OCing CPUs

[MraK]

i had always been curious on the basis of OCing. i heard that OCing could very well reduce the lifespan of a CPU, is it true? what are some of the reasons for it?

Right now i have an OCed CPU, but m having second thoughts on keeping it at a high speed

Any help or advice would be nice

 

[alexXx]

2.5 years so fr with an o/cd a64.
how long do you plan on keeping it?

 

[bobsmith1492]

They're made to last for tens of years, so even if OCing reduces its lifespan by 50%, that leaves you over ten years for sure... I'm just making up numbers, but seriously, I've never heard of a CPU actually failing because of OCing.

 

[Golgatha]

I expect my E6600 running at 3.0Ghz with a Zalman 9500Cu cooler and a well ventilated computer case to outlast one running stock in a cramped, dust-ridden case. Point being that heat kills CPUs not overclocking.

 

[MraK]

thinking of keeping this new rig of mine for 2-3 years before i end up selling it to get a new one, so i guess based on u three's opinions, ill keep it OCed. thank you guys so much for the help of this issue of mine.

 

[f4phantom2500]

Yeah, I mean think about it. Even if you do plan on keeping the rig for years, if your CPU dies from an OC (I haven't actually seen this happen myself either, as they are designed to last for like 10+ years anyway), by the time this would happen you could probably replace it with a better one for cheaper because it will be so old by that time. Honestly though I wouldn't be surprised if your CPU lasted 5 or more years easily, assuming you have good cooling.

 

[MarcVenice]

even IF your e6600 craps out in 2 years, by then the e6600 will cost crap all, a fraction of what you are saving by oc-ing it right now instead od buying a cpu at a higher stock voltage.

 

[Assimilator1]

Originally posted by: MrAK
i had always been curious on the basis of OCing. i heard that OCing could very well reduce the lifespan of a CPU, is it true? what are some of the reasons for it?

Right now i have an OCed CPU, but m having second thoughts on keeping it at a high speed

Any help or advice would be nice

My Celeron 366 @550 MHz still works fine which I bought in Aug '99.
Std vcore was 2v but it needs 2.05v for 550MHz.
Anyway for about the 1st 4yrs or so it was at full load 24/7 running SETI ,after that it became a part time light duty CPU until just over a year ago.It's been shut off since but still works fine AFAIK .

Anyway ,the point is that excessive* over volting &/or overheating will significantly shorten CPU life rather than just clockspeed.
*excessive over volting IMO for air cooling is in the region of 10% & upwards ,I don't go over 7% ,& even then only if it gets me a significant speed boost.

My current main rig (soon to be upgraded to a C2D) runs an Athlon XPM 2500 @2.48 GHz ,1.68v (std for desktop Athlons is 1.6-1.65).
I've had it for about 3yrs now & no real probs ,the only issue I did have was when I installed an X800XT ,when gaming the greater heat output from this card (along with maybe the mbrd/cpu 'aging') meant I had to drop CPU speed 20MHz & raise vcore ~0.02v.
Oh & I run SETI or DPAD on this rig too which was until recently crunching 24/7.

Originally posted by: bobsmith1492
They're made to last for tens of years, so even if OCing reduces its lifespan by 50%, that leaves you over ten years for sure... I'm just making up numbers, but seriously, I've never heard of a CPU actually failing because of OCing.

Let me be your 1st then
Sometime in 98 or 99 I overclocked my fathers PC ,it had a Cyrix 166 (120MHz IIRC) ,I overclocked it just a tiny bit to 133MHz.It was fine for about.........................oh 5 mins! ,then it BSOD & would freeze up in the BIOS or POST! :Q ,yep I'd killed my dads PC ,oopps!.Btw another CPU did fix it.
I will say though that they were known for running hot & being crap CPUs!

That's the only one I've ever had die on me though in about 8yrs of overclocking.
I do remember someone here though saying they'd killed a Celeron 300A or 333 after 2yrs ,but he'd put 2.4v through it!:Q (std was 2v).

 

[f4phantom2500]

Originally posted by: Assimilator1
Sometime in 98 or 99 I overclocked my fathers PC ,it had a Cyrix 166 (120MHz IIRC) ,I overclocked it just a tiny bit to 133MHz.It was fine for about.........................oh 5 mins! ,then it BSOD & would freeze up in the BIOS or POST! :Q ,yep I'd killed my dads PC ,oopps!.Btw another CPU did fix it.
I will say though that they were known for running hot & being crap CPUs!

