Dangers of Overclocking?

[WildeBeast]

I was being bothered by a few jealous people the other day after explaining that I have been overclocking my 1GHZ Athlon to 1.4GHZ. They seem to believe that Overclocking endangers the CPU for whatever reason. I had thought that as long as heat was fairly low and Vcore was within 10%, the CPU was in no danger. Which is correct?

One guy said that the heating and cooling of the CPU due to shutdown and startup caused the Core to expand and contract dangrously...is this BS?

For example; At standard voltage (1.75)my T-bird hits 1.4GHZ at temps around 50C and no higher than 52C, and plenty stable. I doubt that there is any danger, but what do you gurus think? I would hope for at least 2 more years of life out of this proccie, is that plausible under my circumstances?

 

[TheShiz]

sounds like you are ok to me. Sure, overclocking will decrease the life of your processor, but 2 years shouldn't be a prob, and even if it died in a year, it will be really cheap to get another one by then anyway.

Tim

 

[Boonesmi]

think of it this way..... if you dont have to increase the vcore and a 1ghz cpu runs fine at 1.4ghz, and the temps are ok, then its just like a cpu that amd releases as 1.4ghz

for all you know the 1.0ghz cpu that you have could have been sold as a 1.4ghz

 

[WildeBeast]

that is exactly what I thought Boonesmi, I had an AFJA stepping T-bird that wouldn't overclock 100MHZ at standard voltage.

Part Two; I put the old AFJA CPU in my parents new machine, because it doesn't need to overclock. I put my old stock heatsink with a small fan (15-20mm) on it with AS2 and the temps are just under 50C. Should I put on a superorb that I have lying around? think it will outperform the stock one? I guess I might as well try.....

 

[Richardito]

I think as long as the temperatures are around (or under) 50ºC and you don't fry the chip with a lot of extra voltage everything should be fine. In my case 2.20v is overkill and I shall soon face premature CPU death.

 

[MrThompson]

A 1 gig Bird at the stock 1.75 volts puts out 51.4 watts of heat. A 1 gig Bird at 1.4 gig and 1.75 volts puts out 72 watts of heat. You probably should focus on better cooling. I don't like to see load temps over 45C. Remember these temps are inaccurate and compressed due to the socket thermistor.

The hot/cold cycles are what kill solid state electronics. I leave my computers, high end HiFi and communications gear on 24/7 for this reason. Only the tube gear gets shut down. Running a chip out of voltage specs can and probably will accelerate electromigration, but who is going to overclock that probably won't replace a CPU with in a couple of years anyway?

AMD cores do expand and contract from idle to full load. The top of the die goes from slightly concave to convex.

 

[WildeBeast]

Way to scare me Thompson! Actually, I have a Gigabyte GA-7DXR, it doesn't use a socket thermistor, it uses the kind that pushes up directly against the bottom of the CPU. I read a report saying that this is far closer to actual temps, maybe 6-8 degrees higher than a thermistor. I can't leave my computer on 24/7, it is noisy and I am going to college. I have very good case ventilation, as well as the gladiator all copper heatsink. The biggest problem is that I don't use a delta fan. I have two but they are too whiny, although I bet it would drop temps 5 degrees, especially with an all copper HS. I am currently using a YSTech 26CFM fan, it is quiet.

How about the superorb question? is it better than a simple stock HSF?

 

[Swanny]

WildeBeast: Yeah, I'd put the SuperOrb on that other Athlon. And the Gladiator isn't all that good of a heatsink. You might want to consider getting a TaiSol CGK760092 if you ever have a spare $35 sitting around.

 

[WildeBeast]

the gladiator is fine... with a better fan. My friend has the Taisol, great sink, but I would buy the SK6 if I wanted a new HS, read the reviews! I will use the superorb on the other computer, meanwhile I may have to consider the delta...Doh!

 

[technogeeky]

Although it is true that CPUs are often sold with lower clock speeds than they can achieve, they are usually sold at a certian rating for a reason:

They are tested. AMD or Intel will test the CPU to see what speed it will easily and safely attain and sell it based on that. So if for whatever reason they could only get 1GHz out of a processor that was made to 1.4GHz spec, then they reccomend you use it at 1GHz.

HOWEVER -

Overclocking is the sport of figuring out if the manufacturer tested properly.

 

[MrThompson]

<< Way to scare me Thompson! Actually, I have a Gigabyte GA-7DXR, it doesn't use a socket thermistor, it uses the kind that pushes up directly against the bottom of the CPU. I read a report saying that this is far closer to actual temps, maybe 6-8 degrees higher than a thermistor. I can't leave my computer on 24/7, it is noisy and I am going to college. I have very good case ventilation, as well as the gladiator all copper heatsink. The biggest problem is that I don't use a delta fan. I have two but they are too whiny, although I bet it would drop temps 5 degrees, especially with an all copper HS. I am currently using a YSTech 26CFM fan, it is quiet.

How about the superorb question? is it better than a simple stock HSF? >>



You do have a socket thermistor. It measures the temp of the thermistor touching the ceramic plate which the CPU die is mounted on. Kind of like trying to measure the outside temp by placing a thermometer on the inside of a window. AMD specs call for a thermistor on the top of the center of the CPU die. Thermistor results are low and variations are compressed compared the specified AMD measurement technique. They are also contaminated by changes in motherboard temp. Orbs and Thermoengines are cleverly designed to take advantage of this and deceive the inept reviewer and buyer.

Want a good HS? Get a Swiftech or Glaciator.

 

[WildeBeast]

all of the tests on HS are done with 7K deltas, which I refuse to use. Because of this, the enxt cooling step would be water cooling, or something better, but I have no idea how to do it and I don't think that my temps merit that kind of change. If I use a delta, my temps decline to around 45C, around 8C cooler. I know that I should be using one, but they are so loud! It is almost worth dropping some MHZ, except that IMO the temps aren't so high that I have to use the delta in the first place.