Heat and component lifespan

[Andrew Orzechowicz]

I've had my system for about four years now and I've spent a lot of that time worrying about the lifespan of the more expensive components like the CPU and GPU. I use my computer extensively on an almost daily basis, and during the summer time my room tends to get pretty hot. As a result of this my computer gets hot (duh). Today my CPU hit 80C while playing a game it usually has no problem with. I got a new cooler for it and replaced the thermal paste about half a year ago so I'd like to think that isn't the problem. Regardless, does having components run at high temperatures like that shorten their lifespan or damage them? Likewise, will running the fans at high speed on my graphics card shorten it's lifespan as well? This is a concern for me because I'm a poor college student and can't afford to replace anything right now. Thanks for any help

 

[BFG-9000]

The general prediction of lifespan for simple components such as electrolytic capacitors (generally the shortest-lived component) is halving the lifespan for each 10C rise in temperature, as given by the Arrhenius equation.

CPUs and GPUs on the other hand die by electromigration, or by thermal cycling cracking the solder. Both of these are affected by temperature but the manufacturers are notoriously tight-lipped about design life numbers and do not spec it in their datasheets unless required to for military or government contracts, which tend not to use the same consumer products anyway. So any prediction is just a guess.

Unless there is an unexpected design problem such as with Xbox 360's ATI RRoD, or nVidia's infamous recall of every 8400M and 8600M, or problems from unexpected usage such as Intel's Sudden Northwood Death Syndrome, it's probably fair to expect every non-moving component to last at least 10 years unless seriously abused. Extreme overvolting can result in a reduced stable overclock surprisingly quickly.

Something to think about since the maximum voltage at 14nm today seems to be the same as it was back at 45nm. There's just less safe margin now.