Accelerated electron migration

[avi85]

Originally posted by: soydios
An increase in temperature decreases the lifespan of the processor. I don't know how or by how much.
An increase in voltage decrease the lifespan of the processor via "electromigration." My general idea of "electromigration" is that the increased power pushes the atoms in the wires inside the CPU around (keep in mind these wires are nanometers in diameter). This weakens the wires, which eventually break. Correct me if I'm wrong.

In short, overclocking your CPU does decrease its lifespan. Again, I'm not sure by how much.

This was taken from another thread, I was wondering if this is true and if the same thing happens with overvolted RAM.

 

[Furen]

Electron migration happens in any metal wire, from a high-tension cable to a miniscule wire in a transistor in any chip. This, however, is not that big of a deal nowadays, what is a really big deal is gate-oxide decomposition, and the rate in which it happens is proportional to the square of the voltage being fed into the chip.

 

[avi85]

Originally posted by: Furen
Electron migration happens in any metal wire, from a high-tension cable to a miniscule wire in a transistor in any chip. This, however, is not that big of a deal nowadays, what is a really big deal is gate-oxide decomposition, and the rate in which it happens is proportional to the square of the voltage being fed into the chip.

So does this effect overvolted RAM?

 

[Furen]

Yes, any chip, since they're all (basically) just a bunch of transistors printed on a piece of silicon..

 

[Kakumba]

any component being overvolted will have accelerated electromigration, but as has been said, it really is a minor issue. chances are you will have upgraded at least twice before it becomes an issue....

 

[avi85]

Originally posted by: Kakumba
any component being overvolted will have accelerated electromigration, but as has been said, it really is a minor issue. chances are you will have upgraded at least twice before it becomes an issue....

Chances are that I will have not have upgraded since then since I am only now upgrading my P3 733 (don't laugh, it has served me well!!!) so I seriously need to know what kind of lifespan difference I'm looking at.

 

[SparkyJJO]

well I had a 1700+ that I OC'd a few years ago and it still works flawlessly. OC'ing will decrease lifespan, but if you don't go crazy about it shortening the life of a CPU from 10 years to 8 or even 5 years isn't a big deal since hopefully by then you will have upgraded.

A friend of mine still has a pentium 100MHz lying around that I OC'd by 33% (wow a whole 33MHz gain but that was big then...) and at one point ran a couple minutes at a time with no heatsink since I didn't have one Still works flawlessly. I wouldn't worry much about shortened lifespan of a CPU or RAM if you OC some.

 

[mindless1]

Originally posted by: avi85

Originally posted by: Kakumba
any component being overvolted will have accelerated electromigration, but as has been said, it really is a minor issue. chances are you will have upgraded at least twice before it becomes an issue....

Chances are that I will have not have upgraded since then since I am only now upgrading my P3 733 (don't laugh, it has served me well!!!) so I seriously need to know what kind of lifespan difference I'm looking at.

That's a pretty bold statement when nobody mentioned any particular # of years to expect.

There are people out there still running Celeron 300 @ 550, so pay close attention to the following and don't guess:

Use only as much voltage as necessary. Note the curve, relationship between voltage and stable speed, and when you start to see that curve rise and you need a much higher voltage to keep increasing the speed, resist the urge to do that.

Keep the parts cool. Use high quality synthetic base thermal compound, and plenty of air circulation around the motherboard (not above it, ON it... rear chassis exhaust fan does not prove effective unless you make your own custom duct and I mean far more elaborate and custom than those by Dell/etc, as they still concentrate airflow a couple inches above the board surface.

The prior paragraph goes to the notion that any CPU o'c significant enouogh to degrade the part lifespan to only single-digit # of years, will be wearing out the motherboard before that happens. Aggressive overclockers will tend to have voltage regulator epoxy breakdown or capacitor failure long before the CPU goes (again, assuming adequate cooling on the CPU).

As for adequate cooling, the cooler the CPU the lower the voltage needed to attain any given clock speed. Sometimes motherboard adjustments are not in fine enough increments that one can take this literally, linearly, but it does all start with keeping the temps low on a few key parts, including but not limited to the CPU itself.

Memory can be seen in a similar context, you can o'c it fine and expect many years out of it, unless your o'c requires excessively high voltage and you don't adequately cool it.