# Does a CPU chip slow down with time?



## parttimetechie (Jan 9, 2010)

I've been curious about this for a long time, and my experiences seem to back up one of the two theories ive heard.

The first is yes, the CPU chip does slow down with age. A 2.0GHz chip will not be as fast in three years as it is today.

The second theory says no, the computer slows down because of the continual addition of programs and data on the hard drive.

Just wonder, b/c right now my computer seems to be running slower, and not a single thing has changed. RAM, HDD, that has all stayed the same. Cleaned out temp files, Defragged, everything.

Just curious, thanks


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## BoT (Dec 16, 2008)

the cpu will not decrease in speed over time but the constant stress and heat can make the silicon degrade faster then normal. silicon will degrade anyway.
it can make the cpu less efficient and stable but not slower per say. 
when the silicon degrades it produces more errorness data which has to be corrected or fails. 

i don't think that is your problem thou. a fresh install could help. overtime data on a harddrive data gets moved around a lot.
there are good 3rd party defragmentation tools out like auslogics diskdefrag or piriform's defraggler. 
ccleaner is also a nice cleaning tool. i know that some people will recommend otherwise as it is not a perfect tool and should be use with caution.
windows xp also tends to get the registry bloated with entries which can also appear as slow down.


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## Tyree (May 10, 2009)

CPU's don't "slow" down because of age.
PC Specs?
Pre-Built Brand & Model Number
Custom Built-Brand & Model of Mobo-CPU-RAM-Graphics-PSU.


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## greenbrucelee (Apr 24, 2007)

usually computers slow down because the user/owner does not look after it properly by not defragging the hard drive often or not deleting temporary files after browsing the internet.

when you store something like a word document on your hard drive it is not just in one place the file is broken down into many parts and then those parts are stored on the hard drive in various places. If you defrag the hard drive it moves these parts closer together.

You can also do a few things to speed up the accessing of files like disabling indexing, increasing the swap/page file.

using ccleaner (download it for free) to get rid of temporary files and unused registry entries.

Adding more ram can help

So the answer to you question is no a cpu does not slow down, its all the crap on the hard drive that slows it down.


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## parttimetechie (Jan 9, 2010)

Thanks for the info, but did you guys actually read my whole post? I know adding data slows down a drive, and I defrag the computer every week. I also use CCleaner and keep my system in good shape.


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## greenbrucelee (Apr 24, 2007)

parttimetechie said:


> Thanks for the info, but did you guys actually read my whole post? I know adding data slows down a drive, and I defrag the computer every week. I also use CCleaner and keep my system in good shape.


yes I did read your whole post. If your computer seems slower then their could be something making it slower such too many processes running, too many apps starting when windows loads, excessive heat on the cpu, a crap power supply, a virus.

An extreme case would be chip creep which is because of too much heat the silicon expands and the chip gets damaged.


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## dai (Jul 2, 2004)

what are you running
video card
cpu
m/board
ram
power supply
brand
model
wattage

check the listings in the bios for voltages and temperatures and post them


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## Tyree (May 10, 2009)

parttimetechie said:


> Thanks for the info, but did you guys actually read my whole post? I know adding data slows down a drive, and I defrag the computer every week. I also use CCleaner and keep my system in good shape.


I also read your post. That's why I asked for the specs of your PC. 
It's very hard to accurately diagnose the unknown.


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## linderman (May 20, 2005)

overheating will make a cpu run slower until its corrected?


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## Doby (Jan 17, 2006)

I agree age is not going to slow a cpu down, I had machines run for years 24/7 dedicated to folding, these machines became obsolete before they ever quit or slowed down, remember though these machines did only folding so no user error or lack of maintenance.

Once you determine its not hardware related (overheating comes to mind) I'll bet the speed will come back with a clean install of the os

Darn cost of electricity put a damper om my folding now adays


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## parttimetechie (Jan 9, 2010)

Ya, unfortuantly its not a big enough issue to require a reformat of the OS. Another question, with Windows XP I had the disk and could do a repair, but with Windows 7 I got it online as a download. Any way to do a repair of the OS?


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## Amd_Man (Jan 27, 2009)

Hit F8 after the Post screen and you'll find it on the options list. The first one I belive.


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## parttimetechie (Jan 9, 2010)

Alright, good to know. Same deal as in XP it repairs the files but does not erase the data?


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## Amd_Man (Jan 27, 2009)

It won't erase any of your files.


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## parttimetechie (Jan 9, 2010)

Sounds good. So it really is like a Win XP repair. Glad they kept that feature there. Does it matter that I built the system myself, it is not a prebuilt system?


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## Amd_Man (Jan 27, 2009)

I wouldn't think so. It's a little different than Xp in that to do the repair you don't have to boot of the Dvd.


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## parttimetechie (Jan 9, 2010)

Thats good. Im in a mixed mind about that concept and recovery partitions...on one hand u dont have to have the disk, but on the other if the drive goes out ur SOL. Is it possible to clone the recovery partition using a program like Macrium Image or Ghost?


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## Doby (Jan 17, 2006)

Acronis, most hdd manufactuers have a version of acronis for free download


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## BoT (Dec 16, 2008)

macrium is excellent as well and free. 
if you are familiar with ghost and prefer that you could get hiren's bootcd. 
it includes ghost.
acronis is a very good program as well and as free as macrium


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## parttimetechie (Jan 9, 2010)

Ya, I have and use Macrium Reflect and love it. Just wondering if its possible to copy a recovery partition.


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## BoT (Dec 16, 2008)

i will make a full copy just as ghost, complete image, that includes the recovery partition.


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## parttimetechie (Jan 9, 2010)

Thanks. Is there any way to create a recovery partition like you get when you buy a pre-built computer?


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## linderman (May 20, 2005)

yes you can but why would you want to really?

such a partition is a one time snapshot; when you revert to it (say upon hard drive death day) it will not reflect your current data or programs 

MUCH better method is to keep multiple snapshots of your OS on a back up drive which only gets powered when accessing the back up program

example

buy a 750gig or 1TB drive

connect that drive and make an image of your boot drive say once every two weeks / after you have made four images when you make the fifth image you delete the oldes of the set of four

in this manner you have multiple chances to "completely" restore your operating system back to a time when it was operating perfectly and with all programs / data & settings; not some empty shell which is almost like startign from a clean install

remove the power plug from the back-up drive when not in use by the back-up program / this removes any chance a freak high voltage power surge will kill your back-up drive

use a back up program which does not copy empty hard drive sectors when making the back-up image / my personal fav is Shadow Protect Desktop edition= gives options not to copy empty drive space


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## parttimetechie (Jan 9, 2010)

I use macrium image and burn the snapshot to disk, so im well backed up in that regard. I was just curious if it was possible.


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## linderman (May 20, 2005)

yes / make a partition /then store the back-up image on that partition / use a partition manager program like easus partition manager home edition (free) and mark the partition as hidden


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