A question about overclocking

[Malladine]

Just how much does overclocking a CPU (or anything else for that matter) reduce it's lifespan? I'm all for increasing the speed of what I purchase in order to attain better performance, but not at the cost of longevity...

Is there a recommended limit to how much any piece of hardware should be pushed beyond it's stock speeds or is the only limit how much cooling there is? IE with a certain amount of cooling available, can any decent piece of hardware be overclocked to the maximum without jeopardizing it's lifespan?

 

[eklass]

you'll most likely upgrade before the processor ever die. i believe it would last 7 years or something instead of 10. not 100% sure, but these are the numbers in my head.

as far as how far it should be pushed... until it loses stability, then back off just a bit. again, lifespan may be decreased, but who uses a processor for 7 years?

 

[bgeh]

overclocking will reduce lifespan but since most of us in this community change their system at least once every 2 years, it is not a problem
usually, a hardware's lifespan is determined by how much voltage that is fed to it
i.e. most of us declare above 1.85v for air cooling on an Athlon XP is off limits

 

[qquizz]

I feel it is safe to say you can usually overclock your system by 10% and not have to worry.

 

[microAmp]

There was a thread like this the other day. A pretty good post by pm, would give some good info. The post is 2nd from the bottom.

 

[Gage8]

it doesn't damage your system in any way until you start to raise the voltage of your cpu. Raising the voltage decreases the lifespan of the processor and creates more heat. So if you don't raise the voltage you're fine. I have my XP2100+ overclocked from 1.7 to 2.1GHz buy just raising the bus speed.

 

[thorin]

That depends on two things:

1) Do you have to change the operational voltage of the device (CPU) to attain you goal(s)?
2) Do you have to change the operational temperature of the device (CPU) to attain your goal(s)?

Thorin

 

[Malladine]

Originally posted by: eklass
you'll most likely upgrade before the processor ever die. i believe it would last 7 years or something instead of 10. not 100% sure, but these are the numbers in my head.

as far as how far it should be pushed... until it loses stability, then back off just a bit. again, lifespan may be decreased, but who uses a processor for 7 years?

Certainly a good point. Although sometimes I wish I still had my 486 CPU

Thanks for the link moto, i'll be sure to check that out.

ordinary and Thorin: Voltages, gotcha. I hadn't really planned on changing the voltage settings at all, just the FSB speed. With my 1700+ I've heard I won't really need to change anything but the FSB speed to get nice results...

 

[thorin]

Thorin: Voltages, gotcha. I hadn't really planned on changing the voltage settings at all, just the FSB speed. With my 1700+ I've heard I won't really need to change anything but the FSB speed to get nice results...

Well as long as you have sufficient cooling you shouldn't shorten the lifespan of the CPU at all.

Thorin

 

[Malladine]

As far as CPU cooling goes I have a volcano 6cu heatsink and fan, a copper shim and arctic silver thermal grease. For indirect cooling I have an aluminum case and 4 case fans (2 front, 1 top, 1 rear). All dual ballbearing for what that's worth.

 

[thorin]

Sounds like you're set.

Thorin

 

[Malladine]

Glad to hear that

 

[bfonnes]

Originally posted by: qquizz
I feel it is safe to say you can usually overclock your system by 10% and not have to worry.

Agreed. I have an old AMD K6-200 that I have frequently overclocked, and I have had it for the last 5 years... That should give you an idea on how long it lasts, and how likely you are to still be using it

Bfonnes

 

[0roo0roo]

i believe the spec life for intel is 15 years standard.


even if you halve it, thats too long.


your cpu will be worth as much as a bigmac in 3 years.


so who the f*ck cares