What if Your CPU Cooler Fails?
3DMark06
The only processor that shut down the test system while running the 3DMark06 CPU Benchmark was AMD's Athlon 64 X2 6000+, which again became extremely hot once the fan was disconnected to simulate failure. The Core 2 Duo was capable of finishing this benchmark at slightly reduced performance levels. The two low-cost CPUs - AMD's Athlon X2 BE-2350 and the Intel Pentium Dual Core E2160 - completed this run almost without performance penalties due to the insufficient cooling.
The same result applied to the graphics benchmark of the 3DMark06: AMD's high-end Athlon 64 X2 6000+ shut down before the benchmark could complete, while all the other processors made it through the benchmark, even though the processor fan was disconnected.
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