How does the temperature affect GPU longevity?

[coolhwip]

Hi guys,

 

I'm up for buying a new PC, and I can't decide which GPU to go with. Important thing to remember in my case is that I update my PC really seldom and tend to stick with one setup for a long time. I'm really looking for stuff that will serve me for years. I've read that Gigabyte's "Ultra Durable 2" cards last longer and run more stable. Is that right? What do you think about UD2 overall? Anyway, if this whole UD2 does work it seemed reasonable to me. I browsed some local stores (I really prefer to buy it around here, in Tallin, Estonia) and hereby present you what seems to fit my budget:

 

Gigabyte HD 4850 Zalman

http://www.gigabyte.com.tw/Products/VGA/Pr...?ProductID=2899 -- This was my initial interest. I've read a lot of good things about its performance. Though some people report that the card tends to bug and crash the system, too. One scary thing about 4850s for me is the heat they produce. More on that later.

 

Gigabyte 9800 GT 1GB

http://www.gigabyte.com.tw/Products/VGA/Pr...?ProductID=2917 -- This one is behind on the benchmarks compared to 4850, but it seems to produce much less heat. Prices for 4850 and 9800gt 1gb are approximately the same.

 

Gigabyte 9800 GT 512MB http://www.gigabyte.com.tw/Products/VGA/Pr...?ProductID=2916 -- Actually looks appealing to me because of it's alledgedly good performance and really much lower price. I've read some really positive reviews about this one. Certainly it doesn't quite reach 4850, which is no disaster, for I am humble

 

Now if we don't take into account the Gigabyte's UD2, I have two more options by Clud3D. There's HD4850 (http://www.club3d.nl/products/products_end...m?product_id=48) by Club3D and GTS250 512MB also by Club3D (http://www.club3d.nl/products/products_end...?product_id=112), all approximately same price, +/- 10$.

 

Now when we have my approximate options outlined, we come to my main question, really:

 

Does the fact that HD4850 work on much higher temperatures than, let's say, 9800GT, mean that HD4850 will "burn out" faster?

 

Now I know that they're designed to work on higher temperatures and a 4850 can go in 90c without artifacting while 9800 will die at some 67c or so. But does the fact that they're designed to stand that temperature mean they will last the same amount of years as other naturally cooler cards? Also, if 4850 needs additional cooling installed (which is okay really which card doesn't) that effectively makes it an ever more expensive investment compared to cards that run okay with stock coolers. Also, then, will the card that is constantly used with a stock cooler, and runs as intended, let's say, at 60c, live longer than the card that's used with a powerful cooler and runs at 30c for the same amount of time? Or if temperature is normal, it doesn't matter it's low normal or high normal?

 

Well having all this confusion out I hope you'll clear things up

In short, again, which GPU would you recommend? I want not only a decent one, but the one that wouldn't die on me after a year of glorious performance.

 

Hope I made sense! Help!

[jackbrennan2008]

When you buy a graphics card it comes with a warranty and that warrnaty is your guarentee that it will work throughout the warranty period. Provided you do not tamper with the card!

 

Most cards have a 3 year warranty (EVGA has lifetime within the US and 12 years outside the US after registration on their website) so if your card dies due to heat and you have not tampered with it you will recieve a new card, either the same or an equivilent.

 

Simply put if you just install the card and then it dies as long as you have a decent warranty you will recieve a new card at no charge to you (maybe postage).

 

Also its much easier to recommend when you tell us what you will be doing with it? Gaming, folding, office work, photoshop, cad work ect. Also your resolution is nice to know aswell.

[coolhwip]

Thanks for the input. Things here do come with a 3 years warranty. Still wondering about the temperature effects, though. Curiosity, if no other reason, right?

 

Oh, yeah, I'll be gaming. Gaming on 1680x1050. Should've mentioned that.

[jackbrennan2008]

To be honest i dont think you should worry about the 'Longetivity' of a gpu due to heat as it will be covered under warranty if anything does to wrong.

 

You should be more concerned about stability, higher tempatures increase the chances for instability in a computer system or individual components. My gtx 295 has a limit of 105c so i aim to stay under 90c if at all possible, it only hits around 78 when playing crysis warhead and it gets up into the 90's when running furmark although i see no stability problems.

 

But yes if you run a card at 100% load at 90c 24/7 of course it will effect the cards lifespan, but as mentioned above if its under warranty it will be replaced. However if your card is idleing at 90c then something is wrong.

 

Temperatures are important to monitor as higher temps will degrade a GPU quicker than lower temps but just make sure you have adequate cooling in your case and if needed ramp up the cards fan speed with a program like riva tuner and temps should not be a problem.

