Hardware Lifespan - Stock vs 'Clocked CPU

[jiyeon]

Hey, so recently I've been interested in how long PC hardware components tend to last, and in particular the CPU. One of the first things I thought about when buuilding and buying a new PC was its lifespan.

 

I was thinking, how long will it take for a CPU such as my 8600K to degrade in speed if I ran it at stock 3.6GHz speed vs running it at say 4.4GHz or even 4.7GHz on the daily? When I bought my 8600K, I assumed it would last me for at least half a decade, but that was before I decided to use it at a daily 4.4GHz as oppose to its 3.6GHz base.

 

TL;DR - How many years would a typical CPU last before it starts to decrease in compute performance at stock speed vs daily use at a moderate overclock?

[GDRRiley]

it will be fine most CPUs will last 20-30

[jiyeon]

1 minute ago, GDRRiley said:

it will be fine most CPUs will last 20-30

How long into that span will the CPU reach the point where it's lost 10-20% of its performance is the real concern.

[GDRRiley]

1 minute ago, seoz said:

How long into that span will the CPU reach the point where it's lost 10-20% of its performance is the real concern.

CPUs never lose performance, they may not do well with old thermal paste but they don't degrade 

[LAwLz]

2 minutes ago, seoz said:

How long into that span will the CPU reach the point where it's lost 10-20% of its performance is the real concern.

Processors do not lose performance like that.

They either work, and at 100% of the performance. Or they are broken and don't work (for example it might be flat out broken, or it is causing your system to crash all the time).

 

 

Edit:

So to answer your question.

Overclocking your processor will not cause it to perform worse in the future, unless you flat out break it so it doesn't work. There is no "10% performance loss from age or overclocking".

As for how long a processor can last, it can last many, many years. My 2500K has been running with a ~30% overclock for about 7 years now and it's still working just fine.

[jiyeon]

1 minute ago, GDRRiley said:

CPUs never lose performance, they may not do well with old thermal paste but they don't degrade 

 

1 minute ago, LAwLz said:

Processors do not lose performance like that.

They either work, and at 100% of the performance. Or they are broken and don't work.

 

Oh, this is interesting. So in theory, running my 8600K at 4.8GHz every day won't age the CPU at all?

[dizmo]

It'll last longer than you'd want to keep the chip.

[LAwLz]

4 minutes ago, seoz said:

Oh, this is interesting. So in theory, running my 8600K at 4.8GHz every day won't age the CPU at all?

Well, it might "age" as in, it could get worn out and stop working. It won't lose performance overtime though. Processors either work or they don't.

[jiyeon]

4 minutes ago, LAwLz said:

Well, it might "age" as in, it could get worn out and stop working. It won't lose performance overtime though. Processors either work or they don't.

Ah okay, I've learnt something new today.  

[danrey84]

Biggest killer for CPU's are voltage then heat. You will never lose performance the thing with just flat out stop working. They either work or they don't work. Personally if your buying a ' K ' chip and not overclocking it's a waste. 

[Froody129]

Unless you run it at like 1.5V you're fine on longevity. Clock it to your hearts content