Can a graphics card survive under these conditions?

[dasmi]

So I've been arguing with my brother, he thinks that a Radeon 7850 can survive in the box, that came with the graphics card, with no anti-static protection whatsoever. It's been transported in two cars with no foam whatsoever. Can it survive? My brother is trying to convince me that there's some kind of magical power in the graphics card, I want your guess on a scale of 0-100% how likely it'll work. And yes, I doubt it has any chance but my brother won't stop annoying me about it. Also it's been in -20 degrees Fahrenheit in the attic.

 

[Gam3r01]

If it is in the plastic inside it is fine. If its just in the box with no packaging the card itself physically could be damaged.
As for temps, thats not recommend (or safe for that matter), so those temps could have caused card issues as well. You just have to plug it in and see if it runs.

 

[Someone Somewhere]

No antistatic shouldn't be a major issue; they usually are OK so long as you don't zap the card itself.

Main issue would be the jolting, depending on where in the car it was and how rough the journey was.

I'm not sure what effect the extreme cold would have on it, but -30℃ is seriously cold.

Only way to tell really is to plug it in.

 

[someguynamedmatt]

...I literally toss all my old components into a big white cardboard box; there must be thirty pounds of old ISA modems, ethernet adapters, and video cards in there. It isn't good for them, but every single piece of hardware that I dig out of there still works... jumpers might be a little bent out of shape, but that's an easy fix. Not that I recommend it, but it can be done. Hardware can be a lot tougher than people give it credit for.

Your situation? 99% chance of there being no problems, as long as the box wasn't abused or thrown around - an anti-static bag won't stop damage from a physical impact hard enough for the heatsink to break something free... that would take on hell of a hit, though.

The temperature wouldn't be good for it, but as long as the card itself warmed back up to room temperature by the time you fire it up, it shouldn't cause problems. A lot of these BGA-soldered chips (like the GPU on a video card) have problems when the chip expands at a different rate than the PCB itself; the solder can become brittle, crack, and cause problems at very cold temperatures. Be wary of condensation from bringing a cold object into a warm and possibly humid environment.

These are just my opinions based on experience. Take them for what they're worth.

 

[chrisso]

If it has been exposed to atic conditions, I would keep the card at room temperature for 48 hours before plugging it in to a pc.
This will allow any moisture to evaporate instead of shorting the silicon
out.

 

[USAFRet]

a scale of 0-100% how likely it'll work

I'd give it a 99.8% chance of working, as long as it wasn't thrown around or otherwise actually broken.

 

[smeezekitty]

It should be fine unless you really mistreat it. But -20 is colder then you should really let it get.
I would say about a 97% chance it will be okay