Each piece of computer hardware serves a unique purpose. Different forms of usage may necessitate different hardware choices.
Every component has a specific function required for a computer’s overall functioning. One of the core components of a system unit is the Graphics card. It’s responsible for accelerating the graphics processing power of a system.
With all the benefits of a GPU, there is a place to consider GPU lifespan because putting extreme stress on a GPU can decrease the lifespan.
People are concerned about GPU lifespan because it’s the heart of a system. Whether you are worried about GPU lifespan, I will discuss the GPU longevity and effectiveness factors that will help to clear all of your chaos.
So, let’s dive right in.
Check our exclusive tutorial on how to test if GPU is failing.
How Long Do GPUs Last?
Generally, GPUs last for 5 to 7 years on moderate usage. With heavy use, it should last around 3-5 years. In some cases, GPUs last 7-10 years, even more. But the truth is GPU’s lifespan depends on their usage and varies from user to user. Inappropriate use of GPUs can cause damage within 3 years.
GPU is one of the core components of a system unit. There is no way to play the game, multi-tasking, do big data processing, or do crypto mining without using the GPU. Every component has a limited lifespan, and it doesn’t matter how valuable and costly it is.
The lifespan of a GPU depends on its use cases. If you are using your GPU without any misuse, overclocking, or overvoltage, your graphics card usually lasts a long.
On the other hand, overclocking your GPU, overvolting, and overheating can shorten your GPU lifespan. Also, using the poor Power Supply Unit on your system, power surges and dust shortens the GPU life cycle.
Outdated technology is a more significant concern in the present tech world. Every year, GPU manufacturers invent new GPU technology that is more powerful than the last year.
For this reason, most manufacturers provide support for up to five years. After the end of the support period, GPUs become obsolete and have a shortened lifespan.
Also, check out our separate post on Motherboard not detecting GPU.
What Factors Determine the Lifespan of a Graphics Card?
Determining the lifespan of a graphics card depends on several factors. Usually, it depends on your GPU use case scenario, like how much stress you push on your GPU.
However, if you understand and avoid the crucial factors that determine the lifespan of your GPU in your day-to-day usage, you can easily extend your GPU lifespan.
Here are the crucial factors that determine the lifespan of a graphics card:
Excessive Heating
How efficiently the card is thermally treated is one of the most crucial variables in deciding how long it will last. Most computing components are killed by heat, which is the most prominent factor in determining their lifespan.
Do check our latest post on the Can Motherboard Bottleneck GPU.
Dust and Humidity
Dust is one of the crucial threats that determines the lifespan of a graphics card because dust builds up static charge on memory chips.
Dust can block the GPU airflow and creates an overheating issue. Dust also hinders thermal conductivity, which also causes the overheating problem.
Humidity can also destroy your graphics card. High humidity accumulated rust on the GPU card, which destroyed the GPU parts slowly. And after a while, rust damaged the critical components.
Overclocking
Excessive overclocking can decrease your GPU parts lifespan. When a GPU performs overclocking for a long time, the energy of the parts gets lower day by day.
Excessive overclocking also create an overheating issue on the GPU that cannot handle by default setup and occurs damaging and lifespan problems. Due to a low-cost power supply, the GPU is vulnerable to voltage surges, and the card is improperly overclocked.
Manufacturing Fault
Not only for misuse of GPU, but in some cases, manufacturing fault is also the offender for decreasing the GPU lifespan. Due to poor thermal design, using inferior components and inadequate maintenance are dying GPUs within a short time.
Bad Power Supply
The poor power supply can create the power surges issue on your GPU because GPUs use high voltage power to deliver higher performance. So, if you are using an inadequate power supply to supply power to your GPU, it can’t do it properly.
An insufficient power supply can create sudden crashes and performance drops in your GPU. It can even damage your GPU at any time due to overvoltage.
As it is an electrical piece of gear, there are many other factors to consider. Your memory could shorten, your PCB could blow out, you could have a short across the board, or your processor could die.
