Card failure rates and longevity
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How many CMP 170HX cards arrive bad, fail the 64 GB unlock or die in service is one of the most argued questions on the Discord. Owner counts posted from July to October 2026 run from 0% (several all-good batches) through single digits and about 20% to 50% (one buyer who lost 2 of 4). The counts are self-reported and not standardized; @n2dcrypt asked for standardized community testing in August 2026. This page collects the counts with their sources, the early-death reports, and the competing explanations for why cards fail and how long they last. What to test on arrival is on Acceptance checklist and Testing and burn-in, temperature limits on Thermal limits, and buying advice on Buying.
How many cards fail
Early estimates, August 2026: about 3% to 10%, and whether the cards are defective
As the first buyers tested their cards (2026-08-08 to 08-13), estimates and explanations diverged. In the order posted:
- @quark2world saw memory failures and cards dropping dead (probably buck converters), put a realistic failure rate at about 3% and bought two cards to be sure of one working one. NVIDIA datacenter GPUs have high failure rates in general, he noted, and these ran hard in mining farms. Source: @quark2world, 2026-08-08
- @cute_sc2 had 1 of 13 fail to unlock properly and estimated about 10%, because most people do not test properly and only run LLMs; the seller later refunded 50% for that card. Source: @cute_sc2, 2026-08-08
- @skirtchaser's friend had 2 bad cards of 4, and @_studebaker_ bought 4 of which 3 showed memory errors. Source: @skirtchaser, 2026-08-08
Source: @_studebaker_, 2026-08-08 - @farawaythrower (2026-08-10): the cards are not inherently defective, and the few one-off failure reports likely involved damaged or mishandled cards (poor mining environment, physical damage). Source: @farawaythrower, 2026-08-10
- 2026-08-11: @zingy90210 had heard of cards dying from temperatures. @mrmannyatx suspected one card was "cooked" because it ran hotter than another on the same task (64 C peak on the good one); @meromgreen noted 64 C is not high, and @_arcanum_ said slowness without errors points to thermal or power. @replacedriver47 was returning a card with bad VRAM. Source: @zingy90210, 2026-08-11
Source: @mrmannyatx, 2026-08-11
Source: @meromgreen, 2026-08-11
Source: @_arcanum_, 2026-08-11
Source: @replacedriver47, 2026-08-11 - @tchelobh (2026-08-13) found almost no failure reports for unlocking the 8 GB card, except one batch of 20 with one card failing the Vulkan memory test. Source: @tchelobh, 2026-08-13
- @redpandamining has an erroring 10 GB card and was shipping a faulty card to someone to test or mod; @cute_sc2 has one card with single-bit errors spread across all HBM chips. Source: @redpandamining, 2026-08-13
Source: @cute_sc2, 2026-08-13 - @n2dcrypt sees memory-address faults in the Vulkan memtest on 1 of his 5 cards (gpu-burn passes; a CUDA memtest was still to run) and suspects some dies were binned into CMP because of memory faults, which contradicts @farawaythrower's view. He asked for standardized community testing to estimate failure rates; @meatsus also took part. Source: @meatsus, 2026-08-13
Source: @n2dcrypt, 2026-08-13 - @replacedriver47 returned a badly broken card for an eBay refund. Source: @replacedriver47, 2026-08-13
Contested 8 GB and 10 GB
How many 8 GB cards fail the 64 GB unlock: from none in about 100 to 5 of 23
Reports on whether an 8 GB card reaches 64 GB, in the order posted:
- 2026-07-24: @nullandvoid6867 unlocked an 8 GB card to 64 GB with no issues, @jimtjames ran gpu-burn for 2 hours on each of 4 cards with no errors, and @eksitus had seen no reports of 8 to 64 GB instability. Source: @eksitus, 2026-07-24
Source: @nullandvoid6867, 2026-07-24
