CPU

[Tingwc84]

I have heard and experience that computer become unstable when the CPU is heat up to certain point. I will like to know why this happen. Any anwser are appreciated.

 

[Guest]

Sorry, its not that simple. It depends on the processor, the core voltage, and the how much other components are overclocked. Basically the only way to find out how much your ocmputer will overclock is to keep raising the speed until it starts to crash a lot than back down a bit.

 

[4Ryan6]

AMD cpus run hotter than INTEL cpus do, so you don't have to overclock anything at all to burn up an AMD processor, or even an INTEL, just remove the cooling fan, so the CPUs have to be kept below their thermal burnout threshold. Each CPU has a different Burnout threshold and operating temperatures that they perform well in and stay stable in, when they approach the burnout threshold they begin to malfunction and become unstable. The higher temps you run your processor at the shorter lifespan the CPU will probably have, but however there are always exceptions to the rule, as some of the posters here at Toms claim.




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[Crashman]

Yes, I have seen this happen quite often. Whenver a CPU overheats, it ceases to function at least until cooled. My guess is that it's due to the nature of the material used, silicon for example changes electrical charicteristics from semiconductor to conductor when it reaches a certain temperature.

<font color=blue>There are no stupid questions, only stupid people doling out faulty information based upon rumors, myths, and poor logic!</font color=blue>

 

[Teq]

The problem is a bit of solid state nastiness called "thermal runaway". As you heat the silicon metal the chips are made of, they change their characteristics becoming more conductive. This causes more heat, which causes more conductivity, and more heat... At some temperature the function of the transistors stops and the silicon turns into a short circuit, causing it to heat up so much it literally melts itself.

Most INTEL CPUs use a system of thermal sensors built into the chip logic so that as the chip heats up the buss multiplier is decreased (Throttling) This prevents thermal runaway by slowing the chip down to the point where it uses less and less power. Heat sinks are less important in this case, but still necessary for best performance.

AMD just keeps on trucking full tilt untill it fries itself (whatch the THG video on this one). This is why we use huge heatsinks and high speed fans... the idea is to keep the AMD chip temperature below it's thermal runaway point.

Hope this helps...