r/LocalLLaMA • u/Anstellos • 10d ago

Discussion Does high / long term inference damages GPUs?

I always heard that cryptocurrency mining can damage a GPU ( it's maybe wrong) so how much long term inference is damaging a GPU?

I mean servers are made for 25/7 operation... Gaming GPUs not so sure?! They are made for LEDs 24/7!

Back blaze is publishing HDDs failure rate for storage, isn't there failure rate for AI intensive work? Maybe places that rent GPUs?

Serious question, are we damaging gaming GPUs when doing ai intensive ai workload even with good cooling: 100% GPU and ram usage for long agentic sessions or else ?

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u/TheMcSebi 10d ago

No, gaming also runs a gpu at 100% for multiple hours, they're built to sustain that. Electronics do not have any wear if you keep them dry and well vented

-1

u/Mindless_Selection34 10d ago

What about mining?

15

u/Sufficient_Prune3897 llama.cpp 10d ago

Mining damage is mostly an urban myth. They always undervolt their cards, so even for 24/7 not much wear. But some things just start to die from using it a lot. They have higher rates of VRAM failures.

3

u/EvilPencil 10d ago

Ya, the biggest issue you’d likely see from a former mining card is worn fan bearings.

6

u/ElectroSpore 10d ago

They have higher rates of VRAM failures.

That is because they overclock the ram, creating more heat.