Docs

#What sets the temperature

Each chip’s temperature comes from the whole PC’s heat, the chip’s own heat, its cooler and the case’s airflow:

chip °C = 43 + (PC heat + chip heat ÷ cooler) ÷ airflow + dry paste
PC heat = 0.043 × (PC watts − fan and cooler watts)
chip heat = CPU: 6.5 × CPU watts ÷ 35  ·  GPU: 9 × GPU watts ÷ 75
cooler = the CPU cooler’s rating, or the GPU’s own cooler rating
airflow = case airflow % × (0.7 + 2 × flow ÷ (flow + case target))
flow = for each fan: strength × (mount mm ÷ 120)² × (25% dusty … 100% clean)
dry paste = up to +20 °C on its own chip

In plain words: more watts make more heat; a better cooler divides the chip’s own heat; a case with good airflow and more, stronger, cleaner fans divides everything; and dry paste adds heat on top. Fans and coolers move air instead of heating the case, so adding one never costs you heat.

#Thermal paste

Paste dries out as a PC mines: a CPU’s paste lasts 72 hours of mining and a GPU’s 96 hours. Dry paste adds up to +20 °C to its own chip.

Standard pricing for one dose is the greater of $0.25 or 0.2% of the chosen chip’s list price. Buy it from that CPU or GPU’s care card. The prepaid dose belongs to that exact component and target; manual application is free. A sealed PC uses its system list price.

#Fans and dust

Fans collect dust over 48 hours of mining. A fully dusty fan moves only 25% of its air. Standard fan cleaning costs the greater of $0.20 or 0.01% of the PC value divided by its installed fan count, rounded up to a micro-dollar. An exact ready-PC recipe uses its card total; a custom PC uses its parts’ list-price total, excluding cosmetics. Each fan retains its highest installed cleaning fee, so stripping the PC or moving the fan to storage cannot lower its quote. A sealed PC is one cleaning unit. Grain uses its sealed-PC cleaning price of $0.01. Pebble uses its sealed-PC cleaning price of $0.04.

#Wear and repairs

Every part except the case wears as it mines. Over 336 hours (14 days) of mining, wear grows to a 15% speed loss; the most worn part sets the loss. A part counts as worn from 5%.

A standard part repair restores it to 100% for 2% of its list price, at least $0.10. Repairing a Novidia RTZ 5090 · 32 GB ($2,958.86), for example, costs $59.18.

#The 50% floor

Heat and wear together never take more than 50% of a PC’s speed: a neglected PC always keeps at least 50%.

#Care clocks only run while mining

Paste, dust and wear only age while a PC mines. A PC that is out of energy keeps its condition.

#Care in numbers

The table shows every PC card fresh, after 96 hours of mining with no care at all (fully dry paste, fully dusty fans), and fresh but without any case fans. Wear comes on top.

PC	Draw	Fresh	No care	Heat loss	No case fans
Grain	5 W	44.8 °C	76.8 °C	8.16%	sealed
Pebble	20 W	45 °C	77 °C	8.4%	sealed
Mack mini M4 Pro	65 W	47 °C	79 °C	10.8%	sealed
Seed	77 W	52.2 °C	76.9 °C	8.32%	62.3 °C
Sapling	87 W	53.6 °C	79.1 °C	10.94%	65.3 °C
Fern	89 W	54.4 °C	80.3 °C	12.34%	66.9 °C
Sprout	103 W	56.9 °C	84.2 °C	17.03%	72.3 °C (−2.81%)
Grove	115 W	57.5 °C	85.3 °C	18.35%	80.5 °C (−12.57%)
Cedar	159 W	56.9 °C	84.5 °C	17.34%	77 °C (−8.34%)
Redwood	267 W	57.9 °C	85.7 °C	18.89%	83.8 °C (−16.53%)
Sequoia	348 W	58.4 °C	85.2 °C	18.27%	90.1 °C (−24.09%)
Canopy	395 W	56.7 °C	83.2 °C	15.83%	83.2 °C (−15.81%)
Hyperion	493 W	58.1 °C	83.9 °C	16.63%	91.4 °C (−25.7%)

#Good cooling pays

An example from the game: an Intellect Corps i9-14900K with a Novidia RTZ 5090 · 32 GB, halfway through its paste’s life.

Better coolers, cases with high airflow and more, stronger fans all lower temperatures. Cases differ a lot: compare their fan mounts and airflow in the parts reference.

#Sealed PCs

Sealed PCs start from their own temperatures. Dry paste adds up to +20 °C and a clogged fan up to +12 °C.