For those who don't know: a CPU can run up to 130°C, at that temp, the CPU auto-shuts down itself out of protection. Theoretically it could go higher. Good thing there is a protection system,
Both of those facts are complete and utter nonsense.
A CPU is going to get shut down by the motherboard long before it comes even CLOSE to approaching those temperatures.
Additionally, the CPU doesn't shut itself off. The motherboard does. The best the CPU can do on it's own is go into a permanent reboot loop. The motherboard is in control of actually cutting the power if it needs to (which is what it does when the temp reaches the value specified in the CMOS setup).
much like when you drop a hdd (a modern one), there is a system that senses a change in G-force (Newton) and the needle of the hdd automatically lifts itself up from the disk stack and moves away, to not scratch the disk.
They are called heads, not "needles". we aren't talking about miniature vinyl records here. Second, when a hard drive is off, the heads are parked away from the platters either via a spring that takes over when the voice coil actuator is powered down, or as a "last command" send to said voice coil when the logic board stops receiving power (there is usually just enough power for it to get the head into the landing zone.) For the most part a hard drive can take a bit more abuse when it's off then when it's on.
of course, hard drives are more susceptible to shock when they are operating, being that their needl...
ahem read/write heads are actually floating over the disk surface. But Hard Drives, in general, do not have accelerometers. Some high-end laptops and other portable devices do, but that's not part of their hard drives.
The life span reduces at extreme temperatures mainly due from going cold to hot and back again as it expands/contracts the motherboard and parts (the same deal as switch on and off the computer, newer technology also has protection against this).
Ahh, I know what your talking about, the magical "change the laws of physics so metal and earth elements no longer contract and expand at a different speed" device. Amazing what they can do with technology, what with the ability to magically change the set laws of this universe.
The motherboard or other components would fry before any damage to the CPU and the motherboard auto-shuts off before it reachs that high temperature,
Motherboard temp doesn't always correspond with CPU temp. CPU temp is always higher then motherboard temp. The motherboard would almost always shut it off before it reaches that temp, which is good, because the CPU is incapable of actually shutting down the system on it's own.
but i mentioned to check the other components nearby.
and check nearby desks as well! There might be an accelerometer!
If there was a wire sitting on the heatsink or something like that it could melt through, if the cpu is peaking/spiking there might be a risk, or if the airflow is being trapped inside the case then it could possible heat the other components causing damage. Otherwise it's a pretty safe bet it will be happy to run.
SD rating: -5 stupid.
I enjoy extreme tweaking
DRUGS ARE BAD!
and overclocking.
Oh, disregard above.
but if a factory was to do it they would of tested it to ensure it's well below the safety line.
gotta love those overclocking factories. He said "Computer firm" not manufacturer. Difference.
OK, this has all been fun.
But for the love of your preferred diety, where are you pulling these figures from?
you say "it runs fine at 100c" and Big makes up some 130 degree figure that he probably pulled out the wazoo (or saw on a site where the author pulled it out theirs).
NONE of what you said is even CLOSE to anything said by INTEL in their specification documents.
First, let's take a look at some of the maximum temperatures, shall we:
1. Intel® Core™ i7 Processor Extreme Edition Series and Intel® Core™ i7 Processor
Intel ® Core™i7-965 , i7-940, i7-920 Processors
Range: 43.2 degree Celsius (Power - 0W) to 67.9 degree Celsius (Power 130W)
Source:http://download.intel.com/design/processor/datashts/320834.pdf Page : 79 Table: 6-2
2.Intel® Core™ i7-900 Desktop Processor Extreme Edition Series and Intel® Core™ i7-900 Desktop Processor Series on 32-nm Process
Range: 43.2 degree Celsius (Power - 0W) to 67.9 degree Celsius (Power 130W)
Source:http://download.intel.com/design/processor/datashts/323252.pdf
Sources:
http://www.intel.com/design/corei7/documentation.htm
43.2 degrees on standby, and 67.9 degrees on full power. This answers the original posters question, "is my CPU running too hot" Clearly their temp falls under that amount.
However, nowhere does it say in any of their documentation that "oh hey, if it goes to 130 degrees it will like magically shut off. Also we implemented technology to change the laws of physics so that metal doesn't expand and contract as much, despite that actually having nothing really to do with how heat damages processors. (I will get to that in a moment).
Now, let's remember the above temperatures as we read this passage, straight from the Intel Docs:
The processor requires a thermal solution to maintain temperatures within its operating
limits. Any attempt to operate the processor outside these operating limits may result
in permanent damage to the processor and potentially other components within the
system. Maintaining the proper thermal environment is key to reliable, long-term
system operation.
Now, the "operating limits" are not some mystical fairy tale three digit values you made up or read in some "i7 tweak guide", it's referring to the limits described earlier-43.2 to 67.9 degrees. the operating specifications.
Now, let's return to the fact that damage to a processor is not caused by expansion and contraction of the metal.
In the standard design of a processor, Electrons in one transistor are not supposed to be able to reach other transistors during normal operation. However, according to the principle of quantum tunnelling, which I'm sure your i7 tweak guides DON'T cover, it's possible for a electron to escape from an infinitely deep energy well. Usually, that doesn't happen very often. As I'm sure you are aware, being a extreme gamer and all, a transistor is comprised of positively and negatively doped silicon (doped with metals, this becoming a semi-conductor) surrounding un-doped silicon (which is an insulator). Every now and then, through chance alone (ahh yes, quantum probability, proving that despite Einsteins lamentations the universe does indeed play dice) an electron can tunnel away from the conducive silicon keeping it in place. Usually, it can only get a couple atoms and then return. occasionally, it may make it to an adjacent transistor (those things are VERY close together). Normally, this doesn't cause a problem, because you need a lot of stray electrons to make the journey to cause an error in how that gate will be read. The problems start to occur when an electron sticks to one of the silicon atoms in the non-conducive, or knocks another electron out of it's orbit. This process is called silicon degradation. Over time, usually many years of use, a path is formed by the tunneling electrons between the two gates- therefore forming a complete circuit to which the electrons can escape and flow freely. This is what causes the problems.
The more energy an electron has, the far more likely it will be to tunnel, which is why HOT CPU=BAD and also WHY we have these specification values, they aren't just pulled out of their asses like the values you might read in a "i7 tweaking guide", they are based on actual science. Running a CPU at a temperature higher then those numbers pretty much guarantees silicon degradation.
Silicon degradation=damage.
