Safe overclocking voltage for a 1.8A Northwood???

[NFS4]

I'm kinda scared to go too high...what's a limit as far as voltages go. Meaning, what's the danger zone??

 

[Athlon4all]

1.65v. I wouldn't go any higher than that or you will significantly decrease the lifespan of your CPU IMO.

 

[AndyHui]

1.625 or 1.650 would be the most I would run.

 

[Jgtdragon]

I would agree with the others on this one. I am currently using 1.625v and its only 1c hotter than 1.5v.

 

[Duvie]

I run 1.66v and I would go up to 1.7v max....It was a number that floated around for quite awhile at several tech sites...It is still below default for willamette and .18 micron parts...

I stayed in that sub 1.7v then got greedy with my 1.8 back about 3 months ago and shot up to 1.83v actual...Though my temps were 52c load in prime the cpu began experiencing diminishing returns like PM as stated will happen if the gates get damaged by higher voltages. So this one I have now runs 2.66ghz now at 1.66v (prime tested) It will run 170fsb for 2.72ghz at 1.69v actual (prime tested) but I didn't like the temps until I get a better hsf...

And lets be honest NFS4...you are an upgrade whore like the rest of us so lifespan don't mean crap to you...1.7v takes 2 years off of it 5-10 year lifespan...who cares!!!!

 

[THUGSROOK]

1.75v if you have a good cooler and decent case cooling.

 

[BadThad]

I agree with Thugs, 1.75v with good cooling. Duvie is right too, who cares about shaving off a little cpu life. Seems like over the last year I'm finallly seeing some 300a cpu's die from electromigration/overclocking. Do you think those people are crying? hehehehehe....NOT

 

[brittlenet]

Intel's datasheet says 1.75 V max, but Intel is also very conservative.

For temperature, the general rule of thumb is that every 10 C increase halves the life of the processor. (They use this for accelerated failure testing to estimate MTBF which they run near 150 C).

 

[The_Lurker]

I used to think that you can push the Voltage higher w/ a good cooler, but with my PIII 750, running a Alpha P3125, i pushed the Voltage to 1.9 (default is 1.65) and now it doesn't run at any speed 100% stable. Only at 500mhz does it complete Prime 95 and doesn't crash. IT works alright at 900 in normal situations.. but it hangs once in a while and doesn't complete prime95 properly. Just food for thought.