24/7 overclock?

[two_eyes]

I just pulled the trigger on a new desktop purchase (i5-750, my first build) and I intend to overclock it (yes, I bought an aftermarket cooler, I am not that much of a noob). However, I was wondering to what extent people keep their overclocks for daily use in gaming and such. I see people routinely saying that the 750 can push up to 4 ghz relatively easily and posting screenshots of cpu-z with great clock speeds, but I don't hear much about whether people keep their rigs there for an extended period of time.

To what extent do you, dear experienced users, keep your overclock constant? Are you zooming along at 4 ghz all the live-long day, or do you keep your CPU several hundred mhz from something you've found to be stable for one reason or another? I've heard that overclocks involving raising CPU voltage shorten the chip's life appreciably even if the heat is managed by fans and ventilation - is that true?

Please educate this humble supplicant who seeks to join your world.

 

[OvrClkr]

as long as you have adequate CPU cooling and you monitor your temps you should have no problem running a 750 @ 4Ghz on a 24/7 basis.

you do not necessarily need to run your CPU at 4Ghz constantly, this is normally used for benching purposes since 3.7/3.8Ghz is more than enough for games/apps.

 

[two_eyes]

All right. Thank you. Could you (or anyone else reading this thread) explain the point about overclocking's intrinsic shortening of hardware life expectancy? I've heard it, but I don't know to what extent it's true or relevant within a typical (2-3 years?) upgrade cycle.

 

[OvrClkr]

you will not hurt the lifespan of a CPU unless it overheats/overvolted. Also you should not even worry about the lifespan since you will be upgrading way before the CPU dies (if it ever does).

 

[monten]

From what I know, not the overclock itself will shorten the life of your cpu or other components, but the high voltage and temperature will. Every cpu has a max "normal life" voltage. Even if your temps are low the high voltage will shake some days out of a cpu's life

 

[two_eyes]

Okay. I ask because I was looking at this thread, and there are people cautioning the OP about watching his voltages if he plans to keep the CPU for multiple years. Is what they say accurate/worth listening to?

 

[OvrClkr]

From what I know, not the overclock itself will shorten the life of your cpu or other components, but the high voltage and temperature will. Every cpu has a max "normal life" voltage. Even if your temps are low the high voltage will shake some days out of a cpu's life

pre-built PC's normally come with the vcore on "auto" this in turn makes the board apply much more voltage than needed and still the CPU's lifespan remains the same unless the CPU is not getting adequate cooling. So whoever is saying that adding voltage kills the lifespan needs to do some homework. Like I said as long as you keep the temps down you have nothing to worry about.

high voltage and high temps will eventually fry the CPU, which is contrary to what I am explaining above.

 

[two_eyes]

Ah, okay. So as long as I keep temps good and power consumption stays in the correct range for my PSU, all will be well with my overclock?

 

[OvrClkr]

yes Sir

 

[two_eyes]

Thank you for all your help

 

[two_eyes]

Best answer selected by two_eyes.