Is It Dangerous To Mine On A Home PC?
Cryptocurrency mining requires a high hashrate. Plus, the equipment is usually under heavy loads around the clock. However, many participants in cryptocurrency networks use PCs to mine digital assets. Many of them poorly understand the principle of operation and design of computers. Therefore, users do not know if it is dangerous to mine on a home PC. In practice, mining cryptocurrencies do not cause much harm.
- What is dangerous mining on a home PC
- Harm to the video card
- Harm to the computer and components
- How to safely mine cryptocurrency
- Summary
Table of Contents
Why is mining dangerous? on a home PC
The mining of digital assets affects the computer. But mining does not cause much damage to PC components. There are two categories of hazards:
- Harm to the video card (GPU).
- Damage to other computer components.
Harm to the video card
Mining is the process of cryptographic calculations and receiving rewards for work. The GPU allocates all resources for this task. Large loads quickly raise the temperature. Miners often experience overheating. A short-term increase in temperature is not dangerous. But the prolonged operation of overheated GPUs can lead to their failure.
The greatest danger of high temperature is not for video chips but for secondary elements of the GPU. They are not very hardy with constant overheating. Over time, small chips and transistors sometimes become unstable due to slow degradation. In the future (after 1-3 years, depending on the loads), this may lead to the failure of video cards.
Breakdown of GPU air cooling systems is another danger that is a consequence of round-the-clock mining. Fans have a limited lifespan. A load of cooling systems 24/7 leads to their breakdown faster. Fans usually become noisier at first, such as creaking. After that, they may stop spinning altogether. Then the video cards will heat up more, increasing the overall harm and reducing the hashrate .
Leaking GPU thermal pads are the most common problem regarding the dangers of mining on a home computer.
Harm to the computer and components
For other components, the main danger of mining also lies in overheating. It can destroy connections and technical interfaces. If the temperature in the computer case becomes too high, all components will be affected:
- CPU.
- Motherboard.
- Power supply and other elements.
Overheating of the case leads to the short circuit of the connections. Fixing the problem on your own is often tricky.
How to safely mine cryptocurrency
There are 4 recommendations, the implementation of which increases the life of your home computer.
| ADVICE | DESCRIPTION | SOLUTION |
|---|---|---|
| Correct installation of components | Self-assembly of PC elements is a difficult task. A beginner without knowledge and skill cannot correctly install the components in the case. Connections must be held firmly, and the elements must not sag under their weight. | It is recommended to contact computer wizards and pay them for the PC assembly service. In the future, this will help mine safely. |
| Temperature tracking | To increase the PC’s life, temperatures should not be allowed to rise even to 90 °. | You need to install a hardware monitoring program, such as MSI Afterburner. If an elevated temperature is detected, you need to turn off the computer and find and eliminate the cause of overheating. |
| Regular dust cleaning | Dirt increases the heating of the equipment and leads to short circuits. Therefore, the accumulation of dust in the housing must be avoided. | It is necessary to clean the computer from dirt every month. Using only a brush and compressed air is recommended to remove dust in the housing. Using other tools can be dangerous. |
| Room humidity monitoring | Dampness is dangerous for the PC. Moisture leads to oxidation of contacts and short circuits. Therefore, it is necessary to control the level of dampness in the room where the PC is installed. | It is recommended to ventilate the room periodically. You can also buy a humidity controller. |
Summary
Large computational loads accompany cryptocurrency mining. Because of this work, PC components heat up. It may be dangerous. Heating above 90° will shorten the life of the components. The temperature slowly destroys small chips and transistors. It can also cause thermal pads to leak.
Another danger of mining for video cards is the accelerated reduction in the service life of cooling systems. Fans spinning around the clock wear out faster. Over time, they stop working – to cool video cards.
Mining security for PC can be improved. Recommendations will help with this:
- Installation of components by a computer wizard.
- Hardware monitoring with software.
- Systematic dust removal.
- Maintaining a low level of humidity in the room.
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