Can overclocking burn down a house?

ng4ever

2[H]4U
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I am always worried my house will burn down because of overclocking. I know stupid. Though it is a serious question. Maybe I worry for no reason.
 
Overclocking? No.

Faulty hardware (regardless of overclock or not) - remotely possible, but roughly in the same vein than your coffee pot or alarm clock could burn down a house.
 
I am always worried my house will burn down because of overclocking. I know stupid. Though it is a serious question. Maybe I worry for no reason.

As long as your house wiring is up to code, then no.
 
Ok thanks.



It is.


If you're paranoid, you can run some numbers. Get a Kill-a-Watt or other power meter. See how much juice your machine pulls normally, then when OC'd. Then check your highest temps.

Paper and some wood will flash to fire at 233C. Typical PSU wiring or computer wiring insulation will melt around 70-90C, and catch fire around 170C, largely depending on the type of plastic used.

As long as your max temps are well below that, and your PSU isn't pulling more than the max rated for the outlet from the wall, you should be safe.
 
If you're paranoid, you can run some numbers. Get a Kill-a-Watt or other power meter. See how much juice your machine pulls normally, then when OC'd. Then check your highest temps.

Paper and some wood will flash to fire at 233C. Typical PSU wiring or computer wiring insulation will melt around 70-90C, and catch fire around 170C, largely depending on the type of plastic used.

As long as your max temps are well below that, and your PSU isn't pulling more than the max rated for the outlet from the wall, you should be safe.

There's a good chance a fuse has tripped well before your wiring hits 170C, heh.
 
I once had my Commodore 64 overclocked so high that the entire apartment building spontaneously combusted...nice
 
There's a good chance a fuse has tripped well before your wiring hits 170C, heh.

HOPEFULLY. But I can easily get a small wire red-hot without drawing more than 100W from the wall. Just consider a lightbulb.
 
HOPEFULLY. But I can easily get a small wire red-hot without drawing more than 100W from the wall. Just consider a lightbulb.

This is true, but iirc the gauge of your typical PSU wire is more than enough to shrug off 100W, especially given how just about everything is connected with a set of these wires and not just one pair.
 
This is true, but iirc the gauge of your typical PSU wire is more than enough to shrug off 100W, especially given how just about everything is connected with a set of these wires and not just one pair.

Yep. Assuming that stranded wire doesn't have some of the strands cracked or broken, reducing the diameter. Or one of the pins isn't cracking, necking the available area for current flow down greatly. I've personally seen this happen twice, once with a cracked pin on an ATX connector which got hot enough to melt the insulation, and another time on a cracked 12V wire in a SATA connector that had been pinched, again hot enough to melt the insulation.
 
If your computer causes your house to burn down (which is itself a tiny chance unless there's some gross negligence in your electrical system,) it won't be overclocking that caused it.
 
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