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What the heck are you guys doing (freezing hardware)?
- Thread starter kevinmuff
- Start date
- Joined
- Dec 25, 2004
There are 3 basic classes of cooling for CPUs.
Air cooling = a heat sink and fan sitting on the CPU
Air cooling is ok for computers a stock speeds. If you overclock high enough, the CPU can get too hot though.
Next class is water cooling.
Water cooling = a copper block sitting on the CPU with water being pumped through it and to a radiator to keep the water cool.
This usually allows for a higher overclock, or a much cooler running CPU at stock speeds, hopefully allowing a much longer life for the CPU.
Final class is extreme cooling.
Extreme cooling = a variety of ways to get the CPU cooler than water cooling can.
TEC = a device that when electricity is applied to it, it pumps heat from one side of it to the other. Usually used with water cooling as the side the heat goes to gets very hot and has to be cooled down for it to work properly. It can, in good cases, get the CPU down to near or slightly below freezing.
Phase change = a setup like a freezer that uses a compressor to force a chemical to change from a gas state to a liquid state. Then it evaporates back into a gas (phase change), taking a lot of heat from the CPU in the process. This can get temps down to around -100°C depending on the gases used, and how it is set up.
Dry Ice = a tube is put on top of the CPU and filled with dry ice and either acetone or alcohol and can get the CPU down to about -70°C
LN2 = same method as dry ice, but instead using liquid nitrogen. You can get the CPU down to -190°C.
This is very simplified, and please feel free to ask more specific questions. But this should hopefully provide a translation key for you to understand what is being talked about in here.
Air cooling = a heat sink and fan sitting on the CPU
Air cooling is ok for computers a stock speeds. If you overclock high enough, the CPU can get too hot though.
Next class is water cooling.
Water cooling = a copper block sitting on the CPU with water being pumped through it and to a radiator to keep the water cool.
This usually allows for a higher overclock, or a much cooler running CPU at stock speeds, hopefully allowing a much longer life for the CPU.
Final class is extreme cooling.
Extreme cooling = a variety of ways to get the CPU cooler than water cooling can.
TEC = a device that when electricity is applied to it, it pumps heat from one side of it to the other. Usually used with water cooling as the side the heat goes to gets very hot and has to be cooled down for it to work properly. It can, in good cases, get the CPU down to near or slightly below freezing.
Phase change = a setup like a freezer that uses a compressor to force a chemical to change from a gas state to a liquid state. Then it evaporates back into a gas (phase change), taking a lot of heat from the CPU in the process. This can get temps down to around -100°C depending on the gases used, and how it is set up.
Dry Ice = a tube is put on top of the CPU and filled with dry ice and either acetone or alcohol and can get the CPU down to about -70°C
LN2 = same method as dry ice, but instead using liquid nitrogen. You can get the CPU down to -190°C.
This is very simplified, and please feel free to ask more specific questions. But this should hopefully provide a translation key for you to understand what is being talked about in here.
- Joined
- Feb 1, 2009
- Location
- Illinois
Another very low level description would be that, as temperatures increase, electrical conductance decreases and so does your ability to overclock. The same principle works in reverse. The colder you go (up to a certain point) will dramatically increase the electrical conductance, allowing you to overclock farther.
For example, my Amd 555 x2 will go up to about 4850mhz with air cooling. By using dry ice to cool my processor, I can meet or exceed 5900mhz, a thousand plus mhz increase.
For example, my Amd 555 x2 will go up to about 4850mhz with air cooling. By using dry ice to cool my processor, I can meet or exceed 5900mhz, a thousand plus mhz increase.
- Thread Starter
- #4
holy crap.
so temp is really the only thing holding you back from OCing to 6.0ghz or whatever you wanna do?
and 2ndly, why would you ever need your processor to run at -190c? Just keeping it at around 50c is good, isnt it?
And does cooling it that far ever hurt it? ... it would be frozen... lol
so temp is really the only thing holding you back from OCing to 6.0ghz or whatever you wanna do?
and 2ndly, why would you ever need your processor to run at -190c? Just keeping it at around 50c is good, isnt it?
And does cooling it that far ever hurt it? ... it would be frozen... lol
- Joined
- May 30, 2008
- Location
- Upstate, SC
You can't freeze electricity (absolute zero (where all matter is "frozen") aside).
