Ideally when you're mining, you’re pushing your graphics cards to the extreme limit of their capabilities. There are several dangers involved if your graphics cards are operating at too high a temperature, but what is considered too high a temperature? And what can you do to prevent high-temp damage to your cards?
By running too hot you're certainly reducing the lifespan of your graphics cards, and you're likely voiding the warranty as well. Most GPU's have sensors to detect if a certain temperature threshold has been breached, and if that sensor is "compromised" at any point during the life of the card then the manufacturer has no responsibility to honor the warranty. Additionally, a hot card means the fan(s) are working overtime. Fans are typically the first mechanism to fail over the lifetime of a graphics card.
Temp Safety Chart
Temperature | Safe? | Effects |
---|---|---|
0 - 25°C | Yes | Is it on? |
26 - 45°C | Yes | Idling. Perhaps picking up some risidual heat from your CPU and other components? Certainly not mining at this temperature |
46 - 55°C | Yes | Cards are warming up! Either you've just started the mining software or you're not running your cards to their full potential |
56 - 71°C | Yes | THE SWEET SPOT! Cards are comfortably hashing away with no throttling: GOLDILOCKS ZONE! |
72 - 79°C | Yes | Temperature is safe, but you'll experience slightly lower hashrates in this range. Why? Your GPU's self-regulate their clockspeeds (downthrottle) here as a safety measure |
80 - 89°C | Borderline | Your GPU's are not happy here. Expect significant downthrottling and potentially the smell of burning plastic |
90 - 99°C | No | There is likely permanent damage occurring |
100 - 109°C | No | Too high. A GPU running at this temperature for a minute or two may be recoverable, but significant chance of bricking |
110+ °C | No | You've failed. Hope the GPU is the only thing damaged. Pray your home insurance covers negligence |