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How To Increase Your Graphic Cards Lifespan

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Harold Adams
How To Increase Your Graphic Cards Lifespan

Graphics cards are a top priority for every gamer. Also, it is one of the most important components to make your game works well on your computer. A good graphic card will increases the performance of your computer. Unfortunately, as time goes by and you will do gaming more often, your graphics cards will not work than before.

Sooner or later, the graphic cards will break down, causing laggy graphics on your game or doing video editing. There are various reasons your graphics card may not perform well. However do you know how to increase your graphic cards lifespan?

If you don’t have a budget for new graphics and want to extend the lifespan of your old graphics card, you are at the right place because we are going to share a detailed guide with 10 tips that you can use to improve your GPU lifespan.

How To Increase Your Graphic Cards Lifespan – 10 Tips

You could do some things to prolong the lifespan of your graphic cards so it won’t break easily. Below are some useful tips on preventing unfortunate breakdowns on your graphic cards and some faqs about them. Here we go.

Lower The Temperature Of Your GPU

First of all, the lifespan of the graphic card depends greatly on its temperature. So a higher temperature is an indicator that your graphic card will break down soon. That’s because, with a high-temperature GPU, it tends to work harder and causes more stress on itself leading it eventually breaks down.

The most common way to prevent this from happening is by keeping the computer cool and well ventilated at all times so that it won’t be too hot inside your case (the place where all your computer parts are put).

Also, keeping a good airflow in your PC is very important because if there is no proper air circulation, then dust might be accumulated inside, creating some sort of heat trap that can cause overheating in your PC.

To help you keep your computer cool and well ventilated, We recommend that you buy a good case fan or mount your graphic card.

Remove Dust From Your Computer

Dust is one of the main reasons why your computer tends to get overheated. If there is too much dust inside your computer, heat buildup will occur, which can damage your graphic card and even other parts of your computer.

To prevent this from happening, regularly clean up the dust (especially on ventilating areas) frequently or at least once a month so that it doesn’t accumulate and cause overheating.

Also, if you use the computer to play games, make sure that your computer has ample ventilation holes on the sides and back. If possible, place your PC in a well-ventilated area so it won’t cause overheating inside your room.

Consider Replacing The Power Supply

Replacing the power supply is a very effective way to prolong the lifespan of your graphic card because it increases the number of times you can turn on and off your computer.

There are many reasons why a power supply can fail: sudden surge, misconfigured power settings that cause incorrect voltages, overloading caused by adding extra devices while not upgrading the PSU’s wattage, defective/old or dying capacitors inside the PSU etc. All those problems can damage your graphic cards (not to mention another component in your PC).

If you have an older model of PSU that uses old technology, we recommend getting a new one. There are newer models out there that use more modern and efficient technology to make it last longer and give you greater performance.

Also, make sure that your power supply can handle the graphic card(s) you got. You might have a powerful GPU, but if your PSU is weak, it won’t last long, even if it’s not constantly being used.

Upgrade The Fan

GPU Fans are usually included when you purchase a graphic card. However, those fans are very cheap and not always reliable, making them less desirable for people who want to prolong the lifespan of their graphic cards.

Better quality GPU fans are thicker, faster and use better technology, making them more efficient than entry-level fans (making them last longer). So We recommend that if you got spare money, buy a higher quality fan instead of just upgrading the GPU itself because it’s one of the cheapest yet most effective ways to prolong your GPU life by reducing overheating.

If possible, try to get one UL approved because they tend to be more reliable than those that aren’t (compare this with buying a PSU – If you have extra money, then buy a higher quality PSU instead of just upgrading it).

Get A GPU Card Cooler

The card cooler is an effective way to increase the lifespan of your graphic card because if you use it, the temperature will be reduced inside your computer case, thus extending life. Also, this makes thermal paste last longer, so if using the thermal paste to prevent heating problems on GPU/CPU, get one that’s made of better quality.

Update Graphics Driver Regularly

Update graphics driver regularly because if you do not do this, your graphic card may not handle new games that are soon to come out as newer games need higher GPU performance. Also, you might experience problems like game crashes/freezing, which will cause damage to your graphic cards and other components (like a hard drive) inside your computer.

On the other hand, updating graphics drivers too regularly isn’t good for graphic cards because it causes instability that hinders performance, increases power consumption and fan noise or even causes overheating. Thus, if you update drivers regularly, try to find a balance between how long you should wait before updating.

Use GPU Thermal Grease or Paste

Using a thermal paste or grease is an effective way to improve the performance of your graphic card because it reduces overheating and prevents heat buildup that might damage components. There are many types of thermal paste/grease out there. If possible, get one that’s made of better quality so that it will last longer; thus, you won’t have to upgrade it as often.

