Overclocking video card

[pcslookout]

Does overclocking a video card decrease it's life in half like CPUs ?

 

[Borealis7]

Whoa...the underlying question beneath the original question...

who told you Overclocking decreases life span in half? find that person and slap him with a large trout.

while it is true that overclocking *could* *potentially* decrease the *working* life-span of your CPU or GPU, it is certainly not by as much as "half".
besides, the hardware will be old and obsolete way before it croaks due to overclocking and most chances are you will be buying new hardware before it happens.

i'm quite surprised you asked that...to be honest, i expected more from a Diamond Member.

 

[pcslookout]

Whoa...the underlying question beneath the original question...

who told you Overclocking decreases life span in half? find that person and slap him with a large trout.

while it is true that overclocking *could* *potentially* decrease the *working* life-span of your CPU or GPU, it is certainly not by as much as "half".
besides, the hardware will be old and obsolete way before it croaks due to overclocking and most chances are you will be buying new hardware before it happens.

i'm quite surprised you asked that...to be honest, i expected more from a Diamond Member.

Well I have a test case that could prove you otherwise. That is why I asked.

 

[fffblackmage]

Even if OCing decreases the lifespan by half-ish, the video card will be long outdated by the time it dies...

It also depends how much you're pushing the gpu. If you seriously crank up the voltage and clockspeed, you could kill it sooner.

 

[pcslookout]

Even if OCing decreases the lifespan by half-ish, the video card will be long outdated by the time it dies...

It also depends how much you're pushing the gpu. If you seriously crank up the voltage and clockspeed, you could kill it sooner.

Thats true but it depends on how long someone keeps their computer hardware for. The video card I am speaking of, that I overclocked, only lasted about 2 years maybe a little longer. I prefer 4 years or more. Maybe 5 if possible.

 

[ScorcherDarkly]

find that person and slap him with a large trout.

Hilarious!

What kills CPUs during overclocking is increased voltage. Increased voltage leads to vastly increased heat, and can kill a part pretty easily if you over-do it. For video card overclocking, unless you really know what you're doing, you don't even have the OPTION of increasing the voltage. As such, the risk of killing your card is not high. I'd say the life span decrease MIGHT be on the order of 10%, certainly not 50%. If you had an OCed card die after 2 yrs, I'd say it had more to do with the card being faulty than with you cooking it to death.

 

[pcslookout]

Hilarious!

What kills CPUs during overclocking is increased voltage. Increased voltage leads to vastly increased heat, and can kill a part pretty easily if you over-do it. For video card overclocking, unless you really know what you're doing, you don't even have the OPTION of increasing the voltage. As such, the risk of killing your card is not high. I'd say the life span decrease MIGHT be on the order of 10%, certainly not 50%. If you had an OCed card die after 2 yrs, I'd say it had more to do with the card being faulty than with you cooking it to death.

I hope your right.

 

[Tempered81]

I would say that yes, overclocking does decrease the card's lifespan. It adds mhz, voltage, heat, etc... (all the things used in moderation, and regulated by stock settings, bioses & drivers).

Overclocking the gpu increases risks of throttling, electromigration, socket burn, brittle solder joints, capacitor whine & overload, component failure, over heating, and early death. But it does increase your benchmark scores & give you more frames per second, therefore it is a gamble that can be well worth it.

 

[Seero]

Does overclocking a video card decrease it's life in half like CPUs ?

The life of the CPU won't decrease not matter how you OC it. However, the capacitors on Mobo and PSU may stress out due to OC, which cause unstable voltages towards CPU, and thus fry it at the worst case. High end Motherboard have multiple layers of power protection to prevent this from happening and the extra layers of capacitors also increase the possibility of a stable voltage which allows farther OC.

Video card on the other hand is not the same thing. Unlike CPU, the board that hosts the GPU along with memory and such are in bundle, and the GPU is said the be dead if one of those parts break. Therefore, it isn't wise to OC GPU by increasing voltages. However, most GPU allow clock adjustment, meaning that you can overclock it without hurting its lifespan. If heat is the driving factor of the default clock, then OC is possible.

Note that some games are more demanding than others, it is possible to OC video card to suit a specific game. That is, by adjusting the clock that will cause artifacts through benchmarks, but fine with your favorite game. This is why some video card allows OC profiling.

 

[toyota]

I hope your right.

well most big companies offer lifetime warranties dont they and many of their cards already come overclocked. basically if you dont mess with the voltage then the card will last way past its useful life anyway. if a card fails within a few years then it would have likely failed anyway. I have an overclocked 6600 that still works fine so what does that tell you?