OCed life MYTH

[gomerpile]

I don't beleive ocing shortens life of the cpu, I just don't beleive it anyways who ever has a cpu anylonger than 3 or 4 years anyways. I've oced the xp and still the 3200 and 2500 run like new MYTH busting time

 

[7H4_D00D3]

I don't beleive ocing shortens life of the cpu, I just don't beleive it anyways who ever has a cpu anylonger than 3 or 4 years anyways. I've oced the xp and still the 3200 and 2500 run like new MYTH busting time

I had a PI-233MMX for 8+ years....

And it does shorten your life but you'll have to :
a) Raise the voltage to almost fry the cpu
b) have it for 10 years

to notice the effect

 

[p8ntslinger676]

yea it probably doesnt matter because most people that overclock their cpu's are always looking to upgrade so they wont keep the oced cpu over a faster non oced cpu in two years that they can then overclock. most people that still use a 5 year old computer as their main computer dont even know wtf overclocking means.

 

[1Tanker]

most people that still use a 5 year old computer as their main computer dont even know wtf overclocking means.

Funny, but true. :lol:

 

[vulefu]

Today motherboards do their work very vell.

The thing will be if U overclock and dont play games and dont overload your CPU then he will probably suffer and die.

 

[1Tanker]

Today motherboards do their work very vell.

The thing will be if U overclock and dont play games and dont overload your CPU then he will probably suffer and die.

Not true. Processor still runs at same MHz, whether playing games, or

browsing web. The same voltage is travelling through the transistors, even if

it isn't being fully used. That's like saying, that if everything electrical in

your house is turned on, you can increase from 110v to 125/130. No matter

how many things are running, the increased voltage will start blowing light

bulbs, etc.

 

[vulefu]

Today motherboards do their work very vell.

The thing will be if U overclock and dont play games and dont overload your CPU then he will probably suffer and die.

Not true. Processor still runs at same MHz, whether playing games, or

browsing web. The same voltage is travelling through the transistors, even if

it isn't being fully used. That's like saying, that if everything electrical in

your house is turned on, you can increase from 110v to 125/130. No matter

how many things are running, the increased voltage will start blowing light

bulbs, etc.

That was a joke.

 

[chenBrazil]

lifetime depends on how agressive is your OC. AMD socket 939 OCs cannot be considered agressive in most of cases as hardly they push over the Eletric project (it is impressive to see that 12V line in average OC 939 hardly surpass 10 A (with only 6A in normal situations) so it depends on your CPU and the quality of your MB (cheaper MB manufactures does know the real amount of energy that the CPU that their market share will use...) ... for Intel, the OC requirements push closer to eletrical limits, so lifetime will be shorter... anyway...anyone who likes to OC a CPU...will hardly keep the CPU for longer time (ok ...maybe you can keep it...but surely you got another rig ready to be OC...)

 

[Raviolissimo]

the Deion Sanders answer ==> "both"

i use minor OC's, 10% & 11.1%, but just for about a year.

i think some people who OC take better care of their systems than people who don't OC, e.g watching the dust on intake vents, getting a better HSF, being super careful putting of the AS ceramique or whatever, etc.

BUT ... if you look at the military specs for calculating system reliability, which are based largely on observed performance, you will find that over-voltaging transistor-based devices does reduce their life.

i think part of the the OC-reduced life question depends on whether you over-voltage the CPU or RAM.

then again, someone who raises RAM voltage is more likely to stick a case fan blowing right at the RAM, to keep it cool.

also, military hardware is a wierd combination - expensive parts & extreme care during some phases of the design & manufacturing process, combined with less-than-wise management decisions that work against system reliability.

 

[smartel7070]

Personnaly I've been overclocking since the pentium 133 days, even had the best overclocking cpu ever made, celeron 300a wich I ran at 450mhz for 1 1/2 year without any problems, that's was a 50% overclock now try and do that today ! Lately I ran a P4 northwood 2.4 at 2.62 with standard cooling for 3 years also without any probs. But like everyone else is saying, people who do this kind of thing with their comps will not keep their parts long enough to notice the shorter lifetime. So go ahead and oc like there's no tomorrow !!!

