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Do CPUs deteriorate over time?

benjo

benjo

benjo

Soldato
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4 Sep 2005
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I only ask because when I first got my Q6600 a few years ago, it ran at 3.6ghz on air fine, and I even had it at 4ghz on water.

Now though, I can barely reach 3ghz without getting any bsod's. I've ran memtest and there were no errors.

Spec is Q6600 G0, Abit IP35, 4gb Gskill 6400.

Voltages were at 1.49v to get 3ghz :/

:(
 
benjo said:
I only ask because when I first got my Q6600 a few years ago, it ran at 3.6ghz on air fine, and I even had it at 4ghz on water.

Now though, I can barely reach 3ghz without getting any bsod's. I've ran memtest and there were no errors.

Spec is Q6600 G0, Abit IP35, 4gb Gskill 6400.

Voltages were at 1.49v to get 3ghz :/

:(
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I asked this in another thread a few weeks ago and the response I got was that CPUs should last for around 10-20 years. Although, the computer I have downstairs which I haven't damaged and took care of just got slower and slower, done a fresh install and it just got slower and slower. People said it was too old and couldn't run new programs but it used to run Windows XP fine, now it can't even bootup without the fan going insane and it lagging everywhere. The computer is a mess. Checked the Task Manager and the CPU is at around 80% then as soon as I move the mouse it goes up to 100%. I used to be able to play CS:S on it, now it can't even open steam without crashing.
 
interestingly enough had a similar thing happen to one of my older computers, where it got slower for not obvious reason, fresh install and what not and was still terrible, at first it loaded windows nice and quickly, then took longer and longer, even after fresh install! they will degrade over time like everything does but would be interested to know what exactly that means. :confused:

Edit: though the clocking problem sounds like some sort of physical damage to the processor to be fair, raising the frequency of a processor and the voltage probably doesn't help it too much in the long run, had a Q6600 myself and it was a hot running thing.
 
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would capacitor/other item wear on the mobo contribute at all? Or do they operate at 100% until death?

(just thinking aloud)
 
If it ran for 4GHz for a while maybe that's what deteriorated it? What were the volts and how long. It was hard enough to hit 3.6GHz with voltages within the Intel limits so 4GHz must have pushed it over.
 
As said increased voltage and or temperature will speed up degrading.

My X4 955 did 4ghz @ 1.4125v until i did some suicide benching at 1.6v or so and now needs 1.45v to be stable a 4ghz.
 
Ran it at 4Ghz for a few days at 1.55v, then back to 3.6ghz at 1.49. It's been like that since. I'll probably try and fine another quad for cheap with a low VID :)

Thanks for the replies
 
I'd say it's more likely the motherboard being pushed with high current is to blame for deteriorating overclocks. But with extreme overclocks, who knows, perhaps the CPUs do degenerate on these ever smaller processes.

I never push for high overclocks, just mild ones at low voltage, and so never experienced the problem. Interesting to know however!
 
CaptainRAVE said:
Is this a serious question? Everything deteriorates with time, higher clocks/voltages will just speed up the process.
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True, but it's obvious the opening poster is referring to how severe the hit is down the line.

Is it worth hitting extreme overclocks for 24/7 use if the hardware will only last a couple of years vs decades.

Might make people think twice about purchasing that second hand CPU which someone has had running at insane speeds.
 
I built my parents a pc 8 years ago based around a barton 1600 IIRC.

It was in a SFF so I underclocked it slightly to keep the temps sensible as it was bound to never be cleaned. It now runs win7 as my computer in the lab, faster than the day I built it originally although I've now set it back to stock.
 
There are many reasons why systems get slower over time, i'm going to just list them :-

1- Operating systems (Windows,linux, etc) gets heaver with the updates over time.

2- Motherboards show signs of aging, the power circuitry can't support larger overclocks and gets weaker over time and the overclocks need to be reduced.

3- Power supplies show the same problems as they age as number 2 above.

4- Hard drives as they age contain more and more bad areas, but the drive hides them and uses other areas that maybe slower then the ones used before. So if the boot section of the drive is getting more wear and tear you will see windows take longer to load sometimes.

5- Things like anti-virus programs also seem to get larger and larger over time and add more strain to an aging system.

6- CPU has some form of damage that is starting to show up as slow downs as it ages, problem with trying to see if it is CPU deterioration is there is so much error correction in CPUs and memory that it will be hard to pin point if it has deteriorated over time, the slow downs could be deterioration due to the error correction working overtime. Only real way to see if it has deteriorated is to stick it under a microscope and see what has happened to the silicon over time and if higher voltages did cause damage.

What I find with CPUs in most cases is if they work and work at stock and fully stressed they are fine normally, like someone said above they either work or don't 99.99% of the time. Knock on wood never seen a damaged CPU yet, but have seen many motherboards die over time and cause all sorts of strange behaviour that seems like other components are failing. My first point of call would always be to check the motherboard if I see signs of the CPU maybe going faulty and 100% of the time for me so far it has always turned out to be the motherboard that was going bad.


So I would update my motherboard rather then the CPU if I decided to keep the system working and not the CPU and if it still showed problems test the memory and PSU.
 
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My I7 920 still works at 4.2 Ghz @ 1.38v after 32 months :)

It even used to go up to 92 degrees on my air cooler, but I fixed that with a lovely Anter 620 H2O.

Best CPU ever!
 
It could possibly be Northbridge at fault, basically the motherboard in general. I would say its more likely than the chip.

I've had an opty 146@3ghz running since release on socket 939, and my machine only gave up on me last year. And its the motherboard thats developed a cold boot fault. chip is rock solid
 
I've had a Q6600 sitting at 3.6 for three years or so now, happy as Larry. I think it's a combination of chip quality, and temperature. Higher temperature means chips degrade more rapidly. I've seen no figures on this sadly...people tend to be interested in a chip for six months, then as soon as the next shiny new thing comes along interest shifts. Nature of the beast!
 
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