How long does a cpu last if clocked

Depends on ambient temp, how good the cpu cooling is, how good case airflow is, the frequency you select, the voltage you apply, your PSU/mains stability and how much luck you have if pushing it hard.

If sensible, it shouldnt impact the life much, not so you would notice.
 
The term is "overclock" and if you're lucky it'll last a day for you if you have no idea what you're doing. How long after .... long enough for us to have swapped parts many many many times over :)
 
well i have someone coming in todo my job let him sort this out for me lol:p because i give up i rather just pay someone easy and less stress
 
What a bunch of elitist IT nerds. He obviously just registered a few days ago and wants to know an answer to a question that he is thinking about. Should he know all the factors that go into that sort of thing? He said he is having someone do it for him and that it concerns him about his processor.

As a "noob" myself, I would say that if your friend knows what he/she is doing, then you will probably get another processor or computer before you need to upgrade. Just make sure the friend knows about your PSU, about your cooling setup and has some kind of evaluation of the overclock. You can't just overclock to "X ghz" and then say "OK You are all set." Running stability programs will be crucial.

Good luck with everything. Also you need to consider what your needs are. It would help if you tell us your setup and what you plan to do with the computer and people here (not the snobby sophists that previously responded) can help you determine if you even NEED to overclock to begin with. Hope this helps.
 
I didn't know a damn thing when I registered here 9 months ago, but I made damn sure I read every last FAQ and thread on what I wanted to do before even thinking about posting a new thread. Its just web/internet courtesy. GIYF.
 
terminator02 said:
What a bunch of elitist IT nerds. He obviously just registered a few days ago and wants to know an answer to a question that he is thinking about. Should he know all the factors that go into that sort of thing? He said he is having someone do it for him and that it concerns him about his processor.

As a "noob" myself, I would say that if your friend knows what he/she is doing, then you will probably get another processor or computer before you need to upgrade. Just make sure the friend knows about your PSU, about your cooling setup and has some kind of evaluation of the overclock. You can't just overclock to "X ghz" and then say "OK You are all set." Running stability programs will be crucial.

Good luck with everything. Also you need to consider what your needs are. It would help if you tell us your setup and what you plan to do with the computer and people here (not the snobby sophists that previously responded) can help you determine if you even NEED to overclock to begin with. Hope this helps.
Click to expand...

The op asked a very short question that isnt straight forward to answer, especially when we dont know his level of expertise.
He could have provided a lot more information but he chose not to.
Short answers are to be expected.

Calling people "elitist IT nerds" is uncalled for and will land you on my ignore list if you persist.
I believe his question was answered fairly before your post.
Adding more info is welcome obviously but not the way you did.
 
"I didn't know a damn thing when I registered here 9 months ago, but I made damn sure I read every last FAQ and thread on what I wanted to do before even thinking about posting a new thread. Its just web/internet courtesy. GIYF.'

" How long is a piece of string"

I don't know, that is kinda elitist to me (especially the second one). Who cares if he didn't research EVERY LAST FAQ. I know I come to forums and to a little research and recon before posting but I am not going to spend too much time (hence the reason many people come to a forum to begin with).

You really took the "IT nerd thing too much to heart. I hope you can loosen up your jock strap a wee bit. Seriously, this forum is one of the more relaxed regarding internet etiquette and behavior and people have been called MUCH worse and I hope I didn't hit too close to home or something (insert smiley face so you don't take this seriously again).

Anyways, the OP is NOT going to know what info to add right off the bat. So I still say chill out nerds :wink:

I am a therapist. I am a gamer and computer enthusiast in my spare time. The LAST thing I have time to do is to research and "search" everything in my spare time on H. It is possible this poster is in the same situation.
 
Typically a chip lasts longer than its useful life span though there is a large amount of variability in it. Some chips are just better than others. Some come from the factory with weaknesses that will cause them to have a shorter life. Others come from the factory in pristine condition and can clock higher than their brethren. Clocking higher will have a minimal impact on lifespan though. Voltage is the big killer. Any voltage going through the chip is slowly killing it so you can't have it live forever. Applying a little bit more voltage than stock will make little difference. After a certain point though, it becomes too much for the chip to handle andit starts to internally wear out. For each chip though there is a threshold of "safety". You will often see people talk about "24/7 safe voltage". What they are talking about is the general consensus on what voltage will probably not damage the chip within the next few years if used 24/7. This is usually partly based on documents from the manufactuer, and partly based on learning from brave guinea pigs with too much money. Again, a weak chip will fail sooner. Often when a chip does start to die it, it doesn't just go poof! it "degrades". Meaning it can't overclock as high anymore. When that happens, you can often back the chip down to stock speeds and it will live on for quite a while longer.

