I'm looking for hard numbers involving the Mean Time Between Failure (MTBF) or lifetime that can be expected of the Intel Xeon 5000-series of processors. I'm just looking for stock data (no overclocking, or running at above-average temperatures, or so forth).
I've looked through Intel's official sources (i.e. the processor datasheets) and haven't found any relevant information. I'm wondering if anyone here knows of a source (hopefully reputable) for the data.
Thanks.
Best Answer
I can't say that I've seen MTBF numbers on any CPU as you would on, say, storage hardware.
Nor can I say that I've ever seen a CPU failure (other than dead-on-arrival chips) that I didn't suspect was caused by external forces.
Heat, power issues, and (most often) human handling kill CPUs much more often than CPUs die on their own; that's the nature of it when they have no moving parts or parts that degrade over time.
In lieu of concrete numbers (if anyone can provide some, I'll be very interested), I'll provide an estimate: years longer than you'll be using it.