What is the average life of a mining rig?

[Zionatin]

Got some 280x's still going for almost 3 years 24/7 temp 80 degrees 70% fan. Fans did stiffen up after about 2 years... I just spray some wd40 in them carefully when it happens and they are good as new again!

Ps. Wd40 is not recommended I belive machine oil is but... I've not had any problems so far... just made sure I didn't use too much so it would leak or get it on the gpu board.

WD is not good for high temperature operation. You need some grease like those used in the bike or car.

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[GermanFoobla]

The lifespan of the graphics cards can actually be longer than in a gamer PC if they are in constant environment and at constant operating temperatures.

Only the fans can wear faster because of continous operation.

You are right about this but its pretty hard to do this because the most miners are bad cooled and due to that do not life long to be honest.
Only the big miner company's with real fans and cooling chambers can really accomplish this.

[Redrose]

If that's so much, then that it isn't a problem to consider, because if you ROI in more than 1 year, there's questions about your maths to be asked.

[Za1n]

All the parts have life time in hours.

The fans have life time differing 15.000 hours to 36.000 hours.

The risers must be must be replaced, the life time is 500 days at average.

Motherboards lasts nearly 2 years.

The GPUs also have 2 years time if overclocked.

No problem with CPUs and/or rams so far.

While it is true all hardware will have some type of "life expectancy" or MTBF, I think your estimates are rather on the low end.

I agree with others that GPU cooling fans are probably the number one thing to go, but replacing these are fairly easy and economical with many exact-fit replacements available on eBay. The GPU's themselves keep running as long as they are cooled properly.

Risers, should last indefinitely, if there are issues with these it would be because of either physical damage or running too much current through them.

I have dedicated mining motherboards running since March 2013, and even have a few recycled ones (from personal builds) I am using from even earlier.

Of course, I like to perform routine maintenance on all of my rigs at least twice per year. This means taking the rig out of production, disassembling it and perform a thorough cleaning of all the components. This involves vacuuming and using canned air to clean heat-sinks and other hard to reach areas, re-seating all cables and components (except for CPU), and oiling and/or replacing any fans that are in need of more serious attention.

I don't mess with the CPU itself as risk of damaging pins is greater than any benefit. I might reapply some heat-sink compound between the CPU and the cooler, but once a CPU is socketed in a MB and running properly it is best to leave it alone. These two components are "Married forever" so to speak.

I think the other secret is to use some sort of quality surge suppression before the power supply to help  minimize surges (especially in the Summer with T-Storms) and to ensure there is adequate ventilation around each rig. Except for physical damage, the other two leading causes of component failure is from heat and or electrical surges/shorts. By using quality risers, keeping rigs well ventilated and ensuring clean power goes a long way to getting long life out of your equipment.

For me this strategy paid off well, as while I sold off most of my GPUs from the Scrypt mining days, i had kept all the motherboards and most of my power supplies. So when Eth started to take off, I only had to pull my old components out of storage and buy new more efficient GPUs. For the most part, I only had to ROI on the GPUs as everything else had already been paid off from before. \

One last thing in keeping with this is spend the few extra $$ on a quality power supply. I read so many threads of people using these cheap power supplies and cringe. I have several 1000 watt Corsair units that again are 3-4 years old and in many cases still under warranty. Buying quality here not only leads to a more reliable and longer lasting PS, but also ensures the rest of your system lasts longer as well since clean stable power is key to everything else. Also, when buying a PS, size it appropriately, don't run 840 watts 24/7 out of a unit rated at 850 watts. While the better brands will handle it, I usually go with the 80% rule, which is the same as NEC for power circuits, and size my Power Supplies accordingly. So a 1000 watt unit I would only pull 800 watts from it when mining.

[Mzie]

Depends with the quality of your hardware and settngs on gpu, like fans on 100%, overclocked etc

[Diulamon]

Depends with the quality of your hardware and settngs on gpu, like fans on 100%, overclocked etc

That is right. It mainly depends on the temperature of the GPU and the whole system. If it is too high, it has short life.