Source: @jimtjames, 2026-07-24 - 2026-07-27: @dalzyyy had seen no evidence of an 8 GB card that cannot unlock to 64 GB, and @meromgreen's Ailfond card unlocked fine. @danske1 worried sellers would test cards and ship the duds, @ju5t5omedude predicted sellers would start testing for lemons and sell those at a discount, and @artistosu reported an Alibaba vendor dodging the question of whether its cards unlock to 64 GB. Source: @dalzyyy, 2026-07-27
Source: @meromgreen, 2026-07-27
Source: @danske1, 2026-07-27
Source: @ju5t5omedude, 2026-07-27
Source: @artistosu, 2026-07-27 - 2026-07-28: @scallion_9883, who has handled about 100 cards, said none of the 8 GB cards he tested failed to unlock to 64 GB and that cards were surprisingly stable after the unlock. Across all his testing he found only one 10 GB card with fewer than 70 SMs, the only true floor sweep he had seen. Source: @scallion_9883, 2026-07-28
Source: @cute_sc2, 2026-07-28 - 2026-07-31: @dalzyyy again had seen no 8 GB card that cannot unlock to 64 GB. Source: @dalzyyy, 2026-07-31
Source: @cute_sc2, 2026-07-31
Source: @sandberg54, 2026-07-31 - 2026-08-26: @quark2world argued that single-card buyers risk a card that works at 8 GB but fails the 64 GB unlock, claiming at least 20% broken cards in circulation, and later admitted he was matching an unsourced number. @bayley_w answered that such cards are single-digit percent, with only a few isolated cases among hundreds of owners tracked on Discord, the failure mode needing a stack that works at 2 GB but not at 16 GB. @_arcanum_, with a couple dozen cards, had only 1 produce errors when unlocked. Source: @quark2world, 2026-08-26
Source: @bayley_w, 2026-08-26
Source: @_arcanum_, 2026-08-26 - 2026-08-26: @redpandamining reported only 1 memory error among 40 cards tested unlocked and sent that card away for possible repair; @cute_sc2 was looking to buy cards with memory errors. Source: @redpandamining, 2026-08-26
Source: @cute_sc2, 2026-08-26 - 2026-09-03: @dalzyyy: on a normal batch that has not been binned beforehand, 85 to 95% of 8 GB cards unlock successfully, but a batch of "snowflake" cards can be stuck at 32 GB, as @tony_smartecom experienced (see 32 GB cards (subsystem 10de:1586)). Asked about a card with VBIOS 92.00.6D.00.0A, he said it should be a good one but only hands-on testing can confirm. Source: @dalzyyy, 2026-09-03
Source: @yolo4206969, 2026-09-03 - 2026-09-21: @darcidride gave numbers from 3 lots and 23 cards: 2 unlock only to 32 GB and 3 more have memory errors. @quark2world added that some cards fail after operating for a while, and @deced_123 noted that refunds for bricked cards are uncommon. Source: @darcidride, 2026-09-21
Source: @cibernox, 2026-09-21
Source: @quark2world, 2026-09-21
Source: @deced_123, 2026-09-21 - @bayley_w's buying advice: buy on eBay from sellers with enough stock that they are unlikely to bin bad cards, PayPal covers a card that does not boot, and buying 8 to 10 cards absorbs the failure rate into the effective price. Source: @bayley_w, 2026-08-26
Contested 8 GB
Memtest failures on unlocked 8 GB cards (2026-08-08): memtest every card
Memory test failures reported on unlocked cards on 2026-08-08: @cute_sc2 1 of 13 (single-bit errors, clean when locked; he puts the success rate above 90% for well-cared-for cards); @robbbbbb7973 1 of 8 (7 errors in 5 minutes, a re-run passed); @replacedriver47's single card produced hundreds of errors within seconds; @rubbra_f's card also errored; @quark2world counted 2 broken cards in 2 days. Others had no errors: @jimtjames with 4 cards over hours, and another owner running ComfyUI. Proposed causes were memory binning ("they are sold as 170hx for a reason"), clock or thermal limits, and VBIOS differences. Memtest every card after unlocking; how to run the test is on Testing and burn-in and Memory errors and ECC.
