voltage and ghz tradeoff?

onipar

onipar

Member
I recently overclocked/unlocked my Phenom II X3 2.8 GHz to a Phenom II x4 3 GHz.

I stopped at 3 GHz because that's as far as I could overclock without having to increase the voltage.

This computer is being used for internet, web browsing, light video (dvd, hulu, youtube), listening to music, etc. Basically your run of the mill stuff.

I've read that increasing voltage can reduce the life of a CPU. So, my question becomes: for a computer being used as specified above, does it make sense to push the overclock further and increase the voltage (thereby decreasing the life of the cpu), or just leave it at 3 ghz and call it a day?

The computer runs plenty fast as is, and I'm not sure an increase in the GHz will make a noticeable difference for this rig, but I wanted to hear other opinions. Thanks!
 
onipar said:
I recently overclocked/unlocked my Phenom II X3 2.8 GHz to a Phenom II x4 3 GHz.

I stopped at 3 GHz because that's as far as I could overclock without having to increase the voltage.

This computer is being used for internet, web browsing, light video (dvd, hulu, youtube), listening to music, etc. Basically your run of the mill stuff.

I've read that increasing voltage can reduce the life of a CPU. So, my question becomes: for a computer being used as specified above, does it make sense to push the overclock further and increase the voltage (thereby decreasing the life of the cpu), or just leave it at 3 ghz and call it a day?

The computer runs plenty fast as is, and I'm not sure an increase in the GHz will make a noticeable difference for this rig, but I wanted to hear other opinions. Thanks!
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Tbh, as you said, it won't make much of a difference. If it's fast enough the way it is, leave it like that. There's no point in decreasing the life of the CPU if it's hardly going to make a difference.

Also, I've learned something new today. I never knew that increasing the voltage would decrease its life. Thanks. :D
 
zPixel said:
Tbh, as you said, it won't make much of a difference. If it's fast enough the way it is, leave it like that. There's no point in decreasing the life of the CPU if it's hardly going to make a difference.

Also, I've learned something new today. I never knew that increasing the voltage would decrease its life. Thanks. :D
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Thanks for your input. Yeah, that's the way I'm leaning. I've left it this way for a week or two already, and will probably continue to leave it. :good:
 
As long as you keep the voltage under 1.5V and the temp, under 65c it will live longer then it usefulness or in other words till its way outdated. The only time voltage will kill the life of a processor is if you really push the voltage way past its default recommended. Its default voltage goes up to 1.425.
 
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I really wouldn't bother in your case, unless you're interested in learning/experimenting/benchmarking. Even a X3 would be fine for those tasks.
 
claptonman said:
I really wouldn't bother in your case, unless you're interested in learning/experimenting/benchmarking. Even a X3 would be fine for those tasks.
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Yeah, I figured. I was really just doing the unlock and overclock to mess around and learn a bit about it.

Thanks for all the input.
 
As long as you keep it at the right temp and try not to push too much Vs through it you can experiment and have fun all you want. I would not use the stock heatsink+fan with any overclocking, keep it nice and cool and you'll be OK. It will shut off when it gets too hot before any real damage is done due to either AMD or Intel protocol.
As long as you keep the voltage under 1.5V and the temp, under 65c it will live longer then it usefulness or in other words till its way outdated. The only time voltage will kill the life of a processor is if you really push the voltage way past its default recommended. Its default voltage goes up to 1.425.
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+1
 
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TekMaster said:
As long as you keep it at the right temp and try not to push too much Vs through it you can experiment and have fun all you want. I would not use the stock heatsink+fan with any overclocking, keep it nice and cool and you'll be OK. It will shut off when it gets too hot before any real damage is done due to either AMD or Intel protocol.

+1
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Thanks. Yeah, I have an aftermarket cooler installed, plus an extra fan. I only worried a little too though because when I unlocked the extra core, it disabled the temperature sensors so I can't get accurate temp readings except in the bios.
 
AMD is known for crazy temp readings. 100% stock i have to get accurate readings from my BIOS with my 4100. software says im at 7c when that's not even physically possible lol

+ extra fan = push-pull config, i like ;)
 
and in some cases, turning voltage manual disables C&Q, i tend to like that to still function...so i leave voltage at the defaults, and bump muliplier/fsb as much as i can
 
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