 

But as i said time and time again, even if you run your card at 100% 24/7 with the stock fan profile it should still live for 3 years. If not then you get a replacement through your place of purchase or the distributing company.

 

I would have gone for a 4850 (1gb if its possible) as it has a little more grunt than the 9800 gt but thats open to speculation as always. Hope that helps!

Edited June 3, 2009 by jackbrennan2008

[maj0rgamer]

welcome to occ...

 

where do you live (unfortunately it probably does affect warranty time)?

 

not sure about ati cards, being an nvidia user...

 

but if you want something to last and plan to game at 1680X1050 for awhile, then not much can beat the gtx 260 core 216 for price to performance as of middish 2009.

 

 

recommend evga, xfx or bfg in particular since they offer serious (lifetime right? is that us only? not sure about other countries, sorry) warranties (can't easily beat that!).

 

got a bfg personally (lifetime warranty) and am very happy with it running 1680X1050 at the moment...

 

as long as you keep it under 100C (preferably around 75C or lower depending on conditions), there should be nothing to worry about for years!

Edited June 3, 2009 by Maj0r Gamer

[Verran]

People always worry about the longevity of their parts but I think they fail to realize just how long this stuff lasts. In reality, if you just set a PC up and cool it even just decently, it can run for a decade. I still have Pentium III 600's that work fine in my basement. This stuff lasts forever.

 

People seem to think if they're 5 degrees over recommended something's going to die in 3 months or something like that. No. Even when poorly treated, most of this stuff lasts way longer than we want it to anyways. As long as you're not so hard on it that you kill it on the spot, you're probably fine when you think about how long it will be before you ditch the thing anyways.

[coolhwip]

welcome to occ...

Thanks!

where do you live (unfortunately it probably does affect warranty time)?

I'm in Tallin, Estonia. In the store I'm likely to use normal warranty is 2 years, plus they throw in a year for additional 10 Euro, making it 3 years. That's how I'll do it, I guess.

 

Thanks for the advice! Sadly both 4850 1gb and GTS260 are a bit our of my budget reach...

What do you think about Gigabyte's UD2 though? Any ideas whether there's really a difference?

 

People always worry about the longevity of their parts but I think they fail to realize just how long this stuff lasts. In reality, if you just set a PC up and cool it even just decently, it can run for a decade. I still have Pentium III 600's that work fine in my basement. This stuff lasts forever.

Ahh, dunno. The reason why I am getting the new PC in the first place is because my Radeon 9800 Pro 256 broke down. It's still breathing but only half of the screen is showing normally, other half is constantly artifacting and flickering. I've started having problems with the card several years ago when stock cooler quit on me, so I changed to Arctic Cooling, and didn't have any temperature problems ever since. But I think the card just broke down under constant gaming pressure. It died mid-game too, started artifacting like crazy and stayed that way forever Right now as I type this I barely see right half of the screen. Buying a videocard separately for this PC doens't make any sense, it's all old AGP only mobo so I need to get a new one anyway cause I can't play any new games... PC's 4-5 years old, though. Apart from GPU, I had a lot of probs with the processor and out of 80gb of harddrive I have 74.5 left. And I can count amount of formats I made on one hand. Talk about decades... This machine served me well though, still. Gonna miss it

Edited June 3, 2009 by coolhwip

[AMG]

graphics cards tend to take heat alot better than CPUs, particualy the HD48XX

 

as for warrnety as long as you don't "disasemble" or misues it than you should be fine

 

however there is a RMA with evga story cardw as appenrelty dusty which jamed the fan, but the owner stats that the card just died, due to age and the fan was working when he last had it in the system.

 

it lead to that person just buying a XFX in the end.

 

thats the problem when buying things online and stuff it can be hard to get a replacment if it goes wrong

[Zertz]

out of 80gb of harddrive I have 74.5 left

 

That's entirely normal.

 

I think you used that 9800 Pro for long enough, it's 4-5 generations old

Edited June 4, 2009 by Zertz

[coolhwip]

Alright, thanks for the input everybody!

 

Question about Gigabyte's UD2 is still open for me, though. Anyone has anything to say about whether it's worth it or?

[ir_cow]

if your going from 9800pro a $30 card these days will stomp it double to none, so just about any card will do.

[Seriphx]

I bought a Gigabyte UD2 9800GT 1GB for a friend of mine. Card runs like a charm, stays quite cool and runs things very well. I think you won't be disappointed with one. It's a great little card.