Proven 8 GB
Source: @cute_sc2, 2026-08-08
Source: @robbbbbb7973, 2026-08-08
Source: @replacedriver47, 2026-08-08
Source: @rubbra_f, 2026-08-08
Source: @quark2world, 2026-08-08
Source: @jimtjames, 2026-08-08
The 50% dispute, September 2026
One buyer's 2 dead cards out of 4 (see below) started a month-long argument. In the order posted:
- @_____josh_____ (2026-09-09 and 09-10) put his failure rate at 50%: 4 cards ran well for weeks, then 2 died in quick succession. He had bought at $800 each expecting 50% failure, advised pricing in a 50% failure rate (at most $1000 per card), claimed unlocked cards may last only 3 to 6 months, and argued buyers need standby spares because the cards are "priced at 0% failure rate and 5 year lifespan". Source: @_____josh_____, 2026-09-09
Source: @_____josh_____, 2026-09-10 - @greencandle9753 had one bad card, refunded by the seller, and @spectakkular reported 0%. Source: @greencandle9753, 2026-09-09
Source: @spectakkular, 2026-09-09 - @cute_sc2 put his own failure rate at about 5% across 21 tested cards (0 with a future fix). His cards on the standard unlock (70 SMs, 64 GB) ran stable 24/7 at 250 W under heavy compute ("crunching", not light LLM work) after 1 week of stress testing and 2 weeks of on/off use, air cooled and never above 70 C. @_____josh_____ answered that three weeks is too short to judge. Source: @cute_sc2, 2026-09-09
Source: @cute_sc2, 2026-09-16
Source: @cute_sc2, 2026-09-16
Source: @_____josh_____, 2026-09-16
Source: @_____josh_____, 2026-09-16 - @cmdrwaka324: most people report 100% or near-100% success, so one buyer's experience is anecdotal. Source: @cmdrwaka324, 2026-09-09
- @machinezer0 worried that his crashing card had reached its "half-life". Source: @machinezer0, 2026-09-10
- @voidgiraffe's 4 cards had been fine for a month. Source: @voidgiraffe, 2026-09-12
- @segmond had one bad card and said there have been many cases on the server. Source: @segmond, 2026-09-16
- @meatsus attributed the 2 dead cards to the buyer's own setup. Source: @meatsus, 2026-09-16
- 2026-09-18: @dufrelic said hundreds of cards run in the Discord without these problems. @wakeupmbrc1 said only one member had reported a dead GPU that week (refund pending) and that such failures match any server GPU ("universal server ampere hiccup"). @quark2world said NVIDIA datacenter cards in general have high failure rates (through Blackwell) and that CMP buyers have no warranty or support because the cards were handled like e-waste. Source: @dufrelic, 2026-09-18
Source: @wakeupmbrc1, 2026-09-18
Source: @quark2world, 2026-09-18 - 2026-09-24: @lia_oc said deaths are rare, most dead cards arrive DOA, and thermal cycling does more damage than constant load (all of hers survived months of prior mining). @_arcanum_ had zero natural deaths, and @djpandaman noted these are A100-class datacenter parts built for 24/7 use. @meatsus and @lia_oc pointed out that 2 of 4 is a tiny sample. Source: @djpandaman, 2026-09-24
Source: @lia_oc, 2026-09-24
Source: @meatsus, 2026-09-24
Source: @_arcanum_, 2026-09-24
Contested 8 GB and 10 GB
Failure counts, August to October 2026: 50%, about 20%, and all-good batches
The October 2026 counts, in the order posted:
- @_____josh_____ (2026-10-07) claims a 50% failure rate, that sellers mix 1 to 2 lemons per shipment, and that current stock is leftovers after the good inventory sold 2 to 3 months earlier. On 2026-10-20 he added that only lemons are left and that suppliers raised prices so they can stomach more returns. Source: @_____josh_____, 2026-10-07
Source: @_____josh_____, 2026-10-20 - @spectakkular: bulk resellers of mining pulls usually do not test, and refunds are priced into their margins; name the seller if a promised test or refund was refused. Source: @spectakkular, 2026-10-07
