how long does an OC'ed comp last?

[abtomat74]

If overclocking something like a 3000 or 3200 Winchester or Venice no more than 25%, what kind of life span will it have?

Same as normal or degraded because of the OC?

 

[Tarrant64]

Anything overclocked will be less than what it could be. In my personal opinion, most of the time the hardware will always last you until your next upgrade. That's my take on it anyways.

If you're worried about it not lasting until your next upgrade, OC'ing is not for you.

 

[akugami]

If only moderately overclocked, the cpu should last at least 5 years and realistically 10+ years since it's suppose to be built to last like 30 years anyways. At least the older quality hardware does and I'm assuming the newer hardware to be built to similar standards. Barring moving mechanics like optical and hard disk drives of course. If you're doing extreme overclocking Don't expect it to last that long. Extreme overclocking while in and of itself is cool, it's mainly to brag about the size of your e-penis.

 

[Duvie]

I agree if you volt 10% or less and keep it cool (under operating specs) I cant see why it wouldn't last for 10 years...well longer then yours and possibly pothers may need it....

If you OC in the 15% range you better water cool IMO and even then you may be in the 2-5 year range....

If you like to apply 1.7-1.8v to winnies you better be phase cooling and eve then I say 1-2 years max at those speeds.....Then again ppl like this can care lkess about the 140 dollar chip when they have 500-1000 dollars invested in a cooler....

If you dont vcore boost at all and temp are fine I dont see where you have changed anything in terms of its lifespan. If it is stable (truly) then that is closer to where the chip was probably meant to run...

I have a 1.8a@2.61ghz w/ like 1.66v (1.5v default) I sold a guy like 2+ years ago and it is still running....My 1.6a@2.74ghz w/ 1.7v is also still running though I belive the guy wanted to run it at 2.53ghz at stock vcore cause of his cooling.....

 

[stevty2889]

Well I can't say for sure, as not a single one of my overclocked CPU's has failed yet. I have a couple of 1.6ghz northwoods that have been running at 2.1ghz for the last 4 years.

 

[abtomat74]

I just wanted about 2-3 years anyway.

And for OC'ing...I am hoping to just raise the FSB to 240 or 250 max with no voltage change, stock HS/fan. And run the ram asyncronously...or buy better ram. Otherwise I'll just not bother at all.

I have another thread asking about this below somewhere.

 

[edmundoab]

have never used an overclocked chip for more then 4 years.
runs perfect until the day I sell it.

 

[habs01]

My Duron 650 has been overclocked to 900 for 5 years now and is still working fine. Before that I had a Pentium III 600@733 which I upgraded and that one was still working fine after 4 years.

Bottom line, if you plan on upgrading once in a while you will probably never see your CPU die unless you overclock more agressively. Even then, say my 650 Duron were to die tomorrow, would I be pissed? Not really (well a little bit), considering what what a Duron 900 would have cost me and all the time I already got from it. Anyways I could upgrade that rig for minimal cost today and still have a decent system, not a gaming rig though.

 

[shiranai]

If I understand correctly, CPU (and RAM) OC lifespan is dependant on voltage and temperature. That being the case, it really doesn't matter how far you push the clock speed so long as you keep the voltages low and the cooling intact. If you're on a Venice, you should be able to get pretty far on just stock voltage (~2550MHz was Prime95 stable for at least 12 hours for me).

This is a convenient time to ask though ... how much of a lifespan hit am I looking at if my Venice is running at 1.5V with a 100% load temp of 54~55C?

 

[11427]

If you're only looking for 2 or 3 years I would not worry. I still run an overclocked K6-2/500 24/7 crunching Seti. Still going strong coming up on 9 years.

 

[Intelia]

As is normally the case Duvie got it right even on high overclock if you water cool all the main chips and the power transitors ( ATI Grouper) it should last a long time

 

[GuitarDaddy]

To me lifespan is not an issue. I have an old Tbird 1400 overclocked to 1650 and its been running since 2000, if the chip died tomorrow it would cost maybe $35 to replace it.
The same could be said about current chips, if you overclocked your A64 3000+ and it runs for 3yrs and dies how much will an A64 3000+ sell for in 2008? not much!

 

[bjc112]

Originally posted by: Duvie
I agree if you volt 10% or less and keep it cool (under operating specs) I cant see why it wouldn't last for 10 years...well longer then yours and possibly pothers may need it....

