Amd vs Intel heat thresh holds

[aaronstyle]

I've recently purchased an amd phenom II x4 955 BE. I am pleased with my purchase, and it lives up to my expectations, especially in the gaming department.

I've been doing a little more research since building my new rig, which has said cpu. Now I realize that an i3 of some sort, probably would have been the better buy, however I am not going to be reluctant, because what I have now, works just dandy.

I've noticed that Phenom II temps max out around 60 c.
C2D's, and the I3s - i7s seem to have a higher heat thresh hold, do more work, (especially the 32 nm models, but that's a no brainer.) more efficiently, faster.
I have no problems with that, but why do amd's counterparts have lower heat thresh holds? I've read that they have atleast 20 more degrees head room, or have I been mistaken?

I was running pretty hot for a while, until I made adjustments in my bios, setting my voltage down some, and enabling Qfan.

I'm sorry if this is a repost on a topic that comes up frequently, but I'm just looking to discuss this topic, which isn't an issue for me, but I'll probably steer towards intel next time.

Thanks, for stopping in.

 

[buzznut]

I have also heard that sandy bridge CPU's can be pushed quite higher than Phenom II. It is the architecture that determines the heat threshold. It has been proven in any number of ways that this architecture is superior to phenom II, but to me how hot you can run your CPU is not something to brag about.

Anyway you are correct, the top recommended temp for those CPU's is 62C.

I'm not certain about sandy bridge but I think you are also in the neighborhood of the recommended top temp.

I am not certain that the 32nm process is the reason for a higher tolerance, but it would certainly be the architecture that most efficiently dissipates the heat. To a CPU core, 70C is 70C but the architecture will determine if this is tolerable or not.

The Pentium 4's were known to generate and tolerate a lot of heat, but that didn't make them the fastest CPU's. But a high heat tolerance seems ideal for overclockers.

 

[jimmysmitty]

^While the arch may limit such things as overclocking and IPC, it wont determine the heat tolerance. Look at Phenom. The first Phenoms wouldn't do much past 3GHz. Fast forward to Phenom II and they easily hit 4GHz+. And that was a arch change.

The arch of a CPU can limit overclocking. But as for heat its more the process. Intel has HK/MG on a second generation right now. Not only that but they also own and operate the most advanced FABs in the world. That means they can revamp their process faster and easier than most others.

The process behind Sandy Bridge is a very mature 32nm process. The silicon is extremley good. Not saying AMDs isn't but when it comes to process technology and silicon, Intel is the number 1.

 

[kajabla]

What does arch mean?

 

[jimmysmitty]

Arch = Architecture. Basically Sandy Bridge is a arch while 32nm is a process node.

it may also be refered by uArch which means micr architecture.