- Counter-reports on 2026-10-07: @c133 5 of 5 good (tested before shipping 2 to friends), @mountains1605 4 of 4, @bigfoot1144 12 of 12 (bought a month before the leak), @cibernox 4 of 4 (one needs less undervolt), and @lia_oc all good, who said the rate is nowhere near that high. @ghostinthedatacenter_87281 got one bad 8 GB card and returned it, and another member had 1 dead out of 5. Source: @c133, 2026-10-07
Source: @mountains1605, 2026-10-07
Source: @bigfoot1144, 2026-10-07
Source: @cibernox, 2026-10-07
Source: @lia_oc, 2026-10-07
Source: @ghostinthedatacenter_87281, 2026-10-07 - @civiloid (2026-10-13) puts the community's overall reported failure rate at about 20%. Source: @civiloid, 2026-10-13
- @boz._. got one card with bad HBM out of 10 Alibaba purchases (refunded). Source: @boz._., 2026-10-23
Earlier counts (the same argument in August and September; Buying has the buyer-side detail):
- 2026-08-13: @ashtray9843: "someone here ordered 13 and only 12 had successful unlocks", risky at $900 to 1.2k per card; @meatsus said the success rate is high; @replacedriver47's card was "absolutely busted" and went back to the seller. @skirtchaser knew of a buyer whose 4 China-sourced cards included 2 that crashed the whole system; those cards were in very poor condition, which he blames on mining use, not the unlock. @schakaqt worried about intermittent instability in what may be silicon rejects. Source: @schakaqt, 2026-08-13
Source: @replacedriver47, 2026-08-13
Source: @meatsus, 2026-08-13
Source: @ashtray9843, 2026-08-13
Source: @skirtchaser, 2026-08-13 - 2026-08-18: @sh.ad was offered an 8 GB card for 700 USD; @.philow called that a good price and advised asking the seller to confirm it unlocks and passes a memtest. @giaki3003 said there is no way to verify before purchase except trusting the seller, and claimed about 10% of cards are DOA or unstable. @danske1 pointed to amoghmunikote/cmpunlocker and the Vulkan GPU memory testing guide. Source: @sh.ad, 2026-08-18
Source: @.philow, 2026-08-18
Source: @giaki3003, 2026-08-18
Source: @danske1, 2026-08-18 - 2026-09-02 and 09-03: @_____josh_____ said never buy from a seller who will not test, claiming over a 50% brick rate (2 of his 4 cards would not start vLLM). Purchase notes in the PixelML/club-170hx repository, relayed in lab notes, also cite "independent reports around 50% among buyers", and a lab digest cites the r/LocalLLaMA "2 of 5 died in 2 weeks" post. @cute_sc2 disputed it: under 10% (12 of his 13 cards worked), possibly lower once the "HBM error fix" releases, and asked whether memtest_vulkan had been run. @1a2b3c0967 had 1 complete DOA out of 17 from a Chinese seller, a card that arrived badly treated. @bayley_w, looking at a seller's listing photo posted by @_arcanum_, said that seller clearly knows how to test the cards but refuses to. Whether the 12 of 13 and the earlier "13 ordered, 12 unlocked" are the same batch is not stated. Source: @darkmaniac7, 2026-09-02 (lab notes)
Source: @_arcanum_, 2026-09-02
Source: @bayley_w, 2026-09-02
Source: @_____josh_____, 2026-09-03
Source: @cute_sc2, 2026-09-03
Source: @1a2b3c0967, 2026-09-03 - 2026-09-23: @_____josh_____ asked what the backup plan is when cards fail and no parts remain. @lia_oc said failure risk is higher on CMPs after years of mining; supply will not vanish but prices will keep rising, and the hard part is finding sellers who test properly rather than doing a power-on test. @cibernox and @xtj7 argued that a functional card has no special wear and that constant-temperature 24/7 use can mean lower failure rates. @cibernox bought in the second wave and expects late buyers to get the bottom of the barrel; @lia_oc says most sellers are already there. Source: @_____josh_____, 2026-09-23
