Over clocking shorten CPU/RAM life?

ANNR

ANNR

Active Member
I have been wording ever since I joined this forum.

I know Overclocking shortens CPU's life but never got a answer since there are allot of variables that can contribute to the life span of an overclocked CPU.

Now my question is if I were to overclock my I7 860 or Q6600, How many years are my looking at? Is the overclock going to dramatically shorten the life spend of the CPUs/RAM? or will the CPU/RAM be fine for like 5 or 10 years with daily lite use?

Now the most important question for the members who have their CPU overclocked. How long since you have overclocked your system? Are they still running fine?

Thanks
 
The Voltage/heat is what kills over time. As long as your not going for the top overclock using extreme voltage, the processor will be worthless before it gives out.
 
StrangleHold said:
The Voltage/heat is what kills over time. As long as your not going for the top overclock using extreme voltage, the processor will be worthless before it gives out.
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I see. So does that means as long as the temps is low and voltage within allowed limit for the cpu the CPU/RAM would run just like normal?

Currently both of my systems is running cool. If i were to put my hand behind the case of my I7 860 build, the air is cool to the touch. The Q6600 is also cool but not as cool as the I7 860.

What Cooler should I get for the I7 860 or if I were to overclock? I am not looking to high overclock. Maybe 3 GHz or 3.5 GHz. Will my stock cooler be fine?

thanks
 
ANNR said:
I see. So does that means as long as the temps is low and voltage within allowed limit for the cpu the CPU/RAM would run just like normal?

Currently both of my systems is running cool. If i were to put my hand behind the case of my I7 860 build, the air is cool to the touch. The Q6600 is also cool but not as cool as the I7 860.

What Cooler should I get for the I7 860 or if I were to overclock? I am not looking to high overclock. Maybe 3 GHz or 3.5 GHz. Will my stock cooler be fine?

thanks
Click to expand...
High End(in no particular order): Noctua NH-D14, NH-U12P/NH-U12P SE2, Thermalright Ultra 120 Extreme, Thermalright Venomous-X, Thermalright IFX-14, Cogage Arrow, Prolimatech Megahalems, Prolimatech Armageddon
Budget(Again, no particular order): Coolermaster Hyper 212 Plus, Xigmatek S1283V Dark Knight, Coolermaster V8, Sunbeam Core Contact Freezer, Arctic Cooling Freezer 7 Pro Rev 2

As far as overclocking on the stock heatsink/fan i wouldnt recommend it, as the stock cooler is designed for the stock thermal load, and really wont take much at all past that.
 
ANNR said:
So does that means as long as the temps is low and voltage within allowed limit for the cpu the CPU/RAM would run just like normal?
Click to expand...

That's part of it, but testing the stability of your system will ensure that you can sustain the oc. Your system may boot with a high oc, but that does not mean that it is stable. Using Prime 95 and Memtest 86 are great ways to test if your system will be able to handle a 24/7 overclock. So if your temps and voltages are in the right ranges and you pass stability testing, your oc should be good for 24/7 use :D

This guide is very good at explaining what you should do to test you system. The stability section is about halfway down.
http://www.devhardware.com/forums/c...ate-overclocking-stability-testing-97163.html
 
bomberboysk said:
High End(in no particular order): Noctua NH-D14, NH-U12P/NH-U12P SE2, Thermalright Ultra 120 Extreme, Thermalright Venomous-X, Thermalright IFX-14, Cogage Arrow, Prolimatech Megahalems, Prolimatech Armageddon
Budget(Again, no particular order): Coolermaster Hyper 212 Plus, Xigmatek S1283V Dark Knight, Coolermaster V8, Sunbeam Core Contact Freezer, Arctic Cooling Freezer 7 Pro Rev 2

As far as overclocking on the stock heatsink/fan i wouldnt recommend it, as the stock cooler is designed for the stock thermal load, and really wont take much at all past that.
Click to expand...

i7-860 is 1156 (same as i5-750) so the NOCTUA SE2 will not work out of the box. I know, I have it on my i7-920, no 1156 bracket.

I have the Zalman on my i5-750 but it needs a $3.00 bracket to work. I love it, 3.3 temps are lower than stock cooler at stock setting temps. There are a lot of options in the 1156 socket CPU cooler setup. The NOCTUA is great, there is a Termalright 1156 cooler now that is a reversion of the 120 for less money at most stores. I really love my Zalman but it is only in the top 10 as far as best.
 
bomberboysk said:
High End(in no particular order): Noctua NH-D14, NH-U12P/NH-U12P SE2, Thermalright Ultra 120 Extreme, Thermalright Venomous-X, Thermalright IFX-14, Cogage Arrow, Prolimatech Megahalems, Prolimatech Armageddon
Budget(Again, no particular order): Coolermaster Hyper 212 Plus, Xigmatek S1283V Dark Knight, Coolermaster V8, Sunbeam Core Contact Freezer, Arctic Cooling Freezer 7 Pro Rev 2

As far as overclocking on the stock heatsink/fan i wouldnt recommend it, as the stock cooler is designed for the stock thermal load, and really wont take much at all past that.
Click to expand...