[ajareselde]

Depends with the quality of your hardware and settngs on gpu, like fans on 100%, overclocked etc

In regards to the fan being on 100% - you do know that you can use warranty if fan die or start to act out while warranty is still valid , i did it many times, and few time was
given brand new gpu's in exchange for the ones that had dying fans.. The main this is that you return original bios and dont mess around the card removing security stickers on screws etc.

That being said; i have some gpu's that are mining 6 years now (yes , 6 years !!) and also had cards that died/were fried within just a few months (fu?.ing 7950 xfx's DD's), so quality does matter the most imho.

[Genemind]

Depends with the quality of your hardware and settngs on gpu, like fans on 100%, overclocked etc

In regards to the fan being on 100% - you do know that you can use warranty if fan die or start to act out while warranty is still valid , i did it many times, and few time was
given brand new gpu's in exchange for the ones that had dying fans.. The main this is that you return original bios and dont mess around the card removing security stickers on screws etc.

That being said; i have some gpu's that are mining 6 years now (yes , 6 years !!) and also had cards that died/were fried within just a few months (fu?.ing 7950 xfx's DD's), so quality does matter the most imho.

What card do you mine whose age is 6 years. The earliest card I mine is the AMD 7970, which is 3 years old.

[ajareselde]

Depends with the quality of your hardware and settngs on gpu, like fans on 100%, overclocked etc

In regards to the fan being on 100% - you do know that you can use warranty if fan die or start to act out while warranty is still valid , i did it many times, and few time was
given brand new gpu's in exchange for the ones that had dying fans.. The main this is that you return original bios and dont mess around the card removing security stickers on screws etc.

That being said; i have some gpu's that are mining 6 years now (yes , 6 years !!) and also had cards that died/were fried within just a few months (fu?.ing 7950 xfx's DD's), so quality does matter the most imho.

What card do you mine whose age is 6 years. The earliest card I mine is the AMD 7970, which is 3 years old.

The cards in question are 5850's. They don't bring barely any profit, but it's hard for me to let them go just like that, knowing how much they earned me over the years.
Interesting fackt is that none of the 58xx series died on me (ofc i dont count fan replacements), guess they made them of quality.

[milewilda]

The lifespan of the graphics cards can actually be longer than in a gamer PC if they are in constant environment and at constant operating temperatures.

Only the fans can wear faster because of continous operation.

You are right about this but its pretty hard to do this because the most miners are bad cooled and due to that do not life long to be honest.
Only the big miner company's with real fans and cooling chambers can really accomplish this.

If you do have  budget on investing on a proper ventilation or  cooling system then you should do it  in able to last  even more on your miners. But  in my situation   , fans are  the first to worn out   for about 2 years depends on what % did you set out if the  ventilation is  good then you could lessen fan speed.

[Tmdz]

Regarding fans...don't run them at 100%

Set a custom fan curve and let the software do it's job to maintain a temp that will allow for long life.  These fans we have now can reach sometimes 4000 rpms and bearings spinning at that speed will not last long.  Some people are misinformed and think if they can run a gpu a few c lower that it will last longer, the reality is as long as you have good temps the only thing you will do is reduce fan life.  Of course when that heat wave hits let the fans spool up to keep the gpu happy.

[arielbit]

Regarding fans...don't run them at 100%

Set a custom fan curve and let the software do it's job to maintain a temp that will allow for long life.  These fans we have now can reach sometimes 4000 rpms and bearings spinning at that speed will not last long.  Some people are misinformed and think if they can run a gpu a few c lower that it will last longer, the reality is as long as you have good temps the only thing you will do is reduce fan life.  Of course when that heat wave hits let the fans spool up to keep the gpu happy.

there is a trade off too, it is not only the speed that can reduce a fan's life, the temperature in the bearing reduces the fan's life too, you may run it at low speed but the gpu temp might shorten the fan bearing life..

the most important thing is always find a way to cool your room..get creative  

[Tmdz]

There is definitely a balance to find, I just cringe when I hear people ramping them up to 100% with no regard to the temp they are running.

