Why do you need all that cooling? Your thoughts please.....

[IanW505]

ok, i know, i am an idiot. But anyway, why do you need a CPU to be at a lower temperature if you are not overclocking. Does a cooler temp somehow increase the speed of the electrons? These oil- and water-cooled systems are awsome (xriz...) but if you are not going to overclock, arn't you just wasting money.


Right now my Athlon 500 is at 75 degrees F. if i cool it more, will i get more performance?

Thanks for helping a newbie,


-Ian

[diablovision]

Cooling more does not increase the performance of a processor, but it does leave more headroom for overclocking. It doesn't increase the speed of the electrons, but it decreases the resistance and capacitance of the circuits, leading to faster gate switching (lower propagation delay). With faster switching gates, the clock period is reduced, which means the clock speed can be increased.

Better cooling also extends the life of a processor. It's analogous to an engine--the better you cool it, the less wear and tear there is on the internal components due to heat.

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Genius is one percent inspiration and ninety-nine percent perspiration.
- Thomas Edison

[zodder]

yeah, what he said............