Thanks Bomberboysk. After taking a look at all the coolers you posted I picked out the COOLER MASTER V8. Does anybody have V8 here? Will it fit in my case? I have the SilverStone TJ08

and Gabe63. which Zalman cooler are you referring to?

salvage-this. Thank you for the information, i will read it over later tonight when I am done with my homework.
 
What i'm wondering is what about GPU overclocking and RAM? Basically i'm looking for answers to the same questions that ANNR asked. :)
 
lubo4444 said:
What i'm wondering is what about GPU overclocking and RAM? Basically i'm looking for answers to the same questions that ANNR asked. :)
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I have never done any overclocking on my own so I am not sure about the GPU and RAM too.

However I do have an overclocked 5770 in my system right now.

Guess as long as the temp kept under control and voltage does not exceeds manufacture suggested everything should be fine. Again, I am not sure since I have never done any of actual overclocking myself.

By the way, what is a good program to use to monitor my system temp?
 
Gabe63 said:
i7-860 is 1156 (same as i5-750) so the NOCTUA SE2 will not work out of the box. I know, I have it on my i7-920, no 1156 bracket.

I have the Zalman on my i5-750 but it needs a $3.00 bracket to work. I love it, 3.3 temps are lower than stock cooler at stock setting temps. There are a lot of options in the 1156 socket CPU cooler setup. The NOCTUA is great, there is a Termalright 1156 cooler now that is a reversion of the 120 for less money at most stores. I really love my Zalman but it is only in the top 10 as far as best.
Click to expand...
Noctua NH-U12P SE2 comes with both the 1156 and 1366 bracket, which is basically the only major difference between the SE2 and the original that only had 775 mounting.
Gabe63 said:
Gabe63. which Zalman cooler are you referring to?

CNPS9700

http://www.frostytech.com/articleview.cfm?articleID=2045

This site has tons of cooler reviews

http://www.frostytech.com/articleview.cfm?articleID=2497
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I tend to stray away from frostytech, for example, they have the Thermalright Ultra 120 beating the Ultra 120 Extreme.
 
With a good cpu cooler and keeping the volts within spec it shouldn't shorten the life at all.

CPU's are good for 10-15 years, OCing MAY lose a year or 2. But who cares if your cpu lasts 8 years instead of 10? In 8 years your cpu will be like a 486 to today's cpus

I've had my E6400 at 3.2 ghz since Feb 2006 with no ill effects, my vid per coretemp is 1.35 and at 3.2 ghz I use 1.3 volts. I have a Tuniq Tower 120 to cool it. So at 3.2 ghz (vs stock 2.13 ghz) I was running lower volts and better temps than stock. I doubt I'd lose any time with the chip (I replaced it with the q6600 recently)
 
It does shorten the life yes,But like mentioned usualy before a cpu dies due to Electromigration, which is where the internal components in the processor break down over time due to heat/voltage you will have probably upgraded/replaced anyway. :)

I currently have my Q6600 overclocked from 2.4Ghz to 3.5Ghz with a voltage of 1.42v....i could probably lowe the voltage a bit due to it been set to auto in the bios but ive not had the time to realy mess with it :D
 
Nevakonaza said:
It does shorten the life yes,But like mentioned usualy before a cpu dies due to Electromigration, which is where the internal components in the processor break down over time due to heat/voltage you will have probably upgraded/replaced anyway. :)

I currently have my Q6600 overclocked from 2.4Ghz to 3.5Ghz with a voltage of 1.42v....i could probably lowe the voltage a bit due to it been set to auto in the bios but ive not had the time to realy mess with it :D
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wow this is really great. How long have you have the Q6600 overclocked Nevakonaza?

I think I am going to try over clock both of my systems. But before I star. Does anybody know a good temp measuring program to monitor my current temp?
 
Hmm its been overclocked for quite some time,I think i first overclocked it about a week after purchasing it (iirc around last xmas time) and i had it at 3.2Ghz but my old mobo was holding me back...so i changed mobo and bumped it to 3.5Ghz no problems...im sure it could go on further but its realy not needed OR worth the extra heat to be honest.
 
ANNR said:
wow this is really great. How long have you have the Q6600 overclocked Nevakonaza?

I think I am going to try over clock both of my systems. But before I star. Does anybody know a good temp measuring program to monitor my current temp?
Click to expand...

coretemp
speedfan
speccy
 
ok.

Here is the screen shot for my temp


The cpu frequency is less than half of I7 860s actual speed. Intern of overclocking, does that mean even if I were to over clock my cpu, my cpu will just run like its stock speed like its never been overclocked before until it exceeds its speed it is advertised at?

and how is my temp so far?
 
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