If you have a garage or shop to place them that would be the best.  Since temps have dropped out here my rigs are mining in a 60f shop and they are loving it.

[xxcsu]

Dust and heat is what killing everything ... PSU , VGA , CPU , FANS ...
If you are running your rig in dusty environment, and not cleaning them regularly included Motherboard/PSU/VGA/CPU Fan ...you rig lifetime maybe 1-2 years or less ...
If the same rig is running in the Air conditioned Datacenter , Server room with dust collector system , in a "virtually dusty free environment " it will be ok for another 5-8 years or more .

[arielbit]

Dust and heat is what killing everything ... PSU , VGA , CPU , FANS ...
If you are running your rig in dusty environment, and not cleaning them regularly included Motherboard/PSU/VGA/CPU Fan ...you rig lifetime maybe 1-2 years or less ...
If the same rig is running in the Air conditioned Datacenter , Server room with dust collector system , in a "virtually dusty free environment " it will be ok for another 5-8 years or more .

as for dust, i'm not that paranoid in removing dust, as long as they do not get thick enough to block cooler air flow and potentially conduct electricity when the air tends to becomes humid or when the accumulated dust tends to absorb water in the air..speaking of humidity, the air in my mining area is drier than any parts of where i live, there is a time when it rained and the water that came inside the window, about a cup in quantity quickly evaporated...i even dry clothes and stuff in my mining room, the temps even helps me defrost and ferment foods LOL   .. thinking about drying foods too hmmm.. dried a few nuts successfully lately.

i use this



to remove dust without turning off the miners, just by holding gpu's and stuff with my other hand before i blow some air to them..majority of the dust is sucked by the exhaust fan and thrown outside

[philipma1957]

Don't overclock the gpu
don't over tax the Psu
Don't max the fans

Two or more years is possible.

I had a mobo from 2012 and a gpu from 2012.

[QuintLeo]

Got some 280x's still going for almost 3 years 24/7 temp 80 degrees 70% fan. Fans did stiffen up after about 2 years... I just spray some wd40 in them carefully when it happens and they are good as new again!

Ps. Wd40 is not recommended I belive machine oil is but... I've not had any problems so far... just made sure I didn't use too much so it would leak or get it on the gpu board.

WD is not good for high temperature operation. You need some grease like those used in the bike or car.

 Grease is too thick. Standard motor oil works pretty well though, and is designed to handle MUCH higher temperatures than any computer (in working condition) will ever see.

 On the other hand, any fan in bad enough shape to NEED to be relubricated isn't very long for this world as a working item. Relube is an EMERGENCY SHORT TERM measure intended to get you by 'till you can REPLACE the bad fan with a good new fan.

 Avoid sleeve bearing fans (this SPECIFICALLY includes stuff like "rifle" "hydro" "permalube" etc) - they do NOT live up to their claimed MTBF due to failure in the seals intended to keep the lube in, and VERY rarely last even a year in 24/7 high-temp environments.
 Stick with ball bearing - which can run for YEARS with no lube at all if you keep the dust and grime out of the bearings.

 This is why I generally stick with Sapphire or Gigabyte cards - they come with Ball Bearing fans across the board AFAIK.
 (Might be true for some other brands, definitely NOT true for HIS).

[arielbit]

Got some 280x's still going for almost 3 years 24/7 temp 80 degrees 70% fan. Fans did stiffen up after about 2 years... I just spray some wd40 in them carefully when it happens and they are good as new again!

Ps. Wd40 is not recommended I belive machine oil is but... I've not had any problems so far... just made sure I didn't use too much so it would leak or get it on the gpu board.

