A high-frequency processor can get so hot that the temperature inside will cause an actual physical meltdown. CPU manufacturers install temperature monitors that will turn off the computer when the processor is overheating due to cooling malfunction.
ColonelCaillou
CPUs nowadays are cooled by contact with heat pipes (usually copper) along with aluminum fins and a fan. Inside the pipes there is a small amount of water, and as this is an enclosed pipe, the manufacturers can set the pressure within thus changing the boiling point of the water. When the chip gets hot, the water within the pipe absorbs the heat and becomes a vapor. this heat finds its way to the cold interface of the fin array and condenses to a liquid (releasing latent heat to the fins). fins are cooled by a fan, while the liquid returns to the hot interface near the chip.
shiyqw
Power Wall + ILP Wall + Memory Wall = Block Wall. Which means the progress of these three technology is far more slower than the progress of cpu speed.
cwchang
It is really shocked when seeing the comparison on the energy consumed by different processors as well as the microwave. I knew processor consumes a lot of energy, but this is the first time I h have such practical feeling about it. I think this can give us some sense about why CPU might have a upper bound on how fast it can be.
A high-frequency processor can get so hot that the temperature inside will cause an actual physical meltdown. CPU manufacturers install temperature monitors that will turn off the computer when the processor is overheating due to cooling malfunction.
CPUs nowadays are cooled by contact with heat pipes (usually copper) along with aluminum fins and a fan. Inside the pipes there is a small amount of water, and as this is an enclosed pipe, the manufacturers can set the pressure within thus changing the boiling point of the water. When the chip gets hot, the water within the pipe absorbs the heat and becomes a vapor. this heat finds its way to the cold interface of the fin array and condenses to a liquid (releasing latent heat to the fins). fins are cooled by a fan, while the liquid returns to the hot interface near the chip.
Power Wall + ILP Wall + Memory Wall = Block Wall. Which means the progress of these three technology is far more slower than the progress of cpu speed.
It is really shocked when seeing the comparison on the energy consumed by different processors as well as the microwave. I knew processor consumes a lot of energy, but this is the first time I h have such practical feeling about it. I think this can give us some sense about why CPU might have a upper bound on how fast it can be.