What is the impact of running the CPU at 100% for long periods at a time? [duplicate]

Possible Duplicate:
Is it ok to have 100% CPU usage constantly

I recently upgraded computers and with this upgrade I decided to try Seti@Home to run in the background. I was watching the CPU and monitoring how it works and when idle the CPU is running at 100% (due to Seti). But does drop down when I start to do things with the computer.

With the CPU running at 100% quite often can it damage the CPU over time? I want this computer to last as long as possible. The temps for the CPU when idling is around 100 degrees Fahrenheit (37 degrees Celsius) and when at 100% averages 130-140 degrees Fahrenheit. (54 - 60 degrees Celsius) I am running an AMD FX 4100 CPU

The question is this: What is the impact of running the CPU at 100% for long periods at a time? Does this degrade the life of the CPU or other components like overclocking can/does?

EDIT- The original temps posed in this question where very low and were a faulty reading from a program. The correct temps are now in the question.

The question is this: What is the impact of running the CPU at 100% for long periods at a time? Does this degrade the life of the CPU or other components like overclocking can/does?

To answer your question, yes.. running a cpu at full capacity for extended periods will shorten it's lifespan. A combination of heat and flow of electricity through the chip causes changes to the components within the chip at the atomic level, known as electromigration. Here's a brief (and very simplified) explanation:

This is when metal atoms wander into the dividing layers on a microprocessor. It is caused by the combination of electricity and heat. Processors are designed to run within certain heat and electrical specifications, and if run at higher heat and/or electrical specifications, electromigration may occur. If this occurs to a great degree and enough metal atoms wander off of the lines in a processor, they may permanently ruin the processor by thinning a connection so that it does not work effectively, or even making an electrical connection where one is not intended to be. Overclocking and raising voltage supplied to a processor increases the risk of electromigration.

http://www.geek.com/glossary/E/electromigration/

A more in depth explanation can be found here: http://www.csl.mete.metu.edu.tr/Electromigration/emig.htm

So taking this information into consideration we can deduce that more heat and more volts cause an increased level of degradation due to electromigration. Running the CPU at 100% means it will receive more volts and therefore more heat (for sustained periods), ultimately contributing to the shortened lifespan (literally speaking, without taking into account how long and how often these periods of activity occur). Of course, the point is almost moot because as you state, your temperatures are good and well within thermal limits so it would take a long time for the processor to degrade to the point of failure - i'd be more concerned about the electricity bill!

With regards to overclocking, to attain higher clocks - more volts are required at the expense of increased thermal output. Taking into consideration the information above, pushing more volts through a processor will cause the chip to degrade a lot faster (timescale obviously depends on the amount of volts and how the processor is used).

Hope this information helps answer your question..