3 ms·

Your rule of thumb is wrong. The thing what kills hardware is temperature fluctuations. Keeping a processor running consistently at 90 degrees is much better t

Your rule of thumb is wrong. The thing what kills hardware is temperature fluctuations. Keeping a processor running consistently at 90 degrees is much better than switching it off and on all the time. Running a CPU at full load has a very minor impact on its mechanical properties. Even after running for 10 years. Much less than storing it in your drawer for the same amount of time.

adrian_b 5y ago
Temperature fluctuations damage the interfaces between the different materials inside an integrated circuit, so they will greatly lower the lifetime. Nonetheless, there is a continuous aging of the metal traces (electromigration) and especially of the insulating layers, e.g. the MOS transistor gates, due to the difusion of atoms. This continuous aging is accelerated by steady-state high temperatures and it eventually results in either open circuits or short circuits somewhere, destroying the device. Good MOS integrated circuits are designed for a lifetime at their maximum specified temperature of at least 10 years or even 20 years or more for the better of them. Nevertheless, this is puny in comparison with the lifetime of many semiconductor components produced 40-50 years ago, before the continuous shrinking of the active device sizes, which could have lifetimes of hundreds of years, when free from fabrication defects.
- bullen 5y ago
  Yes, so I'm betting on these 14nm Atom boards because they are very performant per watt (I get twice the server juice out of these at 25W than I get out of my 6600 desktop at 65W!!!!!!!!!) and I think they will be more reliable at 42 celcius full blast than the still non existent 10 or smaller nm. I even think like you that my 45nm D510MO probably will outlive these! But it's so underpowered (like 1/10 of the perf. at 15W) compared to these that I'm willing to take the risk! The risk of new boards being so much better that I'll have to throw these away ever is zero at this point, memory being the bottleneck!

adrian_b 5y ago

Temperature fluctuations damage the interfaces between the different materials inside an integrated circuit, so they will greatly lower the lifetime. Nonetheless, there is a continuous aging of the metal traces (electromigration) and especially of the insulating layers, e.g. the MOS transistor gates, due to the difusion of atoms. This continuous aging is accelerated by steady-state high temperatures and it eventually results in either open circuits or short circuits somewhere, destroying the device. Good MOS integrated circuits are designed for a lifetime at their maximum specified temperature of at least 10 years or even 20 years or more for the better of them. Nevertheless, this is puny in comparison with the lifetime of many semiconductor components produced 40-50 years ago, before the continuous shrinking of the active device sizes, which could have lifetimes of hundreds of years, when free from fabrication defects.

bullen 5y ago
Yes, so I'm betting on these 14nm Atom boards because they are very performant per watt (I get twice the server juice out of these at 25W than I get out of my 6600 desktop at 65W!!!!!!!!!) and I think they will be more reliable at 42 celcius full blast than the still non existent 10 or smaller nm. I even think like you that my 45nm D510MO probably will outlive these! But it's so underpowered (like 1/10 of the perf. at 15W) compared to these that I'm willing to take the risk! The risk of new boards being so much better that I'll have to throw these away ever is zero at this point, memory being the bottleneck!