cpu life expectancy

DisrupTor75 · 17 Feb 2010 at 14:32

Hi guys, one quick question for the guru's out there: I have a new i5 cpu and was wondering IF i overclock it how much "life" it will shave off? im not well up on OC'ing but would like to push it a little bit but also dont want the chip burning out faster than it normally would or is this no longer an issue in current generation chips?

Thank you

mymorph · 17 Feb 2010 at 15:06

ive got an old amd duran processor still going fine after being overclocked for at least 5yrs, maybe more.

VeNT · 17 Feb 2010 at 15:25

got a 286 that works still. had a 8086 but it got rained on.

Uriel · 17 Feb 2010 at 17:12

I've had motherboards meet early deterioration after using CPUs above wattage spec but never a CPU die due to overclocking. I've generally been pretty conservative with voltagest though.

Having said that, I can't recall running a CPU in my main rig for more than 3 years before upgrading.

Daaaveee · 17 Feb 2010 at 17:14

I would imagine most people will upgrade a long time before a CPU dies even when overclocked with moderate voltage increases

Serpantine · 18 Feb 2010 at 09:04

I've been running my e6600 at a 1.2ghz overclock (3.6ghz) with stupid voltages for nearly 3 years. I am now looking to upgrade, there is no definitive answer but imo the only deaths with overclocking are caused by inexperience, not time.

mymorph · 18 Feb 2010 at 09:32

my old duron whilst still working fine is about to be retired as i have a freebie replacement for the workshop where my duron oclocked system is based.

not quite sure what ill do with it now.

also most overclocked systems are using quality components, good mobo's memory etc which all adds to the longivity of the system in general.

hitman · 18 Feb 2010 at 11:15

Out of interest, what do most people do with their old CPUs and motherboards? Is there a thriving second hand market??

Serpantine · 18 Feb 2010 at 11:18

Keep them to use for testing purposes, pass them onto family members. Good to have something to fall back on if a GPU / CPU goes and you need to test, granted you have socket limitations.

D-Ranged · 18 Feb 2010 at 11:55

I just sold 2 Socket 939 boards on ebay for £45 and £55.

£45 was Asus A8N SLi Deluxe the £55 was the Premium.

willthepirate · 18 Feb 2010 at 12:19

hitman said:
Out of interest, what do most people do with their old CPUs and motherboards? Is there a thriving second hand market??

Unless your playing games or something specialist you dont need anything better. Would be a complete waste of money.

Redmint · 18 Feb 2010 at 12:46

Yep, old single core systems are still perfectly fine for office/web browsing/media stuff and some older motherboards will still fetch a bit on eBay.

hitman · 18 Feb 2010 at 13:38

surprised people buy old CPUs!

Captain Fizz · 18 Feb 2010 at 21:22

Overclocking does reduce their lifespan. From 30 years to 20.