Follow our guide to AIO Water Coolers for GPUs worth it.
How to Increase the Lifespan of your Graphics Card
Imagine you bought a GPU by breaking your savings, but your card is damaged after 1 or 2 years of use.
Can you feel the situation? How tragic and painful is this moment for a GPU owner. It’s frustrating and annoying as well. In reality, no one wants to face such a situation.
So, do you need to increase the lifespan of your graphics card? I’m pretty sure you badly needed it.
In the previous section, you have seen some significant factors that determine the lifetime of your graphics card. The good thing is if you avoid these factors, you can effectively increase the lifespan of your GPU.
So, why are you late? Let’s see.
Here are the steps to increase the lifespan of your graphics card:
1. Control the Overheating
When your GPU gets overheated, you must control the GPU temperature to prevent any critical damage to your graphics card parts.
First and foremost, check your GPU temperature to ensure the overheating issue. If the GPU temperature is higher than standard, close all the running processes, such as games or heavy software, creating the overheating case.
Increase your GPU fan speed to control the temperature fast. Controlling the GPU temperature allows you to increase your graphics card’s lifespan effectively.
2. Stop Overclocking
You already know excessive overclocking is one of the crucial factors determining the GPU lifespan. Overclocking overuses the GPU component’s capability, which directly affects GPU performance and slowly decreases the GPU lifespan.
So, stop the unnecessary and excessive overclocking to increase the lifespan of your GPU. But, if you want to overclock your GPU, do it properly and for a limited time.
3. Clean Dust
Clean dust completely from your GPU and other components because dust can damage all of your system components. Your system airflow can block by dust which may create an excessive heating issue on your GPU and other parts and easily damage your GPU.
You can use an air blower, brush, or other cleaning peripherals to clean dust from your system. Remove dust from all of your components (especially GPU) to prevent hardware damage. It also helps you to increase the lifespan of your graphics card.
Also, Check out how you can remove the thermal paste from the motherboard PCB.
4. Use a High-Quality PSU (Power Supply Unit)
I have seen many GPU users use low-quality PSU for their system, which is imbalanced and not adequate for GPU. These users don’t know how a PSU works and how important it is for a system.
An inappropriate and imbalanced PSU can destroy your GPU within a second. Due to the overvoltage of your system, your GPU can damage.
For instance, use branded and high-efficiency power supply to prevent any issues in the future, which also helps you increase your graphics card’s lifespan.
Frequently Asked Questions
Will a GPU Last 10 Years?
Of course, a GPU can last 10 years, even more. If you are using your GPU carefully to play the game, do basic tasks, etc., your GPU will perform for a long time without any issue.
How long do GPUs last for gaming?
GPUs last for gaming 5 years on average. As long as you maintain your GPU correctly and don’t force it to run games that are not capable of running, the GPUs perform flawlessly.
How long do GPUs last for mining?
Though the mining GPUs are running 24/7, GPUs last for around 3-5 years if the GPUs are with proper maintenance and cooling.
How often should you replace your graphics card?
It depends on user necessities and varies from user to user. Most people replace their graphics cards every 3 to 5 years.
When a GPU shows signs of failure or when it no longer obtains the performance, users want to replace the new one from their system.
What’s a Safe GPU Temperature?
Typically for a GPU, up to 80°C is a safe temperature. While a GPU heats at an excessive temperature of more than 80°C, it starts to drop performance like shuttering, lagging, frame dropping, etc.
Bottom Line
Appropriately maintaining GPU health can help you to increase your GPU lifespan significantly and deliver flawlessly good GPU performance.
Overall, there are a lot of factors to consider, such as temperature-reducing capacitor life, dust accumulating static charge on memory chips, and electromigration. You’ll be alright if you look after the card and avoid extreme temps.
If you are worried about your GPU lifespan, follow the instructions I described. Thank you for your time.
Have a nice day. See you next one.
