CPU degradation

Soldato
Joined
18 May 2010
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23,095
Location
London
When people talk about a cpu degrading, what kind of time frame are we talking about?

Lets say a cpu can last 10-15 years....

If you over volt it slightly beyond spec (not ridiculously) how quickly will it degrade?

Basically, Im trying to get my QX9650 above 3.7 ghz... (reach 4ghz if possible) and to do this I will probably have to put slightly more volts than the 1.3625 safe max as specified by intel (In bios 1.3625)

I plan to keep the cpu for another 2 years, so will the cpu degrade in this amount of time if I over volt it?

Only on air as well by the way. But I will stay below 60c if possible.
 
CPU's degrade whether you stick to stock volts or not. What you will do by overvolting is accelerating the degradation. There is no hard and fast rule regarding how many volts will speed the degradation up by x amount.

Rest assured though, your 9650 will happily chug along for a good few years. I have an E6300 and a Q6600 that have been running since release on 1.5 volts and I have encountered no problems with them. I have yet to find any cpu die through moderate over voltage. As long as you don't over do it (1.6v+) and have adequate cooling then you should be fine.
 
To add to the above, damage is temperature dependent. Colder is better. What voltage is likely to be swiftly lethal varies with chip too, the q6600 is more tolerant of voltage than the q9650.
 
Well I gave up, becuase even at 1.5v in the bios, I couldnt get my cpu to pass prime even for 5 mins.

I tried 400fsb and 10multi

as well as 444fsb and 9 multi

Temps where reaching 60c and it wasnt able to go 5 mins on Prime.

So Im going to stick to my 3.7ghz.

I was thinking however lets say for arguments sake, I was to buy an i7 950 and and Corsair H70 cooler, what happens if the chip you get is a poor overclocker?

Thats a lot of expensive kit to not reach 4ghz!
 
Thats the trick. No amount of cooling will compensate for a poor chip. Most of the time it's luck of the draw I'm afraid.
 
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