Safe 24/7 Temp and Fan Speed for RX 580?

YoungBlade · November 3, 2021

Winter is basically here in Michigan and I recently got an RX 580 to put in my old desktop. (Specifically, it's an XFX RX 580 GTS Core 4GB) Instead of running a space heater for a couple hours everyday, I'm instead planning on using the computer for heating by running it 24/7.

It's currently running at 62-66C with the power limit reduced by 30% and a fan speed of 68% while mining.

Are these good temps for constant mining/compute tasks? Should I raise or lower the fan speed/power limits?

For those concerned about the poor mining returns of the 4GB card:

Spoiler

Yes, the 4GB variant isn't very profitable for mining. I did not buy it for mining; that was never the point. I'm actually try to find the system a good home, as the RX 580 + 9600k is still a pretty capable 1080p gaming combo.

But I have it for now and might as well put it to use in the meantime. It will be unused otherwise, as I have my main system for gaming. Since I typically run a space heater in the winter anyway, I'm actually coming out farther ahead than the net profit would suggest. It is rather meager, though, and if the mining profitability goes much lower, I'll switch to F@H and donate the compute power while providing heating.

And if I haven't found someone to give/sell the system to by spring, I'll just shut it off.

emosun · November 3, 2021

The computer will produce the exact same ammount of heat regardless of fan speed if the load never changes. It will either exhaust warm air quickly or hot air slowly provided the work load is constant. You can thank the laws of thermo dynamics for that.

As far as what settings or % of workload to put the cpu/gpu under just keep them under 70c and theyll both be happy

YoungBlade · November 3, 2021

11 minutes ago, emosun said:

The computer will produce the exact same ammount of heat regardless of fan speed if the load never changes. It will either exhaust warm air quickly or hot air slowly provided the work load is constant. You can thank the laws of thermo dynamics for that.

Well, yes. That was never in doubt. The computer is consuming around 150W and will therefore produce about 150W of heat, which over the course of a full day is basically equivalent to running a 1500W space heater for 2.4 hours.