Another thing to keep in mind is using too much thermal paste/grease on your GPU (or any component for that matter) can be bad for other parts inside your computer, especially if the amount used exceeds what was recommended by the manufacturer. Also, don’t just buy any cheap brand; make sure it’s reputable and popular first.

Run Games At A Lower Frame Rate Rather Than Higher Resolution

Today’s games are very graphics-intensive, which means that if you have a weak graphics card, then it’ll struggle to run games at high settings. In that situation, try running your game on lower resolution instead of a higher frame rate because running a full game speed with maxed out settings will strain your graphic cards rapidly.

You can easily change in-game settings to do so. It will help your graphics card last longer and get better performance, too, because if you run a game at a low frame rate, the graphic card won’t have to deal with as much load; thus, it won’t overheat.

Avoid Excessive Time Spent On Gaming

Playing games is fun. We all know that. However, playing games for too long will eventually damage your graphic cards or other components (like a hard drive) inside your computer. The reason is that heat buildup may cause permanent damage to the card or the component itself.

So if you’re blowing money on a new graphics card, then treat it as an investment and make sure you get maximum use out of it by not spending too much time on gaming every day. That way, you’ll be able to enjoy the game and still prolong your GPU life simultaneously.

Avoid Frequent Attachment And Removal Of The Graphics Card

Like with any other component, do NOT attempt to change the graphics card frequently. Not only because it’s pointless but also because you might damage something inside your computer such as a hard disk/motherboard, or even worse – short out an important electrical component by touching it carelessly and causing a fire (which can be very dangerous).

If your computer is overheating, make sure you do not remove the GPU fan. Removing it can break the PCI-E pins, which are essential for electricity transfer and thus damage your whole motherboard or cause the permanent failure of graphic cards.

Now let’s move to some frequently asked questions that will help you more.

Does Overclocking GPU Reduce Lifespan?

Overclocking GPU is like using it for too long and will damage your graphic card. Graphic cards are not made to be used on overclocked settings; thus, their lifespan is very short (just a year or two).

So if you’re planning on doing overclock, don’t keep running at that speed for a long time because you might end up damaging your GPU permanently.

But, of course, there’s always an exception, so if you know what you’re doing, then, by all means, do it if it’s safe and won’t cause permanent damage to your system.

Does Crypto Mining Decrease Lifespan of GPU?

We’ve all heard the term “don’t run your GPU for too long, and it’ll burn out.” And I get that. But if you are mining cryptocurrency and running a GPU under full load for prolonged periods well, then at least three years is what we can expect from them. With an average lifespan of 5 years, this isn’t so bad, right?

Does Overclocking Reduce GPU Lifespan?

Overclocking will increase the temperature of your graphics card. This is not good because it might cause heat buildup that’ll damage components inside your computer (like a hard disk) or shorten the lifespan of your graphic cards.

Of course, there aren’t any exact figures for this, but in our opinion, if you overclock, then you should do so only to a certain extent; don’t just run everything at maxed out.

The most important thing to remember when overclocking is to be careful and never exceed the manufacturer’s recommended speed; otherwise, it may cause permanent damage to your computer and/or graphic card.

Also, keep in mind that different GPU brands handle heat buildup differently, which means that some cards can take more stress than others before breaking down.

Does Gaming Shorten the Lifespan of Your GPU and CPU?

The simple answer is no if you don’t do excessive gaming. Gaming uses less electricity and thus produces less heat than Adobe PhotoshopWorld of Warcraft, or even watching an HD movie.

That’s one reason why computer components like CPU/RAM can last longer if used for gaming purposes rather than surfing the internet.

Nonetheless, any activity that generates heat will damage your components in one way or another, so make sure you keep your PC clean and don’t overclock it (or play games too often).

Does It Shorten a Gpu Lifespan by Setting Fans to 100%?

As a general rule of thumb, it shouldn’t. But if you do use a 3rd party programs to set the GPU fan speed to 100%, then try not to keep it at that setting for an extended period because doing so will eventually damage your graphic card due to excessive heat produced by it.

In Summary

Considering all the given useful tips about the increasing lifespan of your expensive computer hardware components, including graphics cards, I hope that you will be able to drastically prolong their useful lifespan.

If you like this article and feel that it might be useful for your friends, do not hesitate to share it with them via social networks using the buttons below this post. It will surely help them a lot with regards to choosing graphics cards.

 

Source of news: https://sacredreviews.com/how-to-increase-your-graphic-cards-lifespan/

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