Undervolt/Overclock Lifespan?

We all know that overvolting will decrease the life of a cpu, but what happens if you undervolt and overclock? or just overclock but on stock vcore? thoughts?

I think the main issue is heat. If your are not overvolting but you are overclocking you are creating extra heat. With good cooling I don't think it will have any negative effect on the life of the cpu. Undervolting and overclocking still leaves you wiyh heat issue. With good cooling again the cpu will probably last a least as long as it would have running at stock. If you undervolt and run at stock speed with good cooling then I think your CPU would last even longer than it would other wise. but why anyone would do this is beyond me.

you pose some good points, but people that dont want a system overclocked, it makes alot of sense for the cpu to be undervolted. for example, i set up a computer for my mother acouple weeks back, my old 1900+ and a GA-7N400L, now she has no need for overclocking at all. before the 1900+, she ran a emachines with a 566 celey, it was cheap and she needed a computer, fairly easy to buy.

anyways, back on track. undervolting, even though it causes heat as well, it (as far as my testing have proven to me) puts off the same amount of heat as when overclocked then when stock vcore and stock speed.

undervolt/overclock ~= stock vcore/stock speed.

even though i take your comments with great respect, i do not believe that heat is the only thing that causes the lifetime of a cpu to decrease, granted it is importent. but if you have a pressie on a vapo, and you are feeding it 1.6~ volts, even if the temps are negative, it is going to die alot quicker then if you were on air feeding stock volts. thoughts?

even if the temps are negative, it is going to die alot quicker then if you were on air feeding stock volts. thoughts?

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Personally I think it's a combination of all of them........not just one. Heat combined with voltage will kill your chip extremely fast. High voltage will kill your chip faster than just high heat though (looking my last HP computer that ran a AXP at 75°). Thus explaining why a phase change doesnt' allow a cpu to live forever.

Heat, by far, is the number one killer of processors by real world standards. Excessive voltage, however will also shorten the life of a proc. Up to 20% over spec is generally not an issue given that the heat generated by the added amount is removed. After that, the "pressure" caused by the extra voltage forces electron migration to happen sooner, exponentialy.

This is why a lot of mainstream oveclockers will add about 20% over the stock voltage, then OC it till its stable. There is no figure as to how much time this will shave off a proc, but it would appear the average is somewhere around 5 years, giving 5 years of useful life, which takes the proc to obsoletion anyway. Who is gonna run their system for the full 10 years of operation that the CPU is designed to endure anyway?

More voltage = exponentially faster electron migration.

Electron Migration is what causes every chip to die after awhile, voltage makes it go excessively faster.

Sorry, I need not mean to imply that heat is the only factor in the cpu lifecycle, as voltage is clearly a major piece of it as well. Yes, just overvolting without extra heat will cause a cpu to have an early demise. However, if you don't overvolt, then it really all comes down to heat because you have taken voltage out of the equation.