AMD & Intel Price War -- Awwww, Yeah!

[orangat]

........
The other reason that you dont want a cheap CPU is because you dont want to push your CPU to its limits for long periods of time on a regular basis. Overclocking your CPU is almost always a bad idea. So much energy is going through so small space that your CPU can start to deteriorate and (if you dont have a good cooling system) it can even completely melt on you. So its better to have a very powerful CPU that handles everything you throw at it with an average effort than a lesser CPU that you overwork.

Theres alot more to consider when youre buying a CPU than just speed but yes this was a very long answer to say that your CPU matters alot if youre going to be using large applications.

This is so wrong, I'm simply shuddering in disbelief.

[Lemur]

Is Shifty talking about internal combusion engines or CPUs?

[x-dANGEr]

I think Shifty is right in someways..

I remember we ran a normal PC like a server that other day (No restarts, and with those monitoring programs and security thingies), and after around 6 months the CPU melted down.. (Not all of it, some sort of thick pins in it..).

Though, I think RAM matters more in the example you mentioned than the CPU. Maybe, the CPU speed helps making the Graphics effecting process faster, but it isn't that much except maybe in 3D Max and editing videos..

Though, I mean it isn't that important that you're going to buy a conroe as soon as it is out no matter what is its price..

[shifty157]

This is so wrong, I'm simply shuddering in disbelief.

Youve never heard of a CPU completely melting down? Ive seen it happen.

Or perhaps youve never bothered to look into the basic principles of electrical engineering.

The simple fact is that putting any sort of current through any conductor will slowly deteriorate the conductor. The more current you put through, the faster it will deteriorate. So yes that extension cord that allows you to hook your vacuum cleaner to an outlet will eventually deteriorate. For something like that though it would take decades of constant use to get to that point. A CPU however has alot more electricity going through it in a much smaller space making it alot more fragile and susceptible to deterioration. Most people dont keep their PCs around long enough to really notice it because they want to keep current with technology so it isnt something thats very common. Most people also operate their CPUs at the lower end of their capabilities for the most part.

So no im not saying this is a prevalent thing because most likely you will be scrapping your PC for a new one before you start noticing the deterioration of the various components. Not to mention the deterioration happens so slowly that youd never really notice it.

I have a six year old PC that over the past two years ive been pushing it to the edge of its capabilities and working it at this level for about 18 hours a day every day of the week. Being so old already and under such constant burden Ive been able to over the months see the various components of the PC deteriorate. Applications that once loaded instantly now take about 10 or 20 seconds to fully load. Its kind of sad in a way to watch the PC get run into the ground. Needless to say im looking into getting a new one.

But thats beside the point. My point is that its a simple fact that electricity going through a conductor will slowly deteriorate the conductor.

[orangat]

You'll need to learn or review basic electrical and electronic principles again.

This is what you said which I find laughably ridiculous in post #25

........
The other reason that you dont want a cheap CPU is because you dont want to push your CPU to its limits for long periods of time on a regular basis.

So what you are saying is that the cpu will keel over if its kept running continuously. Cpu's do degrade but never to the extent where a user will have to overspec just to keep it from dying even under heavy use.

In short you are stating a fallacy. Cpu's will not melt under normal use unless the cooling solution is inadequate or impaired. There are many systems kept running continuously 24x7 for years on end.

But I now see you have backpedalled by stating the "...deterioration happens so slowly that youd never really notice it..". And you're talking about deterioration of various components in your six year old pc but not specifically about the cpu.

[Uesugi Kenshin]

Also there are now temperature sensors that will turn off your computer if the cpu reaches something in the neighborhood of 60 or 70 degrees celsius, so it will not actually melt unless that somehow fails and you manage to reach those temperatures.

On another note overclocking some cpu's isn't a big deal because they are designed to be run at higher frequencies than they are sold at. The only line I am certain that is like this is the Athlon 64's. The cpu in my computer (a 3200 iirc) runs at 2ghz, but it iks the same as the 40000, and so with a bigger fan can be overclocked to the same speeds without any noticeable difference. For a while I did this without the upgraded fan and the only detrimental effect was increased heat.

[Papewaio]

We have desktops and servers that have been running well over 6 years in constant 24x8 useage. The CPUs are fine and as solid state gear they will fall over well after the 15,000 RPM harddrives in them seize. CPUs melt when pushed past their performance specs by overclocking not by general use. The other form is when fans break and the chips heat up, but this isn't a wear and tear sceanrio from use as much as an accident. Like comparing a tire that goes bald from driving with one that has a puncture.

(24x8 is like 24x7 but you get no time off for holidays period)

[caravel]

The biggest killer of semiconductor material is voltage not temperature. Alot of novice overclockers keep pushing up the core voltage to increase stability while overlocking more and more. Think of it as hot water pipes, and you are turning up the pressure continuously until... BANG. The die will of course eventually burn out after proglonged use (years and years!). Not immediately, but it's lifespan will be shortened if it's running OC'd. Those who don't overclock shouldn't encounter any such problems providing the CPU's active cooling is in order. While CPU's are designed to be run at a higher clock rate than marked, it doesn't necessarily mean you can push, e.g, a 2000MHz cpu up to 2300MHz and expect perfect stability. Also overclocking by adjusting the FSB can have an extremely undesirable effect upon devices on the PCI bus, because it's clock is calculated by a division of the FSB. Increasing the FSB can give a non standard PCI bus clock of say 40MHz (Standard frequency for the PCI bus is 33MHz) which may cause some of these devices to malfunction. Some novice overclockers believe this instability to be caused by the PC core voltage being insufficient, and begin pushing it up, with fairly predictable results... This can all depend on the age/type of your motherboard however.

Running a "cheap" (?) CPU continuously for long periods won't cause it to 'melt' either. CPU's are designed to keep functioning when under load, not die through overuse. If a CPU fails when a system is under heavy load it's usually due to inadequate / badly fitted cooling or improper overclocking.

[orangat]

The biggest killer of semiconductor material is voltage not temperature. Alot of novice overclockers keep pushing up the core voltage to increase stability while overlocking more and more. Think of it as hot water pipes, and you are turning up the pressure continuously until... BANG. The die will of course eventually burn out after proglonged use (years and years!). Not immediately, but it's lifespan will be shortened if it's running OC'd. Those who don't overclock shouldn't encounter any such problems providing the CPU's active cooling is in order. While CPU's are designed to be run at a higher clock rate than marked, it doesn't necessarily mean you can push, e.g, a 2000MHz cpu up to 2300MHz and expect perfect stability. Also overclocking by adjusting the FSB can have an extremely undesirable effect upon devices on the PCI bus, because it's clock is calculated by a division of the FSB. Increasing the FSB can give a non standard PCI bus clock of say 40MHz (Standard frequency for the PCI bus is 33MHz) which may cause some of these devices to malfunction. Some novice overclockers believe this instability to be caused by the PC core voltage being insufficient, and begin pushing it up, with fairly predictable results... This can all depend on the age/type of your motherboard however.

Running a "cheap" (?) CPU continuously for long periods won't cause it to 'melt' either. CPU's are designed to keep functioning when under load, not die through overuse. If a CPU fails when a system is under heavy load it's usually due to inadequate / badly fitted cooling or improper overclocking.

Good post.
There are so many applications of embedded systems running at full steam 24x7, its simply ignorant to say that cpu's need to be overspec'd to run at half capacity just to avoid killing it.