two of the biggest failure points of Graphic cards.
 
I should have been clearer I'm really asking if many people have owned cards for 4 years or more and used them regularly and they then have failed. An analogy would be a human lifespan. How long will I live. No idea but if I'm male and 50 years old living in the UK in good health with no high blood pressure etc it's likely BUT certainly not guaranteed I'll get to 80 IF I don't drink as much or smoke the odd Dooby. There are fewer variables with GPUs than people living in the UK.
 
Jacky60 said:
I should have been clearer I'm really asking if many people have owned cards for 4 years or more and used them regularly and they then have failed. An analogy would be a human lifespan. How long will I live. No idea but if I'm male and 50 years old living in the UK in good health with no high blood pressure etc it's likely BUT certainly not guaranteed I'll get to 80 IF I don't drink as much or smoke the odd Dooby. There are fewer variables with GPUs than people living in the UK.
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I have owned cards for 10+ years yeh. Not had a GPU failure. Always sold a card without it failing.
 
Yeah the DOA ones and those that fail within weeks aren't really what I'm talking about, that's similar to still born children or kids who run under a bus if you want a cheery analogy :D. I'm meaning those that get to adulthood and live a relatively sensible lifestyle.
 
What do you exactly mean when you say "died"? I bought a second hand 770 in december. That's a 8 year-old card. Didn't work, had overheating problems with it so the PC would shut down itself after a few seconds... All it needed was to be cleaned and to get the thermal paste changed... replacing the fans would be ideal, but I'm just using it while I try to get a new GPU from the 3000 series... I don't think it is easy at all to damage a GPU, at all, unless you do something you shoudln't be doing to it.
 
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