Overclocking = reduced system life?

[Hazel]

Af far as I can see and hear there are more and more GP32 programs (especially emulators) working at speeds exceeding 133Mhz. Is it a danger to the system?
I've got the S3C2400X User's Manual and in the "Product Overview" it says: "Operating Frequency: Up to 133MHz". What makes me even more concerned is the fact that these overclocked programs work on some GPs and don't on others. So how high is the risk?

 

[nik166]

there's no risk

just maybe your GP32 will die in 22 years instead of 25 , nothing more

 

[bannanapie]

well, overclocking anything is bound to be somewhat bad for it. For example, when overclocking gp32's I've heard people say the battery life goes down therefore the cpu is using mroe power right? Like say my old IBM c3 palm pilot..I happily overclocked it by 100% for maybe a year, I noticed excess heat building up where the cpu was, and my battery life was going down the drain (about 30 min instead of the normal 2-3 hours). Of course I'd like to hear the insight of other gp32 users and their experiences with overclocking. I'm a total n00b with gp32's I admit, but I'd like to know if anyone's ever burnt out a gp32 or caused/felt excessive heat on the console itself.

 

[EvilDragon]

Well, the 133MHz mentioned as processor speed means that the processor HAS to be able to run at that speed!
That means: When a cpu is produced and fails the test with 133MHz, it will be sorted out.
If you are lucky, your processor can do A LOT faster without any problems, if you are unlucky, it can't.
That's why some overclocked programs work on a GP32 and some don't.
Now for the risk:
Overclocking is risky, when the additional speed is MUCH too high (e.g. if a program runs at 150 or 160 MHz!)
A few MHz don't harm your system - it just can be that the program won't run very stable.

What's dangerous about the overclocking is the heat development: If the processor gets too hot, it might break. But you usually realize that early enough - a hot processor gets pretty unstable before it breaks, so if you play some overclocked games and the system gets more and more unstable, you should stop.