Any advantages in cooler running ?

G7MJV · Post by **G7MJV** » Thu Jun 02, 2005 11:00 am

Although l've recently replaced the broken fan on my card with a larger heatsink, l was wondering whether there's any advantage to having cooler running. Whilst the original HS was very hot to the touch, l didn't actually have any graphics problems that l was aware of.

StarfishChris · Post by **StarfishChris** » Thu Jun 02, 2005 3:53 pm

Cooler running means less power consumption, and you can overclock further from a cooler starting point.

chylld · Post by **chylld** » Thu Jun 02, 2005 4:30 pm

i don't think it means less power consumption, unless by 'cooler running' means undervolting. the graphics card will still pull the same amount of power that it pulled before, just the heat is being transferred away from it faster.

running cooler gives you more overclocking headroom. but at the same speed, having it run cooler might mean it'll last longer, or at least that applies to hard drives.

but if you're happy with the speed that you're at, and you don't have any problems, there really isn't much need to pay attention to the temperature at all.

of course if a bigger heatsink results in cooler running, you can slow down the fans cooling the heatsink (if there are any) and this will reduce the noise level.

StarfishChris · Post by **StarfishChris** » Thu Jun 02, 2005 5:16 pm

Semiconductors draw more current as they get hotter (resistance decreases exponentially), so the cooler they are the less power they consume. Longevity issues from temperature are insignificant compared to the chip's working life, unless of course it's in danger of melting

chylld · Post by **chylld** » Thu Jun 02, 2005 5:24 pm

ahhh i see

my bad. hehe yeah i suspected that solid-state components wouldn't mind running warmer than usual, provided they aren't half on their way to becoming a liquid.

G7MJV · Post by **G7MJV** » Fri Jun 03, 2005 4:05 am

Thanks very much for your thoughts. l replaced the broken fan with a chunk of heatsink as mentioned in this thread.

http://forums.silentpcreview.com/viewtopic.php?t=22440

Things seem fairly cool and the old fan may have met it's maker a long time ago, l just happened to notice it when l took the card out.

As for overclocking..l've not even investigated that ( on anything) yet but it might prove an interesting subject. l'm off sick from work so have loads of time to experiment

jamiedeas · Post by **jamiedeas** » Mon Jun 06, 2005 5:06 am

Here is my understanding of the power consumption vs temperature thing in case anyone is interested:

Digital semiconductors do draw more current as the temperature goes up, but it is not exponential. Modern digital chips (like a graphics processor) are made using cmos technology, which means it only draws current when logic levels are changing.

As temerature goes up, resistance goes up. As the resistance goes up, it takes longer for the logic gates to change from a 1 to a 0 or vice versa. If they take longer to switch, then they are taking current for longer, and so the overall power consumption goes up.

Looking at one data sheet it suggest the current consumption might vary by around 10% over temperature.

so, it looks like you might get some benefit from running a chip 10 or 20 degrees cooler, as it will generate a little less heat into your case. But I think the difference will be hard to notice.