Overclocking minimizes Lifetime

20V and 50V? i guess that's pertaining to high voltage electronics..

I read somewhere that the average lifespan of a modern processor is like 10 years (which we have all seen old 80's systems still in use.. some last longer) and that the average overclocked CPU lasts 5-7 years... of course it might be longer if we didn't keeping messing with it... but like others have posted you'd probably have replaced it at least 5 times over 10 years, so it's all good. I'm in a constant state of upgrade at home, never have the same hardware for more than a few months so I'm not worried about it...

Jay23 said:

Yes, but by the time it burns out you will have a new processor. probabbly gone through 2 or 3

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Very true with a majority of people on this forum i would say

I have changed cpu's at least once a year so im not worried at all .
But there will come a time when an individual "Fries" his / her cpu and they
are the times you wished you havent overclocked it so much ...

My Comodore 64 and Tandy 1000 are still going strong, I should really look into if its possible to OC those...

Tawcan said:

To answer this question one needs to understand the basic structure of CPU's - > PNP and NPN FETS and transistors.

The following the straight out from the textbook...

...another breakdown effect that occurs at lower voltages (about 20V) in modern devices is called punch-through. It occurs in devices iwth relatively short channels when the drain voltage is increased to the point that the depletion region surrounding the drain region extend through the channel to the source. The drain current then increases rapidly. Normally, punch through does not result in permanent damage to the device.

Yet another kind of breakdown occurs when the gate-to-source voltage exceeds about 50V. this is the breakdown of the gate oxide and results in permanent damage to the device.

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In other word, it's possible to cause breakdown in these basic CPU structures but quite unlikely.

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and the scarry part is that i understood everything you said. exactlly 8 months ago i waz completelly clueless about transistors. i have come to the realization how much effect temperatures have on individuall transistors. there's a certian current that kinda leaks through the transistor that doubles every 10c, now multiply by 55million transistors and check to see if the currents are in tolerance.

Scar said:

20V and 50V? i guess that's pertaining to high voltage electronics..

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Standard TTL logic is anywhere between -25V and +25V (DC) if I recall correctly.