How much does overclocking shotern CPU life?

[Bradley]

How much does overclocking shotern a CPUs life? I overclocked mine and I am curious.

[TheKDub]

If the processor stays cool I don't think it will shorten it by much.

[Clyne]

It depends how much you overclocked it. I have a 64 X2 that i haven't overclocked and it still works for 7 years.

[GangstaRas]

life im not sure but i have a e2180 for 5 years now, 3 of that amount of years its been overclocked to 2.66 ghz stock voltage. its alot less stable under high heat conditions right now than when i first OCed it to that under the same heat conditions so maybe that can give you an idea of life shortening. stock speeds under the same amount of heat its 100% stable nonetheless

(Processor still works 100% just that in prime95 under the same amount of heat as when i first did it, it will produce errors now)

[Faceman]

There are a few variables that play into this, the main two are temperature and voltage.  If you keep the processor to a safe voltage and low temperature you won't shorten the life of your processor by a noticeable amount.

[mvitkun]

How much does overclocking shotern a CPUs life? I overclocked mine and I am curious.

It depends on how much more (or sometimes less) voltage is being run through the CPU as well as the temperature that the CPU is being run at.

Sometimes at auto the CPU might use more voltage than you'd have it use were you to set it to offset or manual even with a mild overclock; this being the case the cpu would run cooler and would have less voltage run through it under load, thus making it last longer.

However if you're running the CPU at 5ghz and 1.5V, with some $30-$40 heatsink that won't keep the cpu cooler than say 85-90C then it would severely shorten the life span of the CPU and you could expect it to last for at most 1-2 years.

[harrynowl]

http://www.anandtech.com/show/2468/6

[Izaya Orihara]

If the processor stays cool I don't think it will shorten it by much.

Much incorrect. Very so. Wow.