I would like to find out 24/7 users experience with 200 series cards. Are manufactureres making cards that are fit for purpose given CUDA.
Before CUDA there was no need to run a card 24/7 but now I think they are obligated to make them durable.
Please post your experience Good or Bad. Thanks.
Include card make and model but don't report on OC'd cards as this will skew results. Further, OC'ing gives Makers and Nvidia way out.

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2 x GTX260's that have (up until the 190.xx drivers) been running cuda. They still do for Seti. Been about 9 months now. Both in the same machine.

4 x GTS250's had running for about 6 months without a peep out of them. Yeah I know they are G92 chips.

I am now trying GTX295's (new single PCB model). Got 3 of them. One DOA and will be going back, one not tested and the other one has been running almost constantly for about 3 weeks. They seem to be about 10 degrees cooler than the GTX275 which suggests to me they might have the 45nm GT200, or GPU-Z doesn't read the temp right.

Lastly I have a GTX275 which at the moment is filling in for the DOA 295. Its been in a couple of machines while I stock up on 295's. Its been going for about 2 months without a peep out of it.

All are Palit's. Only problem has been the DOA 295 so far. Touch wood.

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BOINC blog

2 GTX 295 (Early 2009)
2 GTX 260 (May 2009)
1 GTX 280 (Dec 2008)
1 9800GT

All have been running out of the box, various MFGRs with most from EVGA. Just had a death of the GTX280 where it started to kill tasks and show the screen in mono-color. Now in RMA process ...

Also have one HD4870.

I think cooling is the key element here and as we see more liquid cooled cards, some of the long term issues will go away. I run my system with the fan on my GTX 260 turned up to maximum and the card stays a steady 63 C. I also have nice floor fan sitting beside my computer blowing cool air at it along with the 3 fans already in the case. Nothing works like overkill.
My GTX 260 has been running since January 2009 with no issues.

1x GTX295 (oct 08)
2x GTX260-216 (Aug 08 ish)
2x GTX260 (May 08 ish)
1x 8800GT (replaced by a 260)
1x 8800GS (replaced by a 260)

All have run 24/7 and all had performed flawlessly until the recent compute capability upgrades which took out 3 of the 260s and 1/2 of the 295

1st 24/7 system:
2x XFX 8800GT XXX's (still going since I joined in Nov 08)
Replaced fan in one and other will need replacement soon

2nd 24/7 system:
2x XFX GTX 280 XXX's (Nov 08 - died Feb and Mar 09)
Replace through RMA with 2x GTX 280 XXX's end Mar 09
Those died Aug 09 and are currently being RMA'd. Both
are being replaced with XFX GTX 285 Std. First one arrive
Monday this week. Runs much cooler and uses less power.

I read somewhere that the GTX 280 cards run a 9-10% failure
rate. Glad I went with XFX, love the lifetime warranty.

Cheers
Pat

Long time Nvidia fan but started to change my mind. Too many webizens complaining of burnouts compared with ATI.

August 2008, 1 Nvidia gtx 280, winfast brand, 24x7 on GPU GRID, around 5 months until failure.

Late December 2008 to date, 4870x2 , 24x7 of MW, Collatz, Folding@home, no complaint.

Will jump to a 5870x2 once its released.

2 x Leadtek Winfast GTX280 - both died on 14 September '09 - lol I just realized EXACTLY after 6 months of GPUGrid 24/7
1 x Leadtek Winfast PX8800 GT TDH - no complaint whatsoever, managed to do WUs on time most of the time

3 x BFGTech GTX285 - 24/7 for a week now. Bought these babies to replace all of the above (switched to BFG because of lifetime warranty - well actually 10 yrs here in Europe).

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Semper ubi sub ubi.

You cant beat a 10 year warranty; well, thats if BFG will be still about in 10 years!

Generally I look for 3 years for most computer parts because after that their value is considerably less, and often not worth the postage and bother.

However, a GTX285 will still be a good card in four or five years, and a replacement in 7 or 8 years might be a nice present, saying as they wont be making them by the end of the year! As good as or BETTER I think it says ;)

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Yeah, 10 yrs is overkill for me. I ususally renew most of the components in my cases in maximum 2 years, and the cases themselves in 5-6 yrs.

Still, seeing that my used components usually end up with my relatives and/or friends, it's good to have a 10 yr. warranty :))

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Semper ubi sub ubi.

I would like to find out 24/7 users experience with 200 series cards. Are manufactureres making cards that are fit for purpose given CUDA.
Before CUDA there was no need to run a card 24/7 but now I think they are obligated to make them durable.
Please post your experience Good or Bad. Thanks.
Include card make and model but don't report on OC'd cards as this will skew results. Further, OC'ing gives Makers and Nvidia way out.

I have been running my three (3) EVGA 295's, for close to a year, 24/7, w/the Folding@Home (F@H) project, and they are still running fine. F@H put's a lot more load on the GPU's vs. what BOINC does. It's noticable when it comes to the heat that they put out.

The same goes w/my three (3) EVGA 260(216)'s, which I ran for half a year w/F@H.

So when it comes to any project using BOINC, I wouldn't worry about running the cards 24/7.

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