How Cold is too Cold for a CPU...if it can be too cold?

[xotix]

well p4 3ghz (prescott) @ 44 - 46 idle. that is user controlled fan on the highest.
when the fan is set to auto then i get like 49 - 52 idle.
system temp is always between 39 - 42.

got stock p4 fan, fan in the front and one in the rear.

i live in the tropics in the caribbean so cold weather rarely comes around in my life to help me out.

 

[ATI-M]

Water cooling scares me, too risky for me, but maybe One day Ill water cool my old DELL ahahahah cause I hate my dell now

 

[AND_YOU_ARE]

There is nothing like the North Country winters of New York to cool your pc. I got my cpu temp down to 19c while gaming. There is one plus to going to college in Potsdam, up in the Adirondacks of New York State.

 

[m3trj]

lbreevesii I believe you are wrong when you say that lower temperatures bring worse performance. This is because as the temperature increases the atoms in the conductive material actually gain energy and vibrate more. This means that the electrons have more difficulty in passing from one atom to the next. As it is the movement of the electrons that makes up the electir current then the increased temperature increases the resistance of the material.

Ideally the temperature should be as low as possible, so there is the least resistance.

When a certain low temperature is reached, the conductor actually becomes a "superconductor". This is where the resistance is so low that it is almost non-existant. Also, once electrons begin to flow around a circuit consisting of superconductive material, they will continue to flow almost forever. This is the closest thing to perpetual motion in nature.

Therefore the lower the temperature, the lower the resistance. However, in a computer cooling system you are probably never going to be able to reach superconductive temperatures.

 

[GeckoEcho421]

There was a thread in the hardware section of some one ocing their pentinum to 5ghz and cooling it with liquid nitrogen. I really dont think there is a too cold temp for chips.

It was 6.02Ghz and he had it was fully stable at 5.4

 

[GeckoEcho421]

I got my celeron running at 3C @ 3.24GHz

That is some bs, you can't even cool it to 3C on water cooling because its 37 F and that's too close to freezing.

 

[AND_YOU_ARE]

Maybe it was vapor cooling, or he lives up in the mountians like me and puts his computer on a desk next to an open window and gets the cold winter air.

 

[True_Orb]

Technically you could make it too cold, but I challenge you to make circumstances under which that would be a problem. The very heat of the activity of the computer should keep it above dangerously low temps even if you're cooling it with the blood running through Linda Tripp's veins.

Unless you plan to live on one of the 3 most distant planets in the solar system you'll be fine.

 

[Regulus]

dang you guys are keeping cold cpu's. stock p4 heat sinks don't cut it guess. my p4 ht running at 2.6-2.8 (2.6 is un oc'd) runs at between 47-52*C.

I have a P4 @2.8 unoc'd, and it runs at about 39-41C idle and kicks up to 49-53C depending on the load.

Water cooling scares me, too risky for me, but maybe One day Ill water cool my old DELL ahahahah cause I hate my dell now

I feel the same way. I'm always scared that a pipe will crack and water will go spraying all over the case and dribbles out and soaks the carpeting. *deep breath* But if other people do it and have no probs, then why should I be so scared? I also don't do it cause it's so friggin expensive!!!

 

[4W4K3]

dew point and condesation are what you need to look for, if you are running in the negative temps and it's summer and sticky outside, you migh start forming ice crystals or water droplets along socket or wherever you are cooling. if you've got it insulated and under control then generally no worries...