Undervolting - Risks ?

[RobbeyRobert]

Hello again !
I've recently updated my bios, and i discovered, that i have the option to lower the voltages.. instead of raising them only.. So i thought, since it get's hot sometimes because of the dust and i'm to lazy to clean it, about "Undervolting" the CPU and maybe a little the ram too.

I heard that it is a good thing to do, it lowers the tempertures and makes the components live longer, and that it doesn't harms the components at all..it all sounds nice but.. i don't know if it is true.
So that's why i am going to ask you guys ! What do you think about this, is it legit xD ?
Question #1
So what are the 'Advantages' & 'Disadvantages' of under-volting ?.
Question #2
How do i safely undervolt my components ?

Here are the specs of my rig:
MB Name - Gigabyte GA-F2A85X-D3H
Kingston 4GB 1866 Ram.
A8 5600K Processor
And a Energon 650-700W Psu

If you need more details just ask me.

UPDATE - Could i undervolt my ram too ? Currently it's on 1.480V i think.

 

[drixkarasu]

First, clean the dust, don't be lazy or you might regret it if your system dies.
Back to your question, if you undervolt the system too much you might get random bluescreens or shutdowns, but you won't damage your system.
Lower the voltage in little steps and run a benchmark to make sure your system is stable before lowering it further, once it starts crashing increase it back to the last stable value, that's as low as you can go.
Usually you can under-volt a bit since the manufacturers leave some headroom.

 

[Aefuan]

If you undervolt, you will get lower temperatures, and there's a point that if you put too much voltage will reduce the lifespan of the CPU, so if you undervolt your CPU will be more safe. On the otherside, the only disadvantage i can see is that if you undervolt too much, the computers gets inestable and crashes sometimes. But you cannot damage your CPU for dont have enough power, it will just not run or do it on an inestable manner, you just can damage if it have too much power.

 

[RobbeyRobert]

If you undervolt, you will get lower temperatures, and there's a point that if you put too much voltage will reduce the lifespan of the CPU, so if you undervolt your CPU will be more safe. On the otherside, the only disadvantage i can see is that if you undervolt too much, the computers gets inestable and crashes sometimes. But you cannot damage your CPU for dont have enough power, it will just not run or do it on an inestable manner, you just can damage if it have too much power.

Thanks for answering