Comment by unregistereddev

> Back then, CPUs ran on fixed voltages and frequencies and only overclockers discovered the limits. Even then, it was rare to find reports of CPUs killed via overvolting, unless it was to an extreme extent --- thermal throttling, instability, and shutdown (THERMTRIP) seemed to occur before actual damage, preventing the latter from happening.

Oh the memories. I had a Thunderbird-core Athlon with a stock frequency of (IIRC) 1050Mhz. It was stable at 1600Mhz, and I ran it that way for years. I was able to get it to 1700Mhz, but then my CPU's stability depended on ambient temperatures. When the room got hot in the summer my workstation would randomly kernel panic.