What does it mean when we say a chip gets unreliable above a certain temperature?
Like it'll do math computations and give incorrect results?
afzhang
The first horizontal line is the point at which the chip itself will literally melt. The second one (the one labeled "unreliable") is where the silicon will overheat and melt.
lament
@afzhang Um. I don't think that the chips will actually melt, well, at least on the lower level (I've seen a guy over-clock a CPU, remove the heating elements and disable the safety features, but I don't think that is the normal use case). My understanding is that hot silicon switches less reliably (the transistors do not change state, fail to change state rapidly enough, or fail to let enough current through to give a clear "1" or "0" signal) and power is transmitted less efficiently as circuity becomes hotter (again effecting signal quality).
afzhang
@lament At 42:28 in the lecture video Kavyon says that the chip melts if you give it any more power than the electrical limit line on the graph.
HCN
I think the first line is the point at which the chip melt and the second one is where the chip may give wrong results.
lament
@afzhang
keywords in my response: "at least on the lower level", so certainly won't melt on the second highest tier and lower
keywords in your follow up: "give it any more power than the electrical limit" , so it will only melt when above the highest line on the graph, not anywhere on the graph.
What does it mean when we say a chip gets unreliable above a certain temperature? Like it'll do math computations and give incorrect results?
The first horizontal line is the point at which the chip itself will literally melt. The second one (the one labeled "unreliable") is where the silicon will overheat and melt.
@afzhang Um. I don't think that the chips will actually melt, well, at least on the lower level (I've seen a guy over-clock a CPU, remove the heating elements and disable the safety features, but I don't think that is the normal use case). My understanding is that hot silicon switches less reliably (the transistors do not change state, fail to change state rapidly enough, or fail to let enough current through to give a clear "1" or "0" signal) and power is transmitted less efficiently as circuity becomes hotter (again effecting signal quality).
@lament At 42:28 in the lecture video Kavyon says that the chip melts if you give it any more power than the electrical limit line on the graph.
I think the first line is the point at which the chip melt and the second one is where the chip may give wrong results.
@afzhang
keywords in my response: "at least on the lower level", so certainly won't melt on the second highest tier and lower
keywords in your follow up: "give it any more power than the electrical limit" , so it will only melt when above the highest line on the graph, not anywhere on the graph.