That's the only one I've ever had die on me though in about 8yrs of overclocking.
I do remember someone here though saying they'd killed a Celeron 300A or 333 after 2yrs ,but he'd put 2.4v through it!:Q (std was 2v).

Yeah but there are so many safeguards and things like that these days that the chances of something like that happening are very small.

 

[bobsmith1492]

Originally posted by: f4phantom2500

Originally posted by: Assimilator1
Sometime in 98 or 99 I overclocked my fathers PC ,it had a Cyrix 166 (120MHz IIRC) ,I overclocked it just a tiny bit to 133MHz.It was fine for about.........................oh 5 mins! ,then it BSOD & would freeze up in the BIOS or POST! :Q ,yep I'd killed my dads PC ,oopps!.Btw another CPU did fix it.
I will say though that they were known for running hot & being crap CPUs!

That's the only one I've ever had die on me though in about 8yrs of overclocking.
I do remember someone here though saying they'd killed a Celeron 300A or 333 after 2yrs ,but he'd put 2.4v through it!:Q (std was 2v).

Yeah but there are so many safeguards and things like that these days that the chances of something like that happening are very small.

Do you know for sure it was the CPU and not the motherboard? I.E., did you put a new CPU in and it was fine? Also I was thinking more long-term damage rather than just... put it in and blow it up. Anyone can do that!

 

[GeezerMan]

Probably varies. For example, I use a Toledo core Opteron 165 that is normally a 1.8GHz CPU overclocked to 2.6GHz. The FX-60 is also a Toledo core that is a 2.6GHz chip normally. I run at stock voltages, and my temps are OK. It is possible that my Toledo core Opty is identical to many other Toledo core chips, like the FX-60, it's just set to run at lower speeds at the factory. If so, then maybe it will last as long as a FX-60 does. Higher volts and heat are the enemies.

 

[f4phantom2500]

Originally posted by: GeezerMan
Higher volts and heat are the enemies.

That's the bottom line; the heat obviously puts more stress on the CPU, but so does the higher voltage. Higher voltage is kind of like an indefinite adrenaline rush for a CPU.

 

[SanDiegoPC]

The only time I ever saw the life of a cpu shortened was by EXTREME overclocking or screwing up some settings while you did so.

I've used OC'd processors for years (this one for three now) and never had an issue. As long as they are put together right and cool, there's no issue.

 

[Phantomaniac]

I've done a good bit of P4 overclocking, and in the past 4 years I've never had any CPU issues. I've lost a motherboard and two power supplies, but my P4 2.4C is still working great in my server after 2 years overclocked to 3.35Ghz in my main rig, and 2 years at stock.

 

[jswjimmy]

my old athlon xp 1800+ lasted about 3 years at 2.4ghz before i retired it to server work (now at stock speed 1.53ghz but with a 1.1 vcore) and the chip once booted at 2.6ghz, was stable at 2.5ghz. all on air cooling. right now i have a opteron 165 running at 2.7ghz stock vcore and i dont expect any less out of it, it should out live the motherboard and be replaced long before ever dieing.

a cpu overclocked smartly will last a long time.

 

[IEC]

Let's see... beginning in 1997/1998? Don't remember exactly when I got my Celeron 300A.

Celeron 300A OC'd to 450MHz lasted 5+ years (I gave it away)
Athlon 1GHz OC'd to 1.33GHz w/TT Tornado 6Cu+? - LEAF BLOWER
Athlon XP 2700+ @ 2.4GHz w/Vantec AeroFlow (sold, but still working as of today)
Sempron 3300+ (754) @ 2.4GHz w/Zalman 7000 (sold, still working)
Athlon 64 3200+ (939) @ 2.4GHz w/Zalman 7000 (sold, still working)
Pentium D 930 (775) @ 3.3GHz w/Scythe Infinity (currently running)

All of these procs above have seen plenty of 24/7 or 16/7 usage @ 100% constant load with Folding@Home or whatever else I'm running. 100% stable OCs using prime/memtest/orthos to test. I always overclock as an inexpensive way of getting more performance. I also always use after-market air cooling so the added heat is never an issue. I'm probably going to sell off the Pentium D rig and build a cheap Brisbane AM2 rig once I get home from college, so it'll be interesting to see how good of an OC I get on a 3600+ AM2 w/ the Scythe...