Does processor performance degrade over time?

[JakeMat]

Does the performance of a processor degrade after usage over a period of time? If so, to what extent and with what processors (if possible).

Am thinking of getting a deal on a processor from a friend that he has been using for gaming for the last ~ 1 year and a half, and want to know if the performance will still be the same as when new.

 

Thanks in advance,

 

Jacob

[APasz]

Simply, no the performance doesn't degrade.

[DrMacintosh]

No, not really. Not that quickly. 

[W-L]

Just now, JakeMat said:

Does the performance of a processor degrade after usage over a period of time? If so, to what extent and with what processors (if possible).

Am thinking of getting a deal on a processor from a friend that he has been using for gaming for the last ~ 1 year and a half, and want to know if the performance will still be the same as when new.

Thanks in advance,

Jacob

No the performance will not degrade overtime, a CPU should last well over a decade if not longer to the point where it will become obsolete. 

[themctipers]

by the time it degrades, it'll be considered obsolete by *everyone*

[manikyath]

no.

you may get thermal issues if you never clean out your computer, and that's about it.

 

what does change however, is your demand of said processor, which is something that happens very gradually, so you dont notice it, until it cant keep up. if you would use a 10 year old processor now like you would have 10 years ago, it'll be as fast as it was 10 years ago, but as the user's demand goes up, the processor's speed is preceived to go down.

[manikyath]

Just now, themctipers said:

by the time it degrades, it'll be considered obsolete by *everyone*

doesnt degrade tho. the silicon degrades, but that doesnt do jack shit to the performance up to the point of it being unstabile at stock settings.

[themctipers]

Just now, manikyath said:

doesnt degrade tho. the silicon degrades, but that doesnt do jack shit to the performance up to the point of it being unstabile at stock settings.

say hello to my i7  

 

in a few years  4ghz unstable so far .

[Zodiark1593]

With the exception of heavy overclocking (voltage being the factor that causes degradation), a cpu should not degrade to the point that it's stock clock speeds become unstable. BTW, a cpu will not degrade in performance unless it becomes unstable at a given clock speed, and is forced to a lower speed for stability.