Overclocking?

[Poet129]

Me and a friend have an ongoing argument and I would just like to see who is right. When overclocking the only thing that can cause permanent damage is pushing the voltage up right? So if you are pushing the voltage down and your clocks up you are actually running "safer" than stock. Is this true?

[Levent]

Voltage only starts degrading CPUs noticeably at the extreme levels. I wouldnt say lower voltages with higher clocks is safer, its heat that you should worry about. If you are pushing your voltages and CPU clocks less than %40 to %50 of the stock clocks I would say you wouldnt notice CPU degradation during its lifetime.

[Fasauceome]

3 minutes ago, Poet129 said:

the only thing that can cause permanent damage is pushing the voltage up right?

running the CPU at or near the throttle point also causes damage over time.

 

3 minutes ago, Poet129 said:

if you are pushing the voltage down and your clocks up you are actually running "safer" than stock

if stock was unsafe, this might be true, but in general it just helps efficiency. Lower voltage doesn't damage the product, though.

[Poet129]

1 minute ago, Levent said:

Voltage only starts degrading CPUs noticeably at the extreme levels. I wouldn't say lower voltages with higher clocks is safer, its heat that you should worry about.

The only contributor to high heat is high voltage right, excluding usage levels?

[Levent]

Just now, Poet129 said:

The only contributor to high heat is high voltage right, excluding usage levels?

Nope, clock speed has a direct effect on heat generation.

[Guest]

Processor designed to Run X frequency at stock and then pushed past wears transistors just from the frequency increase.

 

Degradation/damage comes from the lot of it. frequency, temps and voltage. Not any singular one..

 

That is all.

[Poet129]

2 minutes ago, Levent said:

Nope, clock speed has a direct effect on heat generation.

Even if you aren't raising voltage from stock your temps will be higher than stock when overclocking?

[Levent]

Just now, Poet129 said:

Even if you aren't raising voltage from stock your temps will be higher than stock?

Yes, voltage is just one part of the equation.

[Poet129]

Just now, Levent said:

Yes, voltage is just one part of the equation.

So if I'm lowering voltage and increasing clock it is still more damaging than stock?

[Guest]

Just now, Poet129 said:

So if I'm lowering voltage and increasing clock it is still more damaging than stock?

The parts start wearing as soon as put to use even at stock. About a 10 years or 100,000 hour lifespan (most processors) at stock with no changes constant run time. Anything you do past this lowers the life span. 

 

When increasing a frequency, you may keep the same voltage, but pull more amps. This creates more heat. Decreases life span.

 

But just think on that 100,000 hours. That's quite a bit of time. Even with 50% degradation, that's 5 years on an OC. By then, hopefully you've upgraded

[Levent]

5 minutes ago, Poet129 said:

So if I'm lowering voltage and increasing clock it is still more damaging than stock?

Technically, yes, in reality as I stated in my first reply to this thread, in order to actually kill your CPU before you update or change your system you have to run at extreme clock speeds for prolonged durations. I wouldnt worry about killing or damaging a CPU during overclocking, unless you plan on overclocking with LN2 all day every day.

[Poet129]

1 minute ago, ShrimpBrime said:

When increasing a frequency, you may keep the same voltage, but pull more amps. This creates more heat. Decreases life span.

So is going from 1.35V to 1.285V and 3.46Ghz to 4.18Ghz, under where the multiplied(v*a) wattage would be?

[Poet129]

Just now, Poet129 said:

So is going from 1.35V to 1.285V and 3.46Ghz to 4.18Ghz, under where the stock multiplied(v*a) wattage would be?

 

[Guest]

Just now, Poet129 said:

So is going from 1.35V to 1.285V and 3.46Ghz to 4.18Ghz, under where the multiplied(v*a) wattage would be?

Well you can draw a higher amp on a lower voltage and maintain the same TDP if that's what you're asking. Temps similar, the degradation would be from the higher frequency, but I don't think it's a big deal. Really mild overclocking. Most of these chips wall on ambient. Then it takes serious sub zero to increase the voltage far enough to keep the Zen chip stable. At least they scale with voltage once cold though.

[Poet129]

1 minute ago, ShrimpBrime said:

Well you can draw a higher amp on a lower voltage and maintain the same TDP if that's what you're asking. Temps similar, the degradation would be from the higher frequency, but I don't think it's a big deal. Really mild overclocking. Most of these chips wall on ambient. Then it takes serious sub zero to increase the voltage far enough to keep the Zen chip stable. At least they scale with voltage once cold though.

I know you can't get a exact number but how much does this mild overclock decrease the lifespan of the cpu?

[Guest]

9 minutes ago, Poet129 said:

I know you can't get a exact number but how much does this mild overclock decrease the lifespan of the cpu?

Oh man that depends on so many variables, it's not even a thought to consider giving you some definitive number....

 

So instead, a short story!! 

 

Looking through the past, even at this forum. Just recently a gentleman came in with a 4790K (I believe it was if memory serves today) and seeming to have instability after having an 8 years over clock (again depending on my memory lol). He lowered clocks and voltage all the way to stock and then it was stable. Now that could be anything. The Cpu, the Board, or the memory, heck even the power supply. So the degradation happened pretty suddenly for him, but after a long time.

 

I also have a personal experience similar with an old s939 opteron. I used and abused it running high temps testing cooling apparatus and other such hobby stuff. It was stable at 3ghz even with 100c loads, which is typical of opertons to be able to run hot, even though this was past it's thermal limits.

Any, how.... I did use it for a daily afterwards. I got about 2 months from the processor after all the beating it took. OC degraded and lowered clocks, even below stock, it went unstable. Then..... it stopped posting.

 

So, really - it depends on how hard you push your chips. It can be really fast or slow degradation. 

Best thing to do, run cool as possible and mind your limitations. If you know it's not stable at 4.4ghz without 1.4v, then don't run it.