Source: @lia_oc, 2026-09-23
Source: @cibernox, 2026-09-23
Source: @xtj7, 2026-09-23
Source: @spectakkular, 2026-09-23 - 2026-10-01 and 10-02: @deorc cited a Reddit post claiming 2 of 5 cards died. @cute_sc2: 12 of his 13 cards were stable on purchase and 1 has ECC errors (bought from a Norwegian seller in Europe, now sold out). @domrockt2: one of his three has "one broken sn stack", and the other 2 are flawless. @con3po7016: worth it if you need it (best speed and value today, prices likely to rise), but dead cards are normal second-hand risk, and for casual use a 24 GB card may do; @dottoreargus added that some cards do not appear at all. @ob88594: any card that functions properly can be unlocked and run long-term. Source: @deorc, 2026-10-01
Source: @con3po7016, 2026-10-01
Source: @dottoreargus, 2026-10-01
Source: @ob88594, 2026-10-01
Source: @cute_sc2, 2026-10-02
Source: @domrockt2, 2026-10-02
Contested 8 GB and 10 GB
Early deaths and dead-card reports
Two water-cooled 8 GB cards lost after two weeks at full load
@_____josh_____ lost 2 of his 8 GB cards, bought for $800 each and stress tested by the seller (2026-09-09). They were water cooled with blocks he called "bksyskis" (presumably Bykski), run at stock power in an air-conditioned room at around 75 C and never above 80 C. After about 2 weeks at full load, vLLM started looping halfway through a task, and after a restart both cards were lost: one throws CUDA errors immediately, the other returns garbage GEMM results without any error. He described the failures as one CUDA error and one tensor core (TC) error, happening in short order rather than simultaneously. @cute_sc2 suspected broken CUDA cores and cache, and @_____josh_____ asked for a fix for broken tensor cores. Others noted 75 C is abnormally high for water cooling and suspected mounting, paste or block contact (@meatsus, @dalzyyy; see Water cooling). By 2026-09-18 @_____josh_____ said enough cards had failed that his 170HX rig sat idle.
Reported 8 GB
Source: @_____josh_____, 2026-09-09
Source: @cute_sc2, 2026-09-09
Source: @_____josh_____, 2026-09-16
Source: @dalzyyy, 2026-09-16
Source: @meatsus, 2026-09-16
The r/LocalLLaMA "2/5 died after 2 weeks" post and the temperature limits it prompted
Warning Repeated thermal cycling to 80 to 85 C is suspected of cracking solder joints, and HBM degrades in the mid 90s C. Keep cards below the 85 C throttle point and do not max the power limit; see Thermal limits and Undervolting and power limits.
A r/LocalLLaMA post, "2/5 of my CMP 170HX have died after 2 weeks and the 3rd came with d...", was shared on 2026-09-02 by @rrickk420 in #general and @vektor_prime in #hardware; @stcord said it was true information. On 2026-09-03 @segmond pointed to an uptick of failure reports in the Discord with evidence (@deejay9983 had a card fail on 2026-09-02, and @tony_smartecom received cards that only unlock to 32 GB) and noted that almost all cards are sold with no warranty or returns. @dufrelic called the Reddit case a single card plus a scamming seller, and @rrickk420 said problems mostly came from buying cheap on AliExpress, while eBay purchases were mostly fine apart from early sub-$1000 orders that were cancelled.
In #hardware the same day: the chips are binned silicon and used ex-mining hardware is a lottery (@chonsworth's first card had a bad repair on an AND gate and a missing bulk capacitor). @endsjeremy said many people run at 80 to 85 C, solder joints are probably rated about 95 C, repeated thermal cycling to that threshold breaks them, and printed blower shrouds are often marginal. @_arcanum_ said 85 C is the throttle point because HBM degrades in the mid 90s (Samsung HBM2 at least). @chonsworth advises not maxing the power limit (@adusts and @cressida1881 also took part).
