On Monday, June 9, 2014 7:14:24 AM UTC+5:30, Steven D'Aprano wrote: > On Mon, 09 Jun 2014 04:16:24 +1000, Chris Angelico wrote:
> > wrote: > >> Chris Angelico wrote: > >>> Kurdt: I wouldn't disturb the fan controller. Kurdt: Ever seen an AMD > >>> without a fan? ;) Leshrak: heh, yeah > >>> Leshrak: actually. it's not a pretty smell Kurdt: Especially when > >>> it's overclocked. It goes FZZZZT in under two seconds. > >>> I think that's about right. > >> One would think that in 2014, a device called a "thermostat" would shut > >> down the power before expensive equipent goes up in a ball of smoke. > > That exchange actually happened back in 2005 (wow! ages ago now), but > > same difference. However, I think there are very few thermostats that > > can cut the power quickly enough for an overclocked chip that loses its > > heat sink. MAYBE if the heat sink is still on and the fan isn't, but not > > if the hs falls off. "Under two seconds" might become "the blink of an > > eye". > The fact that CPUs need anything more than a passive heat sink is > *exactly* the problem. A car engine has to move anything up to a tonne of > steel around at 100kph or more, and depending on the design, they can get > away with air-cooling. In comparison, a CPU just moves around a trickle > of electric current. Trickle? Ok... only its multiplied by a billion: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Transistor_count > (No currently designed car with an internal combustion engine uses air- > cooling. The last mass market car that used it, the Citroën GS, ceased > production in 1986. The Porsche 911 ceased production in 1998, making it, > I think, the last air-cooled vehicle apart from custom machines. With the > rise of all-electric vehicles, perhaps we will see a return to air- > cooling?) > CPU technology is the triumph of brute force over finesse. If you are arguing that computers should not use millions/billions of transistors, I wont argue, since I dont know the technology. Only pointing out that billion is a large number in pragmatic terms - So is million for that matter - Actually not so sure even on that count [Never counted beyond hundred!] -- https://mail.python.org/mailman/listinfo/python-list