 

[stoppard]

I don't deny that running more voltage will reduce the lifespan of your cpu. However, as was stated already, The majority of those who OC will do their best to mitigate the process. Cooling and good components are critical to a stable long term overclock.

That being said, if you overclock correctly , your pc will be the equivilant of a Commador 64 (ie. so old and slow it won't be good for anything but a trip down nostalgia lane) by the time it gives up the ghost.

 

[julius]

the funny part about the voltage increases with a moderate oc is that since the mobo and psu are much better in an oc'ing system, that the lower quality mobos prbably kill the chip faster. a poor mobo will have usually have a terrible vrm, and not a 4 phase quality one like mine from dfi, so the voltage that gets fed to the cpu is both not stable, and it is very possible that it overvolts the cpu unwittingly. plenty of crappy mobos did that, set it to 1.4v in the bios, but with a multi-meter, its actually at 1.45, since the mobo doesnt have proper regulation. so in effect, me running my chip at 2.7 at 1.45 volts using a very good heatsink is probably keeping my cpu healthier than the poor x2s stuck in a e-machines with a crappy psu and cheap no-name mobo.

 

[Datman]

That being said, if you overclock correctly , your pc will be the equivilant of a Commador 64 (ie. so old and slow it won't be good for anything but a trip down nostalgia lane) by the time it gives up the ghost.

Fond memories

 

[orionman]

OCing a CPU does indeed decrease the lifetime of a CPU, the degree of degradation depends on the aggressiveness of the OC -- the factors include but are not limited to-

Electromigration in the Cu interconnects, TDDB or time dependent dielectric break down in the gate, hot carrier injection (influcences TDDB), thermally induced dislocations.

Intel/AMD both determine reliability through a battery of tests, of these tests is to run the CPU at massive clock and high voltage to speed up the breakdown mechanisms and measure that breakdown via various transistor parameters. From that data they can determine the binning characteristics to ensure they can meet their 3 year warranty commitments. OCing a chip will automatically void your warranty.

There is not myth here, google the terms you see above and do a little research on the topic... it could be educational.

However, like most people have posted -- the type of person who would run the chip in OC are not typically the ones who keep it around long enough to see the chip lifetime degraded.

Hey Jack,
Thx for the info
when you say 20%-30%? Do you mean 20-30% of 3 years? I'm sure that the lifetimes at stock speeds are longer than just 3 years no?

My prescott is watercooled, without any voltage increase and it's running at 27/47C idle/load which is way lower than what I was able to get at 3.4 GHz with the stock fan. I still can sleep even if I know that my cpu's life may be shorter than expected but I'm sure my OC is nearly without danger. I was able to get it stable at 4.6 with 1.65 V which is huge IMO, so I'm back with stock voltage and Speedstep still working

 

[kwalker]

I agree with the nature of those who oc to the limits and beyond.
I am not concerned with the life expectency of the cpu.
although intel has a nice set of guidelines in thier data sheets.
out of box 1.3 volts .maximum 1.4 volts and 1.55 volts.
absolute maximum of 1.6 volts.
no one would drive the vcc to 1.6 volts but staying between 1.3 to 1.42 is the guideline I chose.
the only value that I concider taboo is the termination voltage.
Im not to clear on this but believe it has something to do with prochot signal for thermal protection.

by the time this gets posted I will be thinking of my next rig.

 

[mike8913]

well...heres a good reference for expected life range....i used a P4 2.2 GHz at 3.24 GHz for over 4 years with the stock HS/F before it burnt out...im sure that if i even used a Zalman HS/F that life range would have extended well beyond 6-7 years.


with water cooling your OC'd processor will last longer then you will ever want to use it.