CPU overclock: lifespan/crashes/disadvantages

[JorenBus]

Hello all,

 

Alright, at this moment I'm doubting between the i5 4690 and the i5 4690k. 

I'm still not too sure if I even want to overclock my CPU.

How about the drawbacks? I've heard that if you OC your CPU, you can get a lot of blue screens, crashes, basically your whole system becomes less reliable.

I've also heard that it dramitically reduces the lifespan of the CPU itself, and even other components.

Is this true? Because if I'd buy a new CPU, I want it to work properly for years to come...

If I were to OC, would a Cooler Master Hyper TX3 EVO do a good job for an OC'd CPU?

 

Thanks

[Vavetti]

It will be as stable as you let it.

when overclocking you'll need to do some stability testing, when it passes those you'll most likely never encounter any instability issues.

Your cpu will last you years to come even if you overclock it (within safe regions)

[SuperPug]

Increasing the Clockrate of a CPU doesn't hurt it in any way. Its the additional voltage (and heat) that has a negative effect. That effect however is almost negligible especially if the CPU is cooled well.

[SkilledRebuilds]

By the time it may die (which is also pretty rare), you'll already have moved onto a new platform (new system)

 

Extra performance is great, but seriously, if you DO NOT need it, then there is no point... eg: Facebook gaming does not require 4.0Ghz or higher, it's wasted potential.

 

But it also... doesn't hurt to try, you can actually gain some substantial improvements in a range of tasks like rendering/video encoding and gaming in some sense where the games do or don't use all cores, the higher frequencies can show significant improvements.

 

If you can cool it, and have the OC ability, give it a try.

If your worried IN ANY WAY,.. read more about it before disregarding it,.. and figure out yourself if your application usage will benefit.

 

I've killed a CPU before, the i7 2600K (a real beast OC'r) it went to 5.2Ghz, usually I had it at 4.4Ghz-4.6Ghz (summer>winter) and I had it like this for years.

 

Only years later I pushed for 5.0Ghz, cracked it with success, pushed for 5.2Ghz and killed it with too much voltage, ALL MY FAULT, most people would not have gone that far so it's a unrealistic scenario.

 

But there are both PRO's and CON's, it's on your shoulders to weigh those options.

[Cwazywazy]

Simply increasing the clock until it is unstable under Prime95 load and then going back a little bit is a great way to get added performance without reducing the lifetime of anything, using more electricity, or making more heat because the voltage is what does those things. Though, if you want an even higher clock you do need to increase the voltage.

[JorenBus]

It's mainly for Battlefield 4, Battlefield Hardline, GTA 5, basically the latest FPS games.

I'm going to think about the advantages and disadvantages and then I'll make a decision.

[SuperPug]

@SkilledRebuilds Hangon... You actually fried the chip? How much V did you apply?

[SkilledRebuilds]

@SkilledRebuilds Hangon... You actually fried the chip? How much V did you apply?

Was so long ago... Can't really remember.

It was my daily driver, lets just say I didn't care and went for a suicidal overclock after hitting stable 5.0Ghz. Trying for 5.1/5.2 (round 1 without HT it worked, round 2 with HT it blew)

I had it a few years and Ivybridge was commonplace, Haswell may have been released at that point...maybe (about that timeframe it died)

 

Pity I cannot remember the V's... would probably get a lot of flack from LTT if I could remember it (I honestly cant)

 

Was seriously fun...a learning experience, and I got a potato i5-2500 non-K for the meantime until I got this 4690.

[SkilledRebuilds]

It's mainly for Battlefield 4, Battlefield Hardline, GTA 5, basically the latest FPS games.

I'm going to think about the advantages and disadvantages and then I'll make a decision.

When you play these games, watch your GPU usage before your CPU usage, if it's at 95-100% GPU used, your CPU is not needing an OC, AT ALL.

[JorenBus]

When you play these games, watch your GPU usage before your CPU usage, if it's at 95-100% GPU used, your CPU is not needing an OC, AT ALL.

Well even my old i7 860 2.80GHz never went above 70%, but unfortunately it broke so I guess this i5 will be quite a bit better than my old one I hope.

[JorenBus]

Is the Cooler Master Hyper TX3 a decent cooler for an overclocked CPU?

[AlbertScrub]

Is the Cooler Master Hyper TX3 a decent cooler for an overclocked CPU?

it has a lot of copper pipes and a nice fan with big heatsink. As long as you have good airflow in your case you should be great. Also i would reccomend getting nice thermal paste to that will help it OC just by a bit.

[maddmaxx]

I got a i7 920 and i had NO idea how to overclock.  
I overclocked my computer sometime in 2013.  The base speed is 2.6Ghz but I've been running it to 3.4->3.8ghz (depending on the time of the year during the summer I like to keep the temps lower because of ambient temperatures).

If you monitor your heat and don't flood the CPU with high amount of electricity, it should last you a long time (according to everyone).  

Just makes sure you do your research and read much as you can.
Don't overclock it to the extreme if you are going to be mad about damaged gear.  Get much as you can out of your CPU without turning up the heat and voltage.