Source: @rrickk420, 2026-09-02
Source: @vektor_prime, 2026-09-02
Source: @adusts, 2026-09-02
Source: @cressida1881, 2026-09-02
Source: @chonsworth, 2026-09-02
Source: @endsjeremy, 2026-09-02
Source: @_arcanum_, 2026-09-02
Source: @stcord, 2026-09-02
Source: @segmond, 2026-09-03
Source: @dufrelic, 2026-09-03
Negative Reddit posts about failed unlocks: lottery or price FUD?
Reddit posts about cards failing after the unlock drew two readings, in the order posted:
- @rrickk420 shared a screenshot of a post (apparently Reddit) about a card failing after unlock (2026-08-04). @ju5t5omedude wondered whether that card was stable at 8 GB to begin with, and Aeiou concluded it is still a lottery. Source: @rrickk420, 2026-08-04
Source: @ju5t5omedude, 2026-08-04 - @jimtjames is convinced such Reddit posts aim to push prices down so the posters can buy more. Source: @jimtjames, 2026-08-04
- On 2026-08-05 @rrickk420 linked an r/LocalLLaMA post and showed two different accounts posting identical content, apparently agent spam; @bayley_w suspected early content meant to drive prices down. Source: @bayley_w, 2026-08-04
Contested
Report dead cards in #suppliers-chat
@_____josh_____ repeatedly asked people with dead or dud cards to post their stories in #suppliers-chat so buyers are aware ("People with dead cards should post more in ..."), and asked @lenxtroz to post his (2026-09-16). Counts posted there feed the sections above.
Reported
Source: @_____josh_____, 2026-09-16
Why cards fail and how long they last
Lifespan: does mining or age shorten it, and why GA100 cards die
Whether ex-mining cards wear out, and what kills them, in the order posted:
- 2026-08-13: @toffles3179 and @meatsus think ex-mining cards are fine or better than gaming cards, since they were often undervolted and did not thermal-cycle. @ju5t5omedude agrees for 170HX miners but flags the environment and doubts the 170s were profitable or mined for long; @skirtchaser treats the risk as that of any heavily mined card; @schakaqt cites papers showing minimal HBM degradation. Source: @toffles3179, 2026-08-13
Source: @meatsus, 2026-08-13
Source: @ju5t5omedude, 2026-08-13
Source: @skirtchaser, 2026-08-13
Source: @schakaqt, 2026-08-13 - @giaki3003: mining ignores memory errors, so those errors were probably there from the factory; mining itself is not bad for the card, but mining-rig conditions, especially in China, are. @dino_38975 notes the cards were often mistreated with inadequate cooling. Source: @giaki3003, 2026-08-13
Source: @dino_38975, 2026-08-13 - 2026-08-25: @quark2world: they are 5-year-old mining cards with questionable histories and no warranty, a dud can cost 14 to 30 days and sleepless nights to resolve, and buying 2 at about $600 would hedge against one failing within 2 years. Source: @aneinander, 2026-08-25
Source: @quark2world, 2026-08-25 - 2026-09-02, on the r/LocalLLaMA "2/5 died after 2 weeks" post (see above): @meatsus, @meromgreen and @artistosu (sarcastically) treated it as a troll or FUD post meant to drive prices down and mocked its "QC rejects" and "heavily mined" explanations. @meatsus estimated the cards likely saw under a year of mining at constant temperature. Nobody on the Discord claimed the post or reproduced the deaths. Source: @_arcanum_, 2026-09-02
Source: @meromgreen, 2026-09-02
Source: @meatsus, 2026-09-02
Source: @artistosu, 2026-09-02
Source: @stcord, 2026-09-02
Source: @kellertreppe123, 2026-09-02 - 2026-09-09: @cmdrwaka324 argued thermal cycling is what kills these large dies. Cards run 24/7 by hydro-powered miners and then shelved should be healthier than cards from Texas miners who spun up only when on-demand power rates were low, causing frequent thermal cycles and hidden die damage. @quark2world disagreed: datacenter card failures are high and come from NVIDIA QA, not temperature, and they fail even on 10 C liquid loops. @meatsus added that electromigration from high currents can kill cards quickly even at low temperatures, and @_____josh_____ held that the dies are QC rejects not meant to last. Source: @cmdrwaka324, 2026-09-09
