Does lower end hardware fail less often?

[jesuschrist420]

In my mind it makes sense because:

 

a lower end cpu/gpu has less die size where something can fail

a smaller mb has less thing that can fail

same for ram/storage

 

[ApolloX75]

Not really.

 

High end parts are typically made with better materials and more robust components. They may see more abuse, but they're made to take it and run with it.

 

Low end parts on the other hand, if run outside their comfort zone, will not last long at all. It all depends on use case.

 

As for longevity, I have more than a few high end boards pushing the 20+ year mark of being able to operate, long after my low end boards have bit the dust. I find most of the high end components I get my hands on that don't work or fail quickly are almost always results of abuse outside of the norm like physical damage to pins and traces from carelessness.

[Agall]

36 minutes ago, jesuschrist420 said:

In my mind it makes sense because:

 

a lower end cpu/gpu has less die size where something can fail

a smaller mb has less thing that can fail

same for ram/storage

 

Its a bit more nuanced in my experience, which includes low tier and high tier parts.

 

Generally I've had more failures with high end parts, but I'm also driving those far harder, but its within the advertised capabilities. Low end parts generally are smart to stick to stock, but any high end part with a defect will fail at stock just like any low end part.

 

I generally default to the 'less is more', since less things to go wrong, especially on motherboards, the better. When they start adding daughterboards and crazy extra features on stuff is usually where you see the most failures.

 

I think there's a false sense of assurance on high end parts, since I'm skeptical that high end parts get substantially more than the base level of QC/QA that any of those type parts get. In the extreme cases they probably do get more love, like with KINGPIN type gucci halo products, but I doubt an Asus TUF RTX 4090 gets any more love than an Asus TUF RTX 4060ti, especially in 2023.

[ApolloX75]

19 minutes ago, Agall said:

I generally default to the 'less is more', since less things to go wrong, especially on motherboards, the better. When they start adding daughterboards and crazy extra features on stuff is usually where you see the most failures.

I only partially agree with this. Yes less to go wrong, but often the chipsets used to control and run things like SATA or Audio and even networking vary from board to board. Even moreso when it comes to low vs high end. High end boards typically use the higher grade controllers that definitely have better QC and are often binned because they were check and performed better than others, not just because they were made differently.

 

Also higher grade chips are usually made using better processes and better grade materials, higher cost but there's a reason you pay a premium for a MSI Godlike over a Pro series for instance, and it's not (always) just about looks.

 

I have a lot of H series boards, typically low end H87s or H410 boards, that simply have lost a SATA channel or two. No reason, they just don't work anymore. Or Gigabyte G40 series boards that lose their networking or audio, no damage visible, just poof not present anymore. There's so many examples. USB ports going quiet is another common one, I've had boards as new as an H510 drop a port or two with no explanation. My high end Asus A8R32-MVP s939 board hasn't lost anything, and it's beyond ancient at this point.

 

Meanwhile I have high end 790i boards that I can probably run for another 20 years with heavy overclocks and never worry. My 790i with it's QX9650 runs at 4.5GHz at all times and that's a low overclock for me. My Sabertooth X58 pushes locked i7s all day long to new heights with no issues. Mushkin DDR3 rated for 1600MHz runs at 2000MHz and that was by accident, I forgot to change settings from my 2000MHz G.Skill RAM that was in previously. Still worked. Try that with some low grade Hynix.

 

Low end hardware will last forever if it's kept to it's specs and never run outside it, sure, but it's probably going to lose some components on the way. It will also not last performance wise, my high end stuff can keep up with a lot of newer hardware because of it's abilities.

 

 

[Monkey Dust]

Depends on why it's expensive. Bleeding edge, groundbreaking performance type expensive, likely to die young. Enterprise type expensive, likely to be long-lived

[dilpickle]

There is no real data on failure rates of consumer hardware as far as I know. So this is all anecdotal discussion. 

[Agall]

2 hours ago, ApolloX75 said:

I only partially agree with this. Yes less to go wrong, but often the chipsets used to control and run things like SATA or Audio and even networking vary from board to board. Even moreso when it comes to low vs high end. High end boards typically use the higher grade controllers that definitely have better QC and are often binned because they were check and performed better than others, not just because they were made differently.

 

Also higher grade chips are usually made using better processes and better grade materials, higher cost but there's a reason you pay a premium for a MSI Godlike over a Pro series for instance, and it's not (always) just about looks.

 

I have a lot of H series boards, typically low end H87s or H410 boards, that simply have lost a SATA channel or two. No reason, they just don't work anymore. Or Gigabyte G40 series boards that lose their networking or audio, no damage visible, just poof not present anymore. There's so many examples. USB ports going quiet is another common one, I've had boards as new as an H510 drop a port or two with no explanation. My high end Asus A8R32-MVP s939 board hasn't lost anything, and it's beyond ancient at this point.

 

Meanwhile I have high end 790i boards that I can probably run for another 20 years with heavy overclocks and never worry. My 790i with it's QX9650 runs at 4.5GHz at all times and that's a low overclock for me. My Sabertooth X58 pushes locked i7s all day long to new heights with no issues. Mushkin DDR3 rated for 1600MHz runs at 2000MHz and that was by accident, I forgot to change settings from my 2000MHz G.Skill RAM that was in previously. Still worked. Try that with some low grade Hynix.

 

Low end hardware will last forever if it's kept to it's specs and never run outside it, sure, but it's probably going to lose some components on the way. It will also not last performance wise, my high end stuff can keep up with a lot of newer hardware because of it's abilities.

 

 

I think its a modern versus years ago discussion, even 5-6 years ago. I don't have as much confident in even high end components as I did before, especially since most of those boards I bought were Asus or EVGA. If I were buying Intel ATX/EATX boards in 2023, I'd likely buy EVGA's high end since in general, I think their QC and volume is lower which should lend to better QC overall compared to the monster that's ASUS. Asus especially has seemed to lower the feature/quality of their products while raising the price over time as well.

[ApolloX75]

55 minutes ago, Agall said:

I think its a modern versus years ago discussion, even 5-6 years ago. I don't have as much confident in even high end components as I did before, especially since most of those boards I bought were Asus or EVGA. If I were buying Intel ATX/EATX boards in 2023, I'd likely buy EVGA's high end since in general, I think their QC and volume is lower which should lend to better QC overall compared to the monster that's ASUS. Asus especially has seemed to lower the feature/quality of their products while raising the price over time as well.

Oh yeah I can totally agree with that take. The old adage "they don't make em like they used to" is absolutely correct, even with hardware.

 

Boards are prettier now, no question, but I doubt my Strix Z590 will be functional in 2040 while my Sabertooth X58 will probably still be chugging along. Or my 790i Digital FTW.

[cmndr]

It depends. 

Lower end parts tend to be simpler - which helps a lot.
They also tend to have corners cut - which hurts. 
They also tend to have less QC. 

it's often kind of a wash. 

Don't expect super high end parts to last longer though. Especially if they dump out tons of heat.