Thougths on unplugging and flying with 980ti every other week?

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BottomsUp

Gawd
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Aug 29, 2010
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this is an odd question i know but I have a sup'ed up gaming rig at home but will be traveling a lot for work coming up. So much so i will have an apt in another city. i want to be able to play games there and started to think about building another rig but realized if i take my video card with me I can save 300-400 bucks vs buying a new one.

Any harm in unplugging and re-plugging the card every week for like a year? seems ok to me but wanted to check since I paid $700 for this thing when new.
 
The edge (slot) connectors and more importantly the PCIE aux power connectors aren't really designed for repeated connect and disconnects. The edge connector would probably handle it with some careful maintenance, but I guarantee you the power connection will give out eventually, either through broken solder joints or straight up wear of the connector.

Still, it would be an interesting experiment! :)
 
Just get another card that can handle your game load. Not worth the wear and tear and eventual failure.
 
^

All of the above. There are a lot of great cards for lower prices that can still game really well. Especially if you get a 1080P monitor at your apartment - get like an RX 480 or a GTX 1060. A 1070 if you're really hungry.

I am in the same boat a bit...traveling a lot...addicted to ARK. Thinking a gaming laptop with the GTX 1070 or 1080 mobile in it when they release. I have a work laptop already so it is not feasible to use one of the external PCIE cases...although that would be optimal.
 
You could always find other ways to occupy your time and then be really happy to come home after the assignment?
 
The PCIe pads are going ton get worn down fast this way.
 
Don't be stingy. If you have work where you have to travel a lot and you get an apartment just for yourself you must be making enough to be able to spend on your hobby, that you obviously can't go without for a few days.
 
BottomsUp said:
this is an odd question i know but I have a sup'ed up gaming rig at home but will be traveling a lot for work coming up. So much so i will have an apt in another city. i want to be able to play games there and started to think about building another rig but realized if i take my video card with me I can save 300-400 bucks vs buying a new one.

Any harm in unplugging and re-plugging the card every week for like a year? seems ok to me but wanted to check since I paid $700 for this thing when new.
Click to expand...

Absolute NO HARM

I had a 6800GT that I took for work from home every day for like 3 years. Never had a problem with either the card, nor motherboards.

It eventual died a few years back, after a baking going bad.
 
Personally I'd be more concerned about thermally cycling than moving the gpu card around, but that's probably just me ...
 
Napoleon said:
You could always find other ways to occupy your time and then be really happy to come home after the assignment?
Click to expand...
When I travel for work, 10% of the time, it's to someplace where "other ways to occupy your time" are worth doing. The other 90% of the time it's to a total shithole where even the restaurants close at 8pm, and the most interesting thing to do is stand outside and get demolished by the mosquitoes.

You can absolutely just take an (air cooled) 980Ti back and forth. Pack it well in your luggage and maybe use one of those anti-static bags, and it'll be totally fine.

That said, if I were considering this, I'd buy a 1080 for my home box, take the 980Ti to my crash pad, and then sell it when I was done with this nonsense.
 
Stoly said:
Absolute NO HARM

I had a 6800GT that I took for work from home every day for like 3 years. Never had a problem with either the card, nor motherboards.

It eventual died a few years back, after a baking going bad.
Click to expand...
You or the card?
 
Stoly said:
Absolute NO HARM

I had a 6800GT that I took for work from home every day for like 3 years. Never had a problem with either the card, nor motherboards.

It eventual died a few years back, after a baking going bad.
Click to expand...

Man, I just read my post LOL. I think I did it on my smartphone so its probably the autocorrect... maybe... anyway....

Note to self, never post again before getting coffee.
 
I'd say it's pretty safe if you're not being brutal during the removal/insertion process. I mean I wouldn't do that every day and every week is pushing it but should still be ok. And of course like above poster said, be careful during transport too.
 
kalston said:
I'd say it's pretty safe if you're not being brutal during the removal/insertion process. I mean I wouldn't do that every day and every week is pushing it but should still be ok...
Click to expand...

;)

Ideal solution would be to not transport it. Risk is introduced in moving parts, literal sense or otherwise.
 
I know that modern video cards these days are way more advanced than Atari/NES carts from back in the day, but I don't see the difference between the two when it comes to the board/slot contacts. So I don't see how uninstalling/installing would do anything to harm the card.

I'd be more worried about the transportation of the thing through the airport even if it is in your carry on.
 
It should be fine. However, if you start noticing high temps or throttling, you will need to redo the thermal paste between the GPU and the heatsink. In my experience, this is the most common problem seen with constant transport.
 
If you're perfect there should be no issue. But use care with the power hookups.

But the moment you accidentally sit on your luggage, or forget to put it in an anti-static bag, or you get so familiar with the install procedure that you know you can do it after a long day of travel, and inevitably break something. Then you'll wish you hadn't done this in the first place.
 
I'd say lube up the pci-e pins on the card with deoxit gold in hopes that it prevents wear of the pins from seating all the time andifference use an short power adapter from the card maybe so you don't wear out the pins on the card thrn just change out the adapter when needed cause the female connects will open up more over time from seating the cable over and over and cause a loose connection which will eventually cause arching and possible fire.

The deoxit gold is kinda experience site but should last you years. Can find it on amazon.
 
kalston said:
I'd say it's pretty safe if you're not being brutal during the removal/insertion process. I mean I wouldn't do that every day and every week is pushing it but should still be ok. And of course like above poster said, be careful during transport too.
Click to expand...

That's what she sa.... ...never mind... :p
 
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