Sacrifice of CPU Life

[jamesro]

i want to overclock an AMD X2 3600+ *obviously*
at what point will i be decreasing the life of the CPU?
and at what point will it be significant?

As soon as i bump it to 2.0gHz or higher around 2.6gHz

or closer to the OC limit around 2.8-3.2gHz

thanks

 

[graysky]

I'm guess you'll retire the machine before it burns out as a result of your O/C'ing it. Say it only lasts for 3 years... how expensive do you think a replacement chip will be then? 90 bucks?

I think as long as you don't up the voltage and you have efficient cooling, it will probably last a long time -- longer than you'll care to keep it. Don't worry about it is my advice.

Perhaps the greater danger is the increased heat produced on the MB?

 

[sanjiwatsuki]

The two biggest dangers of an overclocked chip are heat and voltage.

The more heat the faster it'll go kaput.
The more voltage the more electromigration will occur, wearing it down even more faster.

In short, keep it at stock volts and keeping it cool and it'll last longer than the working life of your computer .

 

[rammedstein]

i think your motherboard will die before the cpu, honest personal opinion, the cpu, even quite heavily overclocked but with good cooling should last for 3+ years

 

[Valtiel]

It'll last well over the time you'll need it. CPU's are rated at 10+ years on recommended voltage (less than 1.5 for C2D) so its not really much of a problem.