WD is not good for high temperature operation. You need some grease like those used in the bike or car.

 Grease is too thick. Standard motor oil works pretty well though, and is designed to handle MUCH higher temperatures than any computer (in working condition) will ever see.

 On the other hand, any fan in bad enough shape to NEED to be relubricated isn't very long for this world as a working item. Relube is an EMERGENCY SHORT TERM measure intended to get you by 'till you can REPLACE the bad fan with a good new fan.

 Avoid sleeve bearing fans (this SPECIFICALLY includes stuff like "rifle" "hydro" "permalube" etc) - they do NOT live up to their claimed MTBF due to failure in the seals intended to keep the lube in, and VERY rarely last even a year in 24/7 high-temp environments.
 Stick with ball bearing - which can run for YEARS with no lube at all if you keep the dust and grime out of the bearings.

 This is why I generally stick with Sapphire or Gigabyte cards - they come with Ball Bearing fans across the board AFAIK.
 (Might be true for some other brands, definitely NOT true for HIS).

compressor oil is better, the oil that is used in car aircon compressor, it is not as thick as motor oil. got my 280x's with 90mm high speed fans zip tied to them..those fans are lubed with compressor oil, and i sealed them with a black sticky tar/asphalt like stuff i bought at an aircon/refrigeration shop..those fans are doing really well, summer has passed and they have not given up and no oil leaks.

regarding HIS, i just bought a couple of this RX 480 IceQ X2 Roaring OC 8GB, didn't know about their fans being inferior, got samsung memory though.

[philipma1957]

oh  here is the greatest heatsink/fan cooler I have ever used.


http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16835242030

remember  it never goes bad,  I used 140mm four pin pwm fans

the card's were hd7970 and they stay at  50c in silence.

I would not mind making a rig of these

[QuintLeo]

Got some 280x's still going for almost 3 years 24/7 temp 80 degrees 70% fan. Fans did stiffen up after about 2 years... I just spray some wd40 in them carefully when it happens and they are good as new again!

Ps. Wd40 is not recommended I belive machine oil is but... I've not had any problems so far... just made sure I didn't use too much so it would leak or get it on the gpu board.

WD is not good for high temperature operation. You need some grease like those used in the bike or car.

 Grease is too thick. Standard motor oil works pretty well though, and is designed to handle MUCH higher temperatures than any computer (in working condition) will ever see.

 On the other hand, any fan in bad enough shape to NEED to be relubricated isn't very long for this world as a working item. Relube is an EMERGENCY SHORT TERM measure intended to get you by 'till you can REPLACE the bad fan with a good new fan.

 Avoid sleeve bearing fans (this SPECIFICALLY includes stuff like "rifle" "hydro" "permalube" etc) - they do NOT live up to their claimed MTBF due to failure in the seals intended to keep the lube in, and VERY rarely last even a year in 24/7 high-temp environments.
 Stick with ball bearing - which can run for YEARS with no lube at all if you keep the dust and grime out of the bearings.

 This is why I generally stick with Sapphire or Gigabyte cards - they come with Ball Bearing fans across the board AFAIK.
 (Might be true for some other brands, definitely NOT true for HIS).

compressor oil is better, the oil that is used in car aircon compressor, it is not as thick as motor oil. got my 280x's with 90mm high speed fans zip tied to them..those fans are lubed with compressor oil, and i sealed them with a black sticky tar/asphalt like stuff i bought at an aircon/refrigeration shop..those fans are doing really well, summer has passed and they have not given up and no oil leaks.

regarding HIS, i just bought a couple of this RX 480 IceQ X2 Roaring OC 8GB, didn't know about their fans being inferior, got samsung memory though.

 THe HIS Ice-Q models with a blower are ball bearing and tend to last.
 HIS has a bad habit of using sleeve bearing fans on non-blower models though from what little I've seen of them - might depend on the specific model though.