Personally I have overclocked 6 chips and never killed one, but I have had one degrade. The memory controller on my last 939 AMD chip became pretty weak with age and decided it hated 1t. It would still run stock speeds at 2t, but overclocking or 1t usage was out of the question.
 
terminator02 said:
"I didn't know a damn thing when I registered here 9 months ago, but I made damn sure I read every last FAQ and thread on what I wanted to do before even thinking about posting a new thread. Its just web/internet courtesy. GIYF.'

" How long is a piece of string"

I don't know, that is kinda elitist to me (especially the second one). Who cares if he didn't research EVERY LAST FAQ. I know I come to forums and to a little research and recon before posting but I am not going to spend too much time (hence the reason many people come to a forum to begin with).

You really took the "IT nerd thing too much to heart. I hope you can loosen up your jock strap a wee bit. Seriously, this forum is one of the more relaxed regarding internet etiquette and behavior and people have been called MUCH worse and I hope I didn't hit too close to home or something (insert smiley face so you don't take this seriously again).

Anyways, the OP is NOT going to know what info to add right off the bat. So I still say chill out nerds :wink:

I am a therapist. I am a gamer and computer enthusiast in my spare time. The LAST thing I have time to do is to research and "search" everything in my spare time on H. It is possible this poster is in the same situation.
Click to expand...

Seriously, who the f are you?
As a therapist, you should know when you need to stick your oar in and when not.
You should also know how to express yourself without offending others.
This isnt even your thread and the OP hasnt expressed any concern over the answers so your intrusion is unwarranted.

I dont care how you think we should answer questions here.
I suggest you attend forums closer to your area of expertise.
Oh and take your own advice "loosen up your jock strap a wee bit"
 
What a bunch of hyprocritical nonsense. No wonder you have thousands of posts if you just go along arguing with everyone who makes an abbrasive comment in the forums... especially when your comment made you look like a pompous ass. If someone makes a "prickish" statement, then everyone of us has the right to call that person out, just like you had the right to call him out. No need for you to play forum police.

"Calling people "elitist IT nerds" is uncalled for and will land you on my ignore list if you persist."

OH NOEZ!!! You will ignore him? Wow.. I bet he'll do a real 180 as to not get on your list of DOOM. Maybe when you see something stupid or offensive, you should just skip to step 2 and ignore without saying anything stupid or offensive.

___________________________________________________

Back on topic:

My 700MHz PIII is still running overclocked by 100MHz (800MHz PIII) as my linux firewall. Been running 24/7/365 for about 5-6 years solid and it has not missed a beat. Not saying this is the norm but certainly an example of a ~8 year old processor, overclocked ~13%, and still running well.

Other than that I have a Athlon 64 3000+ OC'd to 2.2GHz for ~3 years running as a HTPC until I upgraded it.

I don't have any other really long examples to offer, but as someone above mentioned, you will most likely change out your processor before it dies.
 
If the overclocking is done correctly and the mobo is up to it, your OC'd CPU will last for however long you keep it.
 
back to topic and something I forgot to add in my original response is that I have found that other failures occur at higher probabilities including CPU fans, HD's, GPU's (even non-overclocked) before a CPU ever does. Also to add, a good thing about a good intel CPU is that they are very powerful. If you are gaming, gone are the days of being CPU bound for most intents and purposes.
 
My e6600 is rated at 2.4Ghz and I have run it at 3.5Ghz for 2 years roughly with no issues. Temperatures are perfect and to be honest this CPU could go on like this for some time as far as I know.
 
I've gone through more memory sticks and power supplies than CPUs. As long as you don't get too carried away when overclocking you won't have a problem for a very long time. My Pentium III has been overclocked and running great for years. I usually get bored with a CPU long before it ever causes a problem. I wish all computer parts were as reliable as Intel CPUs. The Intel Core 2 series have a huge amount of overclocking head room built into them. You might as well use it and get this free performance.
 
i've never had a CPU fail, always get discarded before they ever show any problem signs.
 
Yeah the cpu in my Junior rig is like 4 years old or so. OC'd the whole time
 
I've overclocked every CPU I've had and never had one fail. I have fried some motherboards though (2 MSIs in a row but every other mobo before and since has been fine). Like someone else said, other components are usually going to fail long before the CPU.

There are many different factors though; architecture, production run, voltage, heat, psu quality, and how much you overclock it.
 
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