Graphics Card

[Jacki Silverfall]

How long do graphics cards last? I have a ATI something. lol

[Rolig Loon]

Hehehe... How long do people last?  Until they wear out.   Your graphics card could last for many years if you don't abuse it by overheating it or sending a zot of power through it from some other failing component.  It's more likely to become obsolete before it wears out, though.  Technology moves ahead.  In our case, LL and the TPVs keep making the viewers more demanding, so that you need a fancier graphics card to take advantage of them.  If your card was adequate for the 1.23 viewer, it may be barely adequate for V3 today -- no shadows, probably -- or maybe all you can run is Phoenix.  If you have enough power and ventilation in your computer, you may be able to upgrade to a new card for two or three hundred dollars.  I have done that twice in this machine since it was built in 2007, and I'm quite happy. If you can't afford an upgrade, at least keep your drivers up to date and be sure that you keep the innards of your machine clean and keep the fans spinning properly.  With luck, it should last ..... forever?

[Lindal Kidd]

I have never had a graphics card fail in a computer.

Your mileage may vary, though...especially if you have a cheap or marginal power supply, never blow the dust bunnies out of your case, or tweak your system by overclocking it.

[Nalates Urriah]

I agree it may become way obsolete long before it fails.

You will see graphics cards for sale on eBay as people upgrade to newer cards.

Cards do fail. The most common cause I have seen is a cooling fan freezing up. The fans are often custom fans and difficult to find. Places like www.mcmaster.com/ may have them... they have about everything on the planet for making stuff.

In other cases heat sinks are allowed to fill with dust.

Both scenarios lead to over heating and eventual failure of the chips.

Running silicon chips at and above 75C shortens the time to failure. But, they may last for 3 or 4 years running at hgh temps.

Overclockers have been known to accidently kill video cards. They often run the cards at high temperatures. They also tend to update cards and other hardware often.

 

[Marigold Devin]

---

Jacki Silverfall wrote:

How long do graphics cards last? I have a ATI something. lol

---

 

My first graphics card was an nVidia GeForce 8300 GS that lasted approximately 5 months, before it died rather spectacularly after I was set on fire for the umpteenth time by my then-partner (!). 

The subsequent nVidia GeForce 9500 GT has lasted so far for this past four years. As the others say, things last longer/overheat much less, if the dust bunnies are blown out on a regular basis, but I don't know if anyone knows the average shelf life of each particular graphics card, or whether we're all still testing them.



[Peggy Paperdoll]

I've actaully had three graphics card failures in the machines I've had over the years.  The first failure was due to ignorance and I did not properly monitor my temps and by the time I did start monitoring them the card was on it's way to the hardware grave.  The second failure was sort of fluke (one that can happen if you are not careful).  I got into the habit of cleaning my case about once a month and durring one of my cleanings, I noticed a very small and slight discoloration on the PC board where the card plugged into the PCI slot so I pulled the card out to clean the contacts with an eraser........I scrubbed too hard and loosened the foil from the PC board.  That card failed about a month later and when I removed it from the motherboard I saw the burned fiber glass where the foil came loose.  I still think it was a manufacturing flaw but didn't press the issue  and simjply got an new card (I was time to replace the old 8600 GTS anyway).  And the last card I had fail on me was that I card I got to replace the 8600 card........a 9800 GTX.  It was a great card but it was a huge card physically and barely fit in my case (I had to some serious moving hardware around to make room to install it in my computer).  When I got this computer (the one I'm using now), I did not get a graphics card and intended to tranfer the 9800 to this computer.  That didn't work out well because I cracked the PC board on the card removing it from my old computer...........it did not work when I put in this computer.

As for graphics wearing out and failing on their own, I'm with the others.  They reach obsolescence before failing if you maintain them (or don't manhandle them like I did my 9800 card).  But, they will fail due to manufacturing problems (like my 8600 did).  My only other failure was due to neglect........my neglect.

I learned the hard way.  Take care of your hardware....and, be careful too (that stuff is tough but it will break).