To Overclock Or Not, That Is The Question

[clarkey01]

Hi all, I have been planning to replace my old 2000+ rig (doggy motherboard problems) for an athlon 64 set up. Zebo?s offered to help me out but I?m hoping I can afford a powerful CPU without spending too much and paying more of a decent graphics card. This will be in the summer.

I wanna get a revision E winnie, now , all my problem is , and your goona laugh, is Im scared of overclocking. I don?t want to shorten or fry my winnie , I only want to get a 3000+ (1.8Ghz) and maybe push it to 2.2/ 2.4 Ghz ( Yes I know these suckers are heading north on 2.8 Ghz as yields and revision E comes into play) but how does overclcoking shorten the life of a CPU?

Is it the increased heat ?

Cheers

 

[nick1985]

lets say a CPU last 15 years, if it shortens the lifespan by 33%, that leaves you with 10 years. are you going to be using this CPU for 10 years?

 

[clarkey01]

about 3-4

 

[jose]

I'd look at the default voltage and stay there. For example right now AMD's winchesters .90 are running between 1.8 & 2.2ghz. Ppl are getting to the 2.6ghz range oc'd, but amd is not selling any 2.6 winnie parts.. I'm staying at 2.4 because to get past the 2.6 range it requires alot more voltage. So for me 2.4 is fast enough, regardless that my chip can do 2.6..
Just something to think about..

Regards,
Jose

 

[Markfw]

If you get a winnie, and don't go over 1.5v and have a good HSF, then it won't hurt it for over 5 years. I don;t think anybody will be using them past 5 years, or you could put it back to stock at that point and use it for ???

 

[clarkey01]

how does overclocking a 1.8 to 2.4 Ghz different from AMD setting the chip at 2.4 Ghz ?

How does that effect lifespan ?

 

[Appledrop]

if you dont touch the voltage, then it should last a longggggg time. I dont see my +0.2v winchester dying within 3 years though.

 

[Markfw]

Originally posted by: clarkey01
how does overclocking a 1.8 to 2.4 Ghz different from AMD setting the chip at 2.4 Ghz ?

How does that effect lifespan ?

All the chips start out the same (2800+,3000+,3200+,3500+,3800+) and the ones that will run easily (I don;t know how they figure this out) at 1.6,1.8,2.0,2.2,2.4 get "binned" and set to run at those speeds. They all use 1.4v(winchesters). Thats why is you either don;t change the voltage, or up it only a little, its the same as a factory chip !

 

[clarkey01]

Originally posted by: Markfw900

Originally posted by: clarkey01
how does overclocking a 1.8 to 2.4 Ghz different from AMD setting the chip at 2.4 Ghz ?

How does that effect lifespan ?

All the chips start out the same (2800+,3000+,3200+,3500+,3800+) and the ones that will run easily (I don;t know how they figure this out) at 1.6,1.8,2.0,2.2,2.4 get "binned" and set to run at those speeds. They all use 1.4v(winchesters). Thats why is you either don;t change the voltage, or up it only a little, its the same as a factory chip !

sweet

 

[GuitarDaddy]

I think the temps are the most important thing. If you have good cooling even mildly increased voltages shouldn't significantly reduce the lifespan.

I have an old tbird chip that I've been running at +10% vcore almost 24/7 without a single problem. It will be 4yrs old in a couple of months, I doubt it will die anytime soon, but if it did I wouldn't be sad. I've more than gotten my moneys worth out of it, and if it did die whats todays replacement cost of a 1.4ghz tbird?

 

[Chink]

hehe i never o/ced my 1.4 tbird, man that processor served me well

 

[superkdogg]

The answer is to overclock.

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J/K---Here's why: even if it shortens the life of the CPU by 2/3 (which it shouldn't unless you're not using dicretion with voltage and cooling) you'd still only be upgrading every 2-3 years. That's what most of us do anyway and it's easier to justify an upgrade with a significant other (if that's a factor) because you grenaded your rig than if you simply want something better.----All kidding aside, IMHO OC'ing is well worth it. My last 4 rig purchases were all based on the "Less is More" principal:
1. Athlon XP Thoroughbred B 1700+ ($50) 1467 MHz @ stock-> 2200 MHz OC'd
2. Mobile Pentium 4 ($50) 1600 MHz @ stock- > 2800 MHz OC'd
3. Celeron D 320 ($70) 2400 -> 3600
4. Athlon64 Winchester ($155)1800 -> 2700

All of these are currently running safe and sound in my home. I did sell the mobo out from under the AXP, and the new one only lets me do about 2.0 even-still about 33% above stock. With the exception of the Mobile P4, all of these speeds exceed the maximum for the factory available chips based on that core and all of these are prime95 stable for at least a day. For the price of a mid-range flagship core, OC'ing has allowed me to own three pretty decent rigs and one that kicks butt. Aggregate OC ave: about 55% clockspeed increase-not too shabby for free!