 A fan blowing at a CPU heatsink. A CPU generates heat while operating. In operation the temperature of the CPU will thus rise until the temperature gradient between the CPU and its surroundings is such that the heat flow matches the input and the CPU temperature reaches equilibrium. The heat generated by a CPU is a function of the efficiency of its design, the technology used in its construction and the frequency and voltage at which it operates. 80 mm fan blowing at an aluminum-copper heatsink. ...
80 mm fan blowing at an aluminum-copper heatsink. ...
Temperature is the physical property of a system which underlies the common notions of hot and cold; the material with the higher temperature is said to be hotter. ...
For reliable operation, the equilibrium temperature must be sufficiently low for the structure of the CPU to survive. It is common practice to include thermal sensors in the design of CPUs and internal logic that shuts down the CPU if reasonable bounds are exceeded. It is unwise to rely on this, however, as it is not universally implemented, and even if implemented is intended as a damage limitation feature and may not prevent the CPU temperature from reaching dangerous levels such that repeated incidents will cause premature failure of the CPU. This article needs to be cleaned up to conform to a higher standard of quality. ...
Look up failure on Wiktionary, the free dictionary. ...
Some CPU designs are specifically tailored to minimise the energy dissipated in the CPU, and thus the heat flow out of the standard chip packaging is sufficient to maintain the CPU at an acceptable temperature. The design of the CPU may also incorporate features to shut down parts of the CPU when it is idling, or to scale back the clock speed under low workloads, all aimed at reducing the power dissipated in the CPU. Optical Microscope image of an integrated circuit showing defects in the aluminium layer deposition. ...
This can be done passively by a heatsink which improves the thermal coupling between the CPU and the surrounding air. This may be combined with positive airflow through the computer case driven by the fans in the power supply, or for still higher power systems by actively cooling the heatsink with one or more integral fans circulating air through the heatsink (see aircooling). A large copper heatsink. ...
Household Electric Fan A fan has two purposes – to move air for creature comfort or for ventilation and to move air or gas from one location to another for industrial purposes. ...
Air is a name for the mixture of gases present in the Earths atmosphere. ...
A large copper heatsink. ...
Aircooling (also: air cooling) is one method of dissipating heat. ...
For thermal output beyond what air cooling can cope with, watercooling or possibly even phase change cooling of the CPU becomes necessary. These technologies used to be limited to mainframe computers, but in the relentless search for more power in desktop computers they are coming into use in desktop computers, notably Apple's Power Macintosh G5, which uses watercooling . Watercooling is a method of heat removal from components. ...
A phase change heat pump employs a liquid with a low boiling point to transfer heat from cooler space to a warmer space; generally in a refrigeration application. ...
Mainframes (often colloquially referred to as big iron) are large and expensive computers used mainly by government institutions and large companies for legacy applications, typically bulk data processing (such as censuses, industry/consumer statistics, ERP, and bank transaction processing). ...
Apple Computer, Inc. ...
Power Mac G5 The Power Mac G5 is Apple Computers name for models of the Power Mac which contain the PowerPC G5 CPU. The professional-grade computer is the most powerful in Apples lineup and is touted by Apple as one of the fastest personal computers ever built...
Watercooling is a method of heat removal from components. ...
Today, high-end desktop processors are dissipating over 100 watts of heat over a surface area of less than 120 mm². The watt (symbol: W) is the SI derived unit of power. ...
A red-hot iron rod cooling after being worked by a blacksmith. ...
Until recently, fan cooled aluminium heatsinks were the norm for desktop computers. Today many heatsinks feature copper baseplates or are entirely made of copper, and mount fans of considerable size and power. General Name, Symbol, Number aluminium, Al, 13 Chemical series poor metals Group, Period, Block 13, 3, p Appearance silvery Atomic mass 26. ...
General Name, Symbol, Number copper, Cu, 29 Chemical series transition metals Group, Period, Block 11, 4, d Appearance metallic brown Atomic mass 63. ...
To extract the maximum performance from a CPU, a minority of users are using watercooling, Peltier cooling and heat pipe cooling. This relatively expensive technology is especially prevalent amongst overclockers. Watercooling is a method of heat removal from components. ...
The Peltier-Seebeck effect, or thermoelectric effect, is the direct conversion of heat differentials to electric voltage and vice versa. ...
A heat pipe is a heat transfer mechanism that can transport large quantities of heat with a very small difference in temperature between the hot and cold interfaces. ...
Wikibooks How To Build A Computer/Optimizing and Overclocking has more about this subject: Overclocking Overclocking is the process of forcing a computer component to run at a higher frequency than the manufacturers specification. ...
The noise and unreliability of fan cooled heatsinks has also spawned another special interest group dedicated to finding technology to reduce the noise generated by computer systems, which comes mainly from the cooling fans in the CPU and power supply. In this field heat pipe cooling shows particular promise.
Besides using equipment to cool the CPU, users can also help to keep CPU temperatures down by preventing the accumulation of dust on the heatsink, which reduces the efficiency with which the heatsink transfers heat to the air, and by removing the build up of fluff and lint that accumulates between the heatsink fins, which impedes the free flow of air through the heat sink. It is recommended that the heatsink be inspected regularly and any contamination blown out with a gas duster. A gas duster is a can of compressed gas which is used to clean delicate electronics, such as a computers motherboard. ...
The picture above shows significant lint built up between the fins of the heatsinks, sufficient to warrant removal.
See also
Many components in a computer system unit produce large amout of heat during operation, including, but not limited to: the CPU, chipset, graphics card, and hard drives. ...
External links - Coolers reviewed on DansData - Comparison and testing of around a hundred CPU coolers
- XtremeSystems
- Tom's Hardware Guide
- AnandTech
- Overclockers Club
- Core Limits
- Overclockers'
- The Power Mac G5's "Liquid Cooling" System
- Pimp My Rig reviews of various coolers and silencers
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