- Joined
- May 15, 2006
Since everything in the processor is a solid at room temperature, lowering it down to -190c would not hurt it at all.
As Chance explain, they run it that low to increase the cap on how far they can overclock. Running at 50c is going to put a very low limit on how far you can go.
As Chance explain, they run it that low to increase the cap on how far they can overclock. Running at 50c is going to put a very low limit on how far you can go.
- Joined
- Sep 15, 2007
- Location
- Small town Emlenton, PA
Processors use a bit of electricity every cycle, expressed in wattage, or work. Watts used generates heat. Heat needs to be dissipated. Silicon used in processors become more efficient at lower temps. Decreasing the heat generated in a certain amount of time.
If your CPU at stock is at 3.2 GHZ, it completes xx amount of work, generates heat, uses watts.
If you try to double the workload to 6.4, then the CPU generates so much heat the silicon will just burn up. And as the heat goes up, the resistance of the silicon goes up, and you have to give more voltage to the CPU to work. So it's exponentially hotter and hotter. Smoke!
If you reduce the temps to some silly amount like -132C the chip can dissipate the heat, you can increase the voltage, and greatly increase the speed of the chip.
It's physics in the electronics world. Why do some even watercool their Xboxes? To keep the parts cool so the don't get the red ring of death due to overheating.
Liquid Nitrogen is ONLY done for 'Drag racing' a PC at the very xtreme of possibilities, just like a Dragster car in Top Fuel Funny cars. Not for daily use.
Not cheap, fraught with dying parts and constant frustration, just like dragsters at the top levels.
If your CPU at stock is at 3.2 GHZ, it completes xx amount of work, generates heat, uses watts.
If you try to double the workload to 6.4, then the CPU generates so much heat the silicon will just burn up. And as the heat goes up, the resistance of the silicon goes up, and you have to give more voltage to the CPU to work. So it's exponentially hotter and hotter. Smoke!
If you reduce the temps to some silly amount like -132C the chip can dissipate the heat, you can increase the voltage, and greatly increase the speed of the chip.
It's physics in the electronics world. Why do some even watercool their Xboxes? To keep the parts cool so the don't get the red ring of death due to overheating.
Liquid Nitrogen is ONLY done for 'Drag racing' a PC at the very xtreme of possibilities, just like a Dragster car in Top Fuel Funny cars. Not for daily use.
Not cheap, fraught with dying parts and constant frustration, just like dragsters at the top levels.
- Joined
- Sep 15, 2007
- Location
- Small town Emlenton, PA
- Joined
- May 30, 2008
- Location
- Upstate, SC
It's not a force, it's energy; a collection of photons. Photons can be frozen.
- Joined
- Jun 17, 2010
- Location
- Marietta, GA
Bob's got it...though the movement of electrons is sorta contested...electron flow vs standard current. In standard current it's even more washy because the "holes" or absence of electrons is what is said to be moving...can you freeze the absence of something?
- Joined
- Sep 15, 2007
- Location
- Small town Emlenton, PA
Electricity is not a photon or electron. It is a force of different potentials.
Electric current is the movement of particles.
Bahh, many different ways to express electricity. Try Wiki.
Electric current is the movement of particles.
Bahh, many different ways to express electricity. Try Wiki.
- Joined
- Nov 18, 2008
- Location
- Northwest Ohio
Forgive me if I'm wrong but isn't energy a force?
- Joined
- Jul 31, 2004
No. Force is exerted energy.
Last edited:
- Joined
- Jun 17, 2010
- Location
- Marietta, GA
this is all easily expressable in units...
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Work_(physics)
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Force
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Energy
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Work_(physics)
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Force
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Energy
- Joined
- Dec 30, 2003
A boulder on a cliff has potential energy, but no force.
Push it off the cliff and it has force, when it lands on you.
Basic Roadrunner Physics.
- Joined
- Jun 17, 2010
- Location
- Marietta, GA
force is from the impact, energy is potential force, so it has kinetic energy in the air...energy is the potential to do work and force is work over time...force is instantaneous, so i suppose energy could also (but never is) be expressed as the potential to exert force.
- Joined
- Sep 15, 2007
- Location
- Small town Emlenton, PA
Nope, ACME is now involved. Great Roadrunner humor! Love it!
- Joined
- Jun 17, 2010
- Location
- Marietta, GA
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