Source: @quark2world, 2026-09-09
Source: @meatsus, 2026-09-09
Source: @_____josh_____, 2026-09-09 - 2026-09-20: @_____josh_____ claimed the cards "probably have an average lifespan of a couple of months" and advised 50% spare capacity. @zingy90210 then posted that a group running CMPs for 12 months sees average lifespans of 4 to 6 months at 24/7, but in an openly anti-hype exchange and with no data. @wakeupmbrc1 said they should last like regular A100s because they use identical boards with identical DrMOS; @danske1 asked where the lifespan idea came from, and @wakeupmbrc1 traced it to one buyer's bad batch. Source: @_____josh_____, 2026-09-20
Source: @zingy90210, 2026-09-20
Source: @wakeupmbrc1, 2026-09-20
Source: @danske1, 2026-09-20
Contested
Why cards degrade: VRM vdroop, power ICs, or cooked paste under the IHS
Discussing the 2 dead cards above (2026-09-16), with @_____josh_____ taking part, members offered three explanations. No measurements were posted. In the order posted:
- @dalzyyy: cards that degrade suffer power-delivery failure, causing instability and excessive vdroop. Source: @dalzyyy, 2026-09-16
Source: @_____josh_____, 2026-09-16 - @meatsus disagreed that power delivery fails gradually ("it either works or it doesnt") and suggested cooked thermal paste under the IHS as a cause of high temperatures (see Thermal interface: paste, pads and phase-change). Source: @meatsus, 2026-09-16
- @rrickk420 relayed a claim that the power-management chips are almost always at fault, never the die, except for memory-bound errors. Source: @rrickk420, 2026-09-16
Contested
Ex-mining wear: brittle solder, cracked VRMs and humidity
Warning Ex-mining cards can carry brittle solder, cracked VRMs and bad or oxidised boards from dusty, humid, hot operation, poor power or harsh storage, and some were washed with plain water. A reflow rarely fixes this. Before first use, open the card and check the board and thermal interfaces (Disassembly and cleaning).
@machinezer0, with a boneyard of P104, P102 and CMP 100-210 cards, says mining cards develop brittle solder and cracked VRMs from dusty, humid, hot operation and poor power, and some were washed with plain water (2026-08-03). @ju5t5omedude: P104s held up, P102s did not. @counterstrikeaimgod said one of his group's 8 CMP 170HX cards had already died. @skirtchaser: reflowing rarely helps, because the cracks are usually internal rather than at the BGA, so a reflow may last or fail the next day. @moliminous countered that reviewer tests found mining cards no more worn, though those tests ignored dirty warehouses. @wakeupmbrc1 (2026-09-20) notes that some cards mined for weeks and then sat collecting dust, names bad or oxidised boards from harsh storage or use and high humidity as a common cause of failures, and asks whether buyers disassembled their cards and checked the board and thermal interfaces before first use. He offered this as a likely explanation for the 2 dead water-cooled cards above, not as a measured result.
Source: @machinezer0, 2026-08-03
Source: @ju5t5omedude, 2026-08-03
Source: @counterstrikeaimgod, 2026-08-04
Source: @skirtchaser, 2026-08-05
Source: @moliminous, 2026-08-05
Source: @wakeupmbrc1, 2026-09-20
Related
Buying, Acceptance checklist, Testing and burn-in, Verifying an unlock, Memory errors and ECC, Thermal limits, Undervolting and power limits, Instability under load, Xid errors, Water cooling, Disassembly and cleaning, Thermal interface: paste, pads and phase-change, 32 GB cards (subsystem 10de:1586), Price history and market, Rumours and claims to verify, 8 GB card, 10 GB card.