I want to oc my p4 2.8, I'm just wondering what the life expectancy is after doing this. Is there a certain rule as far as temps go for keeping it for longer, or will I limit my cpu for something like 2 years?

I want to moderately oc my 2.8, to 3.3-3.5, and my aiw 9800 pro to whatever I can. How long can I expect everything to live?

It should last quite a while with proer cooling
id say at least 5 years. when i overclocked my 5600 the oil in my fans for it ran dry and became nonfunctional and it way overheated. Im pretty luchy

How long do you really think you'll have that CPU? A year or 2? What was the last CPU you had & how long ago was that? I'm sure you'll be upgrading again long before your current CPU wears out.

If you increase the core voltage too much, you risk damaging the CPU from overvolting, but overvolting is different than overheating. You can't overheat a P4 to failure...it's thermal protection circuitry will cause the CPU to slowdown in an effort to cool itself. You can actually run a P4 without a HSF & it won't burn out. (I wouldn't try it though...lol!)

"With P4 CPUs, the CPU will turn its speed down automatically when it overheats. No damage to the CPU is possible, but the system will get slower while it's hot (which, in some cases, users might not even notice).

If you attempt to operate a CPU without heatsink at all, recent AMD CPUs will usually be permanently damaged within seconds, unless special protection circuitry is available on the motherboard. P4 CPUs will run excessively slow without cooler."

http://www.heatsink-guide.com/maxtemp.htm

Well, I do intend to keep it for sometime, as I run abotu 4 dif boxes, each with different purposes. I have my main p4 2.8 9800 AIW that is my bread and butter, a amd 2500+ oc to 2.21G, that I used as a server, but also to try out oc'ing for the first time, I P200 I use for old games, a dos box for really old stuff, and I'm going to get another, around 1g or so for a linux box. The reason I mention this is because I usualy pass them down the line once they get older, or sell them, so I don't want anything radical that will limit use.

As far as I can see though, there is nothing solid on wear from oc'ing. Some say 5 years, others say under a year, and most somewhere in between. I haven't seen anyway say they have had a stable system oc'd for like a year, and it died, which leads me to believe that there is not as much long term risk as people think. I just thought I would throw this question out to see what ideas came back. Thanks for the help.

Btw, your no HSF info was very interesting, but begs the question: Who the hell wants to find out what happens after you remove the HSF turn it on? ... must be nice to have money like that for these tests.