Does overclocking a processor lessen it's life span?

[Nocturnal]

This guy is trying to sell this processor to my friend and he is telling him he's had it overclocked for a year and a half. I told the guy that his price was a little too high because of the overclocked processor and the length it's been overclocked.

I said that in the long run overclocking can ruin the processor or cut it's lifespan short.

Is this right or does overclocking not hurt the processor at all?

 

[Aznguy1872]

It does, but really depends on its temperature its running and the amount of voltage u had to add to it.

 

[dguy6789]

Overclocking does indeed reduce the life of the processor.

What matters the most though, is what frequency, voltage, and temperature was it running at for the time it was overclocked.

 

[Nocturnal]

That's what I thought. If you check the for sale forum here most people who want to sell their chips for a premium and haven't overclocked it will explicitly state, "NEVER OVERCLOCKED", or something along those lines to state that it is worth the premium asking price due to never overclocking it. With that logic in mind I'd think that if it was overclocked it would be worth less than the premium asking price of a non-overclocked chip.

 

[tweekah]

But a good overclocker will be worth a little more too. Sword cuts both ways.

 

[Remy XO]

yeah it lessens its life from 8 years to 5 years. Unless you plan on keeping that processor for that long it doesnt really matter.

 

[Aznguy1872]

Yeah, thats how I see it also. I'll be changing processors every 2-3 years or so, so Overclocking doesn't really concern me when it comes to degrading its life span.

 

[Tarrant64]

Originally posted by: Remy XO
yeah it lessens its life from 8 years to 5 years. Unless you plan on keeping that processor for that long it doesnt really matter.

Exactly. What you have to think about is, "Am I going to even have this processor for that long? Or am I eventually going to get a newer, better one down the road?".

If he plans on having it for awhile with no upgrades, ask for a price drop or something. IMHO I've never really heard anyone complain really that their processor didn't last as long as it should have because of OC'ing. Unless of course, they fried the sucker. That's another thing though. People into OC'ing tend to upgrade at a moderate rate(hence, the guy selling your friend the oc'ed processor has probably gotten something better).

Just be sure it works first.

 

[Jiggz]

Just be sure it works! is the key word. People explicitly says CPU never OC'ed because they are assuring the buyer the CPU is good as new since it was never oc'ed and guaranteed to work. On the otherhand, other's advertised it was reliablly overclock. But this is for those who want to buy a very overclockable cpu. So it all depends on the buyer's preference.

 

[KoolDrew]

Originally posted by: Remy XO
yeah it lessens its life from 8 years to 5 years. Unless you plan on keeping that processor for that long it doesnt really matter.

 

[deathwalker]

Sure it does...but if you are like most of us neophites...you will cycle thru that proc to the next generation before its even an issue.

 

[Tiamat]

on top of whatever others have said, overclocking doesnt reduce the life of a processor for as long as a normal person would use the computer. For instance, a processor probably can last 10 years under normal conditions. Overclocked, it may last something like 6 years. If you use the computer for 4 years, the shortened life doesnt matter.

 

[TheGingerbreadGenius]

Would this be 6 years when it's turned on for how many hours a day around? 24/7 or only say an average of 6 hours a day?

 

[0roo0roo]

its like modifying your car with a turbo or whatever. its going to screw the resale whatever you do. no ones oging to tear down the engine to see what wear has happened, and u can't tell if theprocessors been damaged and how much so the price has gotta be way lower. you are running something out of spec. all normal expectations of reliability and lifespan go out the door.

 

[bigboxes]

Well, who cares if peeps promise you that a cpu has "never been overclocked"?? Ever heard of lying? It's impossible to tell. I will have to agree with the majority on this one. Most likely, you will upgrade your cpu before an overclocked cpu dies.

 

[Acanthus]

Overclocked CPUs, done correctly (read, no severe overvolting), will outlast most of the other components in a PC. Youre still talking 5 years+ on an overclocked CPU, if not longer.

 

[interchange]

If you're not overvolting and your temps are reasonable, then it shouldn't really shorten the lifespan of the processor by much if any. A CPU can be damaged by hot spots and by leakage. These things go up with faster clocks, but the lifespan of a CPU should probably be more like 20+ years.

Has anyone here ever had a CPU fail with using stock voltage, overclocked or not?

 

[corkyg]

Hmmm! I've never kept a CPU long enough to even consider that a problem.

 

[CrispyFried]

Ive been running comps since the Z-80 and 6502 days at stock and overclocked since 286 days and never had a cpu die. The two oldest OCed that I can recall off the top of my head, a P233 @ 300 and a PII 300 @ 400 are still trucking.