Author: Robert Hyatt
Date: 18:54:45 02/21/03
Go up one level in this thread
On February 21, 2003 at 21:25:23, Aaron Gordon wrote: >On February 21, 2003 at 20:59:40, Matt Taylor wrote: > >>On February 21, 2003 at 14:55:16, Aaron Gordon wrote: >> >>>On February 21, 2003 at 09:47:27, Robert Hyatt wrote: >>> >>>>On February 21, 2003 at 08:27:55, Jeremiah Penery wrote: >>>> >>>>>On February 21, 2003 at 04:42:21, Charles Worthington wrote: >>>>> >>>>>>I am certainly no expert on cpu design and waht you say makes perfect sense from >>>>>>an economic standpoint. >>>>> >>>>>Please explain this to Bob then, because he seems to think it's madness. When, >>>>>in reality, it is simple economic principle, and widely known as such. >>>>> >>>>>But, if todays chips were honestly capable of a stable >>>>>>4GHz frequency then you could clock them there with no additional cooling >>>>>>required. I do not doubt that todays chips can be taken to 3.2 GHz or perhaps >>>>>>even 3.3 GHz and maintain stability but intel has a safety margin built into the >>>>>>upper end chips to insure reliable performance. But even with little knowledge >>>>>>of processor design I would have to say that Bob's argument makes more sense >>>>>>from a logical standpoint. Intel would_love_to produce 4GHz Xeons today that >>>>>>operate at low temperatures...problem is they simply can't do it. At least in my >>>>>>humble opinion. >>>>> >>>>>I'm not saying that the current chips they sell are capable of 4GHz operation, >>>>>in any way, shape, or form. I'm saying that Intel, if it wanted, _could_ >>>>>release chips that were capable of such thing. But right now, there's just >>>>>absolutely no reason for them to do it. For one thing, Intel doesn't want the >>>>>P4 Xeons to be _too_ fast if it can help it, because they don't want to eat into >>>>>Itanium sales. >>>> >>>>That logic is circular. They can make faster xeons but they can't make faster >>>>Itaniums??? >>> >>>This may be true. Intel actually is going to wait a while before they release a >>>faster P4 and most likely the reason I'm going to suggest is why they may not be >>>producing faster Itaniums. Right now the P4-3.06GHz is 110 watts, this is a >>>*LOT* of heat for a heatsink and fan to cope with. Intel has to figure some >>>people that haven't a clue about cooling will take their new dell/gateway/etc >>>and stuff it under their desk, let papers pile up infront of the vents, etc. >>>Never clean the dust out and whatnot. This will most likely result in a cpu temp >>>of at or over 70C with the regular Intel heatsink/fan. Imagine if they dropped a >>>P4-3.2 to 3.4ghz into the market? You'd be hitting cpu temps that'd fry the chip >>>in those situations. >>> >>>About the Itanium, it's even hotter. I saw the Itanium 800, Itanium-2 800, 900, >>>1GHz all listed as 130 watts. This is pretty insane as is. I don't know how the >>>Itanium servers are put together but some of them probably have liquid cooling. >>>If not then you're going to have MAJOR problems with ANY heatsink today. They >>>need to get the wattages down a LOT before they can ramp the clock speeds up. >> >>Intel plans at least a 3.2 GHz by June. I want to say they're hitting 3.6 GHz by >>June. I don't remember. >> >>60 W is "pretty insane" compared to the 486 I have on my desk. I used to leave >>the case off, and it always felt like the CPU was naked sitting there with no >>heatsink and fan. I looked up the wattage at one point; it's under 1 W. >> >>I remember a side project my Dad worked on when I was younger. Our garage door >>controller fried during an electrical surge, so he decided to build his own. >>After he built it, he discovered thermal issues with some of the components, so >>we flattened a penny and attached it for a heatsink. Obviously the heatsinks we >>use on modern processors are much more sophisticated, but I think the cooling >>solutions will improve to meet demand. >> >>-Matt > >That'd me we'll all be going liquid soon then. Heatsinks can only get so >big/bulky. If you get TOO big it'd just be in the way, cause the PC to be too >heavy (imagine a 30lbs copper heatsink..), etc. Liquid cooling is quiet, >reliable if done properly and not heavy at all, especially if you use an inline >system and small radiator. > >What I think would be neat would be a mini freon compressor.. :) If you can >cascade two very small compressors and vent the heat out of the back that'd >probably be the perfect solution for years & years to come. Have some sort of >thermostat to monitor the cpu temp, perhaps keep it at a constant 75F. I'll be >doing something similar but with much larger compressors (2-3hp each) and I >won't be limiting the temperature at all.. =) I dont think liquid will become mainstream. Supercomputers used to do this, such as Crays. And cray went to air-cooling because of the many problems that liquid cooling causes. Of course there are machines like the cray-2 and cray-3 where the silicon is directly immersed into an inert fluorocarbon, but that's exotic, expensive, and _horribly_ problematic (how do you debug the hardware when it is in a liquid you can't be exposed to?) I think the trend to lower and lower voltages is likely to be the future...
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