How long do video cards last?

[palladium]

GTX 280 from Nov 2008 still living, although the temps are getting too high (100 degrees on 100% fan playing dota 2 max out @ 2560). I'll replace it when it dies, or when I upgrade to Win8. Whichever comes first.

 

[dawp]

my hd4870x2 was still going strong and taking everything I threw at it until I replaced it earlier this year with my current hd7970.

 

[mikeymikec]

My server used to have an ATI Rage Pro in until 2010, when I upgraded it to a GeForce MX4000 to turn it into a home cinema + server.

A friend still has my GeForce 2 GTS 32MB graphics card, and its tiny little tacky fan hasn't failed yet apparently.

 

[bononos]

Did the fans make any odd sounds before failing? It was the telltale sign of a failing fan that broke and overheated one of my old cards. I should have oiled the thing when it started making noises.

Graphics cards usually last for years and years.

However I get the impression that in general AMD ones last longer.
There are so many threads about bakeing GPU's that are nvidia's ones failing.

.......

The baking method is used on video cards which happened to fall under the Nvidia bumpgate scandal in 2008/9 I think. It took a long while for Nvidia to figure out and then admit the issue and finally to deal with the class action suit.

 

[Wall Street]

If you RMA them you are almost guaranteed to get back a 192 bit 460. You will not get back and old 256-bit 1 GB card as they probably wont have anything that old in stock. If I were you, I would get over the phobia and put something like an Artic Cooling Accelero Twin Turbo II on them.

 

[jacktesterson]

Ive had 2 GPUs fail on me, with probably owning 50 ish GPUs over the past 15 years.

One was a Hercules PowerVR Kyro II - Died after 3 years of use (At this point though, was only being used in a old keep it around type system)

One was a Radeon 9800 Pro - Passed it down to my father back in the day, he ran it with a dead fan. (unaware). Anyways, he tried to run it and ended up killing it.


So really, the Kyro II is the only card I've ever owned that just quit on its own.

 

[jacktesterson]

If you RMA them you are almost guaranteed to get back a 192 bit 460. You will not get back and old 256-bit 1 GB card as they probably wont have anything that old in stock. If I were you, I would get over the phobia and put something like an Artic Cooling Accelero Twin Turbo II on them.

I doubt they would give him the 192bit. If anything, they'd probably give up a 550 TI if they dont have the 256bit 460's

 

[Revolution 11]

My Radeon 9800 Pro is still going like a champ. Has paid for itself many times over. Love that card.

 

[VirtualLarry]

I doubt they would give him the 192bit. If anything, they'd probably give up a 550 TI if they dont have the 256bit 460's

550TI doesn't have as many CUDA cores, does it?

I do primarily distributed computing, with gaming a very distant second.

 

[Gordon Freemen]

I doubt they would give him the 192bit. If anything, they'd probably give up a 550 TI if they dont have the 256bit 460's

Actually the 550Ti is a very very slow card much slower than a 460 so I would hope not that they would give him one.

 

[Gordon Freemen]

550TI doesn't have as many CUDA cores, does it?

I do primarily distributed computing, with gaming a very distant second.

Actually the 550Ti is a bum card really and there is a new option out from Nvidia that has 288 Cuda cores vs the paltry 192 from the 550ti

 

[IGemini]

I still have an X800XL downstairs that's been kicking for the better part of a decade. It's using an AC Silencer cooler. An X300SE that's been running longer, that's passively cooled. Never had a GPU that failed. I might have to make a FS thread at some point though...

My experience is the fans will generally go first, but the cards themselves can last significantly longer especially with aftermarket cooling. Those 50-60mm fans seen on a lot of stock cards are prone to wear.

 

[icanhascpu2]

For Gaming (get above 30fps on low settings in new games?): ~5 years
Practically (for old shit systems): 9~ years
Physically (does it still work even if we wanted to use the ancient relic?): 20+ years

I highly doubt these numbers will be reflected on current gen GPUs however. Most of them will melt far before 20 years. The ancient 20 year old ones of the past were tiny comapired to these and many were passively cooled. Remember that? Passive cooling?

 

[Will Robinson]

ATi cards seem to last much longer than NVDA's.
That's value over time.

 

[aaksheytalwar]

I have an old 9600GT that is still going strong for several years now.

 

[Imp]

The cards seem to last forever... Fans are a different story.

I had an Nvidia (260?) way back when. It worked fine for something like 4 or 5 years, but around 3 years into it, the fan became annoying loud and high-pitched. The fix was apparently to get a new fan or oil it.

Since I'm no longer a teeny and can afford to buy a new card (<$200), and stick to mid/low-range cards, I'll just get a new one when the time comes.

My current AMD 6850 is at the 1.5 year mark and kicking. Out of warranty, but for ~$200, meh.

 

[Gordon Freemen]

ATi cards seem to last much longer than NVDA's.
That's value over time.

That's fan boy over time on your end LOL. Prove it that AMD GPUs last longer for I am 99% positive there is no evidence to back up these wild wild claims of fan boy like proportions.


Personal attacks are not allowed.

It is valid and acceptable to ask for proof, e.g., "Ok, what made you say that? Where is your proof?"

It is not acceptable to go around calling people "fanboys". Instead of talking about the topic on a technical level, you immediately lower it to a personal level with comments like those.

Moderator jvroig

 

[frozentundra123456]

Both of my probably 2.5-year-old Gigabyte GTX460 1GB OC WindForce cards, seem to have a failing fan.

One card it's the first fan (slow RPMs reported). The other card, it's the second fan.

Should I RMA them, will Gigabyte give me two new fan shrouds for the cards? Or will they replace them with some other card? (Hopefully NOT a 192-bit GF114-based "V3" model.)

The cards themselves seem fine otherwise. And because they have two fans, and not just one, the other non-failing fan seems to keep temps in check, at least according to the temp sensor read by Precision.

Edit: Do you think I could contact them about some replacement fans/shrouds? Would I have to remove the heatsink, unscrewing from the back of the card, to replace the fan shrouds? Or do they just clip on? I think that the fans are plugged into the PCB using a connector that can be removed.

I don't really want to mess with the heatsink, I would be concerned that I would screw it up, but if the fan shrouds snap off, then I would replace them.

Edit: Hmm, just tried taking one of them apart. Apparently, you have to take the whole heatsink off, using the screws on the back of the card, to get the front plastic shroud with the fans off. Sucks.

Will probably have to RMA them.

I seem to have the same problem. None of my video cards have lasted more than 1 to 2 years due to the fan failing.

 

[Will Robinson]

That's fan boy over time on your end LOL. Prove it that AMD GPUs last longer for I am 99% positive there is no evidence to back up these wild wild claims of fan boy like proportions.

yikes.

 

[bononos]

That's fan boy over time on your end LOL. Prove it that AMD GPUs last longer for I am 99% positive there is no evidence to back up these wild wild claims of fan boy like proportions.

The bumpgate scandal at Nvidia started somewhere from the 8800 series all the way to the 250. Unless you only started buying Nvidia cards 2 years ago, you probably got burnt from that problem.