<p>That would depend on your definition of damage.</p>

<p>First of all your equipment is going to 'wear down' much faster if the CPU is at 100% load longer than an hour or so. Normal computer usage lets the CPU throttle somewhere between 20% load and 100% for let's say 6 to 8 hours a day. CPU coolers are made to prevent the CPU from overheating in all possible situations, so it won't burn out your CPU immediately.</p>

<p>But with normal computer usage your CPU will heat up, cool down a bit (a bit less hot), heat up again, etc. With mining on a CPU, the CPU will heat up and continue heating up to the point where the heat exchanged by the CPU cooler will be equal to the heat produced by the CPU. This is called an equilibrium (or balance).</p>

<p>There are temperatures your PC would be OK with running 24/7, but that does not mean anyone would recommend you doing so. You won't ruin your computer right away, but the chances of it will definitely be higher.</p>

<p>Next to that, the amount of bitcoins you can generate letting your CPU mine bitcoin right now (December 2014) would be around 0.00000001 a week... ? That's about accurate. (Not taking power usage into account.) If you really want to mine cryptocoins on your CPU, look for a CPU-only cryptocoin and then exchange the mined coins to Bitcoin, that way you'll get much more in most cases.</p>

<p>If you absolutely want to mine Bitcoin directly without mining an altcoin, look at this: <a href="https://bitcoin.stackexchange.com/questions/32834/how-do-i-start-mining/32836#32836">How do I start mining?</a></p>

CC BY-SA 3.0
2014-12-03T13:53:32.197Z
2014-12-03T14:17:30.463Z
2017-04-13T12:47:34.187Z
Mr Jones
<p>Yes, you can. The question is similar to "Can I play Battlefield w/o damaging hardware" ;)</p>

<p>Hardware that you have does not give you to much bitcoins now, even in long term mining.</p>

<p>Check this out:</p>

<p><a href="https://en.bitcoin.it/wiki/Mining_hardware_comparison" rel="nofollow">https://en.bitcoin.it/wiki/Mining_hardware_comparison</a></p>

<p><a href="http://www.coinwarz.com/cryptocurrency" rel="nofollow">http://www.coinwarz.com/cryptocurrency</a></p>

CC BY-SA 3.0
2014-12-03T09:55:44.590Z
2014-12-03T09:55:44.590Z
Sebastian Xawery Wiśniowiecki
<p>I have a 900w gold certified power supply, an AMD fx 6350 @ 4.39ghz, a nvidia gt 630 2gb GPU with a fan and 8GB DDR3 RAM at 1600MHz. I'm wondering what mining for about 8 hours a day would do to my hardware. I'm not concerned about my graphics card as I only use it for mining but my CPU, RAM, motherboard and other components I am concerned about. My case has very well airflow with 3 exhaust fans and 2 intake, I also have aftermarket cpu cooler. This would be my first time mining along with using this site and I'm curious on whether or not it will do any damage or degrading to my PC. </p>

<p>Thanks</p>

CC BY-SA 3.0
2014-12-03T07:29:12.620Z
Is there some reason you would want to do this?
David Schwartz
CC BY-SA 3.0
2014-12-03T10:51:28.367Z
You're 1.5 years (of  exponential growth) too late with that kind of hardware. You'll get 0 bitcoin for wasting electricity and just wear on your fans.
Jannes
CC BY-SA 3.0
2014-12-04T07:56:25.397Z
CPU mining ended in 2011 and GPU mining in 2013.
Dr.Haribo
<mining-hardware><gpu-mining>
Can I mine bitcoin without damaging my hardware?
connor
# Can I mine bitcoin without damaging my hardware?

(Asked by: username_0 on 2014-12-03)

I have a 900w gold certified power supply, an AMD fx 6350 @ 4.39ghz, a nvidia gt 630 2gb GPU with a fan and 8GB DDR3 RAM at 1600MHz. I'm wondering what mining for about 8 hours a day would do to my hardware. I'm not concerned about my graphics card as I only use it for mining but my CPU, RAM, motherboard and other components I am concerned about. My case has very well airflow with 3 exhaust fans and 2 intake, I also have aftermarket cpu cooler. This would be my first time mining along with using this site and I'm curious on whether or not it will do any damage or degrading to my PC.

Thanks

**Tags:** mining-hardware, gpu-mining

> **Comments:**
> **username_1**: Is there some reason you would want to do this?  
> **username_2**: You're 1.5 years (of  exponential growth) too late with that kind of hardware. You'll get 0 bitcoin for wasting electricity and just wear on your fans.  
> **username_3**: CPU mining ended in 2011 and GPU mining in 2013.  

---

## 2 answers

### Answer by username_4 on 2014-12-03. Score: 2

That would depend on your definition of damage.

First of all your equipment is going to 'wear down' much faster if the CPU is at 100% load longer than an hour or so. Normal computer usage lets the CPU throttle somewhere between 20% load and 100% for let's say 6 to 8 hours a day. CPU coolers are made to prevent the CPU from overheating in all possible situations, so it won't burn out your CPU immediately.

But with normal computer usage your CPU will heat up, cool down a bit (a bit less hot), heat up again, etc. With mining on a CPU, the CPU will heat up and continue heating up to the point where the heat exchanged by the CPU cooler will be equal to the heat produced by the CPU. This is called an equilibrium (or balance).

There are temperatures your PC would be OK with running 24/7, but that does not mean anyone would recommend you doing so. You won't ruin your computer right away, but the chances of it will definitely be higher.

Next to that, the amount of bitcoins you can generate letting your CPU mine bitcoin right now (December 2014) would be around 0.00000001 a week... ? That's about accurate. (Not taking power usage into account.) If you really want to mine cryptocoins on your CPU, look for a CPU-only cryptocoin and then exchange the mined coins to Bitcoin, that way you'll get much more in most cases.

If you absolutely want to mine Bitcoin directly without mining an altcoin, look at this: [How do I start mining?](https://bitcoin.stackexchange.com/questions/32834/how-do-i-start-mining/32836#32836)


---

### Answer by username_5 on 2014-12-03. Score: 1

Yes, you can. The question is similar to "Can I play Battlefield w/o damaging hardware" ;)

Hardware that you have does not give you to much bitcoins now, even in long term mining.

Check this out:

<https://en.bitcoin.it/wiki/Mining_hardware_comparison>

<http://www.coinwarz.com/cryptocurrency>


---

