Do processors age / is continous high load bad?

[supernova87a]

I have a feeling that the answer to these questions is "no", but maybe others here can give more information as to why:

Does running continuous and high loads on your processor age it prematurely, or bad in some other way (aside from requisite power consumption)?

In what way do processors "age"? Something happens to the silicon, etc.?

 

[GaryTcs]

Actually, yes. Processors do degrade with age, and high load, and overclocking compound this aging. I cannot explain in perfect detail how this works, but here goes; as electrons move across the surface of the conductor, they strip minute pieces of the conductor and relocate them. Sooner or later, this completely erodes one or more of the conductors. In a microchip the conductors are very small compared to, say, an extension cord, but the principles of resistance, and heat are the same. What it comes down to is that an overclocked CPU is not only moving more electrons per second, it's doing it at a higher temperature, so this "aging" occurs faster.

Don't worry about it too much, it's part of the game. I personally don't plan on keeping mine around long enough to die of old age.

 

[rectifire]

Most microprocessor makers design their chips to last about 7-10 years. Keep in mind this includes situations where the processor is 24/7 fully loaded and operated under extreme conditions.

This is why many chips are so overclockable (because they have this anti-failure headroom built in). Keep in mind that when safely overclocking, even if you cut the life of your processor by 75%, that still gives you about 2 years worth of processor life. I don't know about you, but I don't plan on having the same processor a couple years from now.

Notice where I said above "safely" overclocking.....as in making sure your overclocked processor gets good cooling, and not raising the voltage to a rediculous level.

Not having good cooling and/or raising the core voltage of your Athlon/PIII to something like above 2.0 volts.........all bets are off as to processor life.