If you OC in the 15% range you better water cool IMO and even then you may be in the 2-5 year range....

If you like to apply 1.7-1.8v to winnies you better be phase cooling and eve then I say 1-2 years max at those speeds.....Then again ppl like this can care lkess about the 140 dollar chip when they have 500-1000 dollars invested in a cooler....

If you dont vcore boost at all and temp are fine I dont see where you have changed anything in terms of its lifespan. If it is stable (truly) then that is closer to where the chip was probably meant to run...

I have a 1.8a@2.61ghz w/ like 1.66v (1.5v default) I sold a guy like 2+ years ago and it is still running....My 1.6a@2.74ghz w/ 1.7v is also still running though I belive the guy wanted to run it at 2.53ghz at stock vcore cause of his cooling.....

Agreeed, it's all about the vcore..

I have a 1700+@2.4ghz (1.79v) that has been running for well over 2 years.. I backed it down to 2.3ghz and sold it to my uncle! Hopefully he gets a few good years out of it!

 

[Acanthus]

Overclocking doesnt significantly shorten the life of parts.

OverVOLTING does.

 

[Hyperlite]

i've been running my XP-M @ 1.8vcore, 12 hour prime stable @ 2334 mhz for almost a year, but i'm acutally suprised it has been this strong for this long.

not to steal, but do you think it will one day just take a giant dump or will the death be gradual, as in frequent blue screens, etc...

 

[fstime]

As long as you know what your doing, an oced pc will last long.

 

[JBird7986]

So if I'm running a Newcastle w/ a 3% overclock (70MHz, roughly 1.568v) I shouldn't have any problem keeping it going 4-5 years?

 

[Frown66]

Overclocking doesnt significantly shorten the life of parts.

OverVOLTING does.

What is a safe overvolting range (isn't 10% safe, as a general rule of thumb?)? I'm running around a 15% voltage increase on my Venice (1.61v) but my temps are around 45-46 under load (xp-90). The temps seem fine, so I don't think the extra volts would hurt things too much. I don't want to go any higher (voltage-wise) though.

 

[theMan]

even though the temps are low, the voltage will gradually break down the processor. i have never had a cpu die, however this is the first pc ive ever overclocked before, so i guess we'll see. im running my 3200+ winchester at 1.5v hopefully thats ok.

 

[miketheidiot]

Originally posted by: JBird7986
So if I'm running a Newcastle w/ a 3% overclock (70MHz, roughly 1.568v) I shouldn't have any problem keeping it going 4-5 years?

assuming the voltages are correct, it should last just as long as an un oc'ed part

 

[abtomat74]

I see, this is why I want to do a small 20% OC using stock voltage etc.

Well, my next step is figuring out how to do this correctly...

 

[Acanthus]

Originally posted by: Frown66

Overclocking doesnt significantly shorten the life of parts.

OverVOLTING does.

What is a safe overvolting range (isn't 10% safe, as a general rule of thumb?)? I'm running around a 15% voltage increase on my Venice (1.61v) but my temps are around 45-46 under load (xp-90). The temps seem fine, so I don't think the extra volts would hurt things too much. I don't want to go any higher (voltage-wise) though.

10% is considered within the "safe range" this does shorten the life, but by a negligible amount.

You have low temps and still kill your chip very quickly with voltage, electromagnetic migration (SP?) can kill chips within hours if the voltage is high enough. (a la Xtremesystems.org)

 

[GuitarDaddy]

People get too hung up on "lifespan" of CPU's. Mechanically they are made to last for decades (I have a couple over 20yrs old and still strokin! when I get nostalgic and turn them on), but technologically they become obsolete very fast.

Even if you shortened the mechanical life of the chip to 1/3 of its normal life by overclocking, it would still become tecnologically obsolete before it quit functioning.

The only real danger IMHO is extreme overvolting, and thats why most boards limit this. My Asus gives a max of about +12-13%, at these voltages with proper cooling you may shorten the life who cares. But your not going to kill it. With a board like the DFI on the other hand they give you enough voltage to kill your chip if you want to

 

[imported_Talisman]

Well I'm running my one at 2500mhz without any voltage increase. Temperature styas at 47 in high load. The temp. under control and the voltage as well. So, I don't think my baby would die so easily.......

 

[imported_Talisman]

Well I'm running my one at 2500mhz without any voltage increase. Temperature stays at 47 in high load. The temp. under control and the voltage as well. So, I don't think my baby would die so easily.......