does overclocking reduce lifespan of GPU or CPU

[Jose Munoz]

If so why do people do it? is it because they know they will sell it later or they dont care?

 

[rgd1101]

not if you do it right.

 

[John Bauer-1363825]

OC'ing does indeed shorten the lifespan of the CPU, people do it because OC'ing if FREE performance, and usually do lots of upgrading, compared to an average consumer.

 

[thequn]

There is no simple answer to your questions, Many of us Have systems that can cover the extra heat and have voltage that lower then stock. In theses situation there is ZERO or at lest near zero degradation of the cpu motherboard and other components. of coarse there a limit to how the system is done going too cold and cause issues as well, Balance is all things.

 

[Jose Munoz]

OC'ing does indeed shorten the lifespan of the CPU, people do it because OC'ing if FREE performance, and usually do lots of upgrading, compared to an average consumer.

free performance? well actually the components use more voltage therefore the electricity bill increases and rendering free obsolete

 

[thequn]

free performance? well actually the components use more voltage therefore the electricity bill increases and rendering free obsolete

With today's processors this is quickly becoming a myth my 77 Watt CPU is overclocked by 1.1 ghz voltage is under stock and cooling below ambient it uses 55 Watts max now under 100% stress les 20 less watts then its rated.

also if were talking older cpus whos over clock is up 100 watts its can be used for 10 hours a day so 10 cents-ish more per day times 30 days = 3 dollars,,, LOLOLOLOL

 

[RetiredChief]

Yes Overclocking will decrease the life of a GIVEN CPU, But very hard to qualitatively state how much.

I have an i5-2510K, let’s say that it will last 10 years if I do NOT overclock and treat it nicely.
I've Overclocked it to 4.2 (Very Mild), OK so I'll get maybe 6->8 years, If I went to 4.6 GHz maybe 5->6 yrs.
BUT in 5 yrs it is obsolete anyways.

Those that like to push the boundaries do NOT expect it to last beyond the time they will upgrade as the “NEW” kid on the block blows the doors off theirs anyway.
The problem here is that the failure point is beyond its useful life, SO WHY NOT.
PS I got the i5-2500k very shortly after it came out; it's been OCed since 30 days after I got it. While I'm still satisfied with its performance the MB advances indicate it's about time to upgrade.

My i5-750 was overclocked very shortly after coming out and is still running fine.
My E6400, which in terms of percentages (almost doubled) still runs although currently sitting in the closet.

 

[Wes006]

OC'ing does indeed shorten the lifespan of the CPU, people do it because OC'ing if FREE performance, and usually do lots of upgrading, compared to an average consumer.

Overclocking does not reduce the lifespan of a component if only increasing the frequency. Higher frequency/oscillation will decrease system stability however requiring faster voltage drain from the line and on the transistor level. Increasing the voltage in any manner, regardless of cooling, will however decrease the lifespan to a varying degree. It's dependent on the architectural design, quality, purity of the metals, binning, masks etc. because of the wear degradation caused by the increased electron flow. Sufficient cooling will mitigate changes to the chip overtime; increases in voltage translates to more heat, witch in turn overtime will cause warps on the molecular level. Technically, just using a CPU (no overclock) with decrease the lifespan just by using it. I have friends that don't realize that sadly. There are many people out there with the misconception that any overclock, slight or not, will outright damage the CPU. It's not black and white - all or nothing, it's simply science. Anyway, I don't disagree with you in any way. I just wanted to add clarification and more detail to complement your response. There are many out there that are newer to the overclocking/engineering game, who don't really know the effects, benefits, drawbacks, risk management etc. but certainly carry an fallible opinion deeming it as an empirical truth.

 

[darkestdargon]

Actually even if you don't move the voltage it can still cause it to degrade its life span not by much at all but it won't due to things moving faster aka kinetic energy therefore the is still more energy there that has to be cooled down so yes it will still make the life span lower but not by a noticeable amount at all.

 

[chenuki]

Usually lifespan of CPU is not something to be worried about. Reducing longevity from 25 years to 20 years won't matter when CPUs are obsolete in less than 5 years.