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RE: AMD Releases Special Driver for Cryptocurrency Mining
I knew that, and probably could've chosen my words better. Higher wattage cards with better coolers can still run at equal (or lower) temperatures than lower wattage cards with weaker coolers, especially in some niche situations like tight cases or poor ventilation. This is what I was trying to allude to with the word "often" rather than "always." Perhaps I should've said that higher wattage cards will produce more heat, and the coolers may or may not do a good job at compensating adequately for every situation.
Keep in mind though a better "cooler" isn't really cooling. It's just better at dispersing heat away from your GPU and into the room. So high wattage will still affect the ambient temperature of the room they are in. The room I keep my mining rig in is always a few degrees warmer than the rest of the house.
This is also a good point to clarify. A higher wattage card will surely contribute to higher ambient temperatures. However, like you said, a dedicated mining rig can be put in another room.
As someone that mines on my main productivity/gaming rig when I'm not using it, I'm more concerned about package temperatures and heat soaking into other components. For example, a lot of modern motherboards have M.2 slots for solid state storage lined up behind where a dual slot graphics card might go. A cooler letting heat stick on the GPU or pushing it toward the SSD might affect the longevity of the SSD, but a cooler pushing heat out the back of the case or elsewhere in the case but away from the motherboard might be better for your other components. In this way, a cooler that disperses more heat into the room can be better for the components adjacent to the GPU.
Ah - got ya!
The power consumption is the main problem with the RX Vega cards. That's why the miners have to look carefully before buying them. These cards have a pretty good hashrate, but the power consumption is quite concerning...