After reading lots of posts about overclocking the processor I was wondering if overclocking would cut short the life expectancy of the processor?Does anyone have any thoughts on this?I7 processors are so expensive I would hate to "toast" one. I know if I were to go to extremes in overclocking that it would put a great strain on the overclocked parts.What about some mild overclocking? You know, not having to go with liquid cooling and such, but just a good after market cooling setup.Thanks,Alan

After reading lots of posts about overclocking the processor I was wondering if overclocking would cut short the life expectancy of the processor?Does anyone have any thoughts on this?I7 processors are so expensive I would hate to "toast" one. I know if I were to go to extremes in overclocking that it would put a great strain on the overclocked parts.What about some mild overclocking? You know, not having to go with liquid cooling and such, but just a good after market cooling setup.Thanks,Alan

What's important here is "Useful Life Expectancy" and most cpus have a useful life expectancy of 3-5 years, maybe less if you're an enthusiast who has to stay cutting edge.Overclocking within bounds will NOT shorten the useful life expectancy. These cpus are made to last 10 years under default conditions so you may chop a few years off its life. But you have to keep the following items under control and within specs:1) cpu temperature2) cpu voltageand with the i7 there's more:3) DRAM <1.66v (this could change based on new Intel reports on safe DRAM voltages for i7)4) Most important for i7: Less than 0.5v difference between QPI/DRAM voltage and DRAM voltage. DO NOT VIOLATE THIS or you will kill your chip!For the i7 keep your cpu voltage less than 1.40v (maybe 1.45v tops) and keep your cpu load temps under 75 degrees C. Get an aftermarket cpu cooler because the stock fan will not handle anything past a miniscule increase in heat or speed. You need HW monitoring utilities found online for free. You also need to study overclocking guidelines, also found here and other spots online.So go for it but know what you're doing first. The i7 clocked past 3.6GHz is a monster.-jk

Thanks for the help.Alan