Is it WORSE to run increased voltage on processor while clocked to specification rather than O/Ced?

CZroe

Lifer
Jun 24, 2001
24,195
857
126
For anybody confused by that title, let me explain:
My motherboard (A dual Celeron Abit BP6) has a special utility that allows me to overclock the FSB speeds from within Windows.
This is useful, because it allows me to scale back to specification dynamically when the temps get too hot.
The "BP6FSB" program automates the dynamic speed changes which are triggered when set temperature levels are reached
This effectively simulates "SpeedStep" ; or at least a limited safeguard against damage.
Anyway, my target speed for my dual Celerons (366Mhz, 5.5x multiplier) was an FSB of 100Mhz (550Mhz CPU speed).
I can achieve this by changing the default setting of 2.00v to 2.05v on CPU1.
The BP6FSB application is not able to dynamically change voltages.
Because my PC boots at the default clock speed & is overclocked afterwards by the aplication, it is running an increased voltage during regular clock speeds.
I know increasing the voltage is the primary reason an overclocked CPU has a shortened lifetime, but is that in any way more dangerous for a regular-speed CPU?
I dunno, maybe I'm just thinking the higher speeds can use the extra voltage while it's just a little more damage at lower speeds or something... :p
 

Rand

Lifer
Oct 11, 1999
11,071
1
81
it won't damage or harm the processor persay, it'll just create slightly more heat and be providing slightly more power then the chip would actually need to run at rated clockspeed.

Your completely fine.