CPU weakness, frequency reduction, overwork? The water cooling of a few thousand yuan is not as good as these dozens of things

In general, all computers, as the length of work increases, the work efficiency will become lower and lower. And we tend to think that the reason for the performance decline is nothing more than three points: eating up (the disk is too full); getting older (the hardware is aging); and being poisoned (software is eating more and more performance).

But the factor that really affects performance is often ignored by everyone, that is, the operating temperature.

Modern CPUs typically adjust the operating frequency and control performance through a variety of technologies, such as Intel's Turbo Boost (or AMD's Turbo Core) technology.

According to the overview of Intel Turbo Boost Technology 2.0, there are 5 main factors that affect CPU performance.

1. Workload type

2. The number of active cores

3. Estimated current consumption

4. Estimated power consumption

5. Processor temperature

Among them, the most obvious impact on performance, but also our users can physically intervene, is the 5th point, the processor temperature.

The CPU is bound to release heat when it is working. According to the Intel CPU product specification page, it appears that the maximum operating temperature of all CPUs is 100°C.

When the CPU is in a state of extreme rage, the temperature can even exceed 100°C, and the steak is directly cooked.

As Intel told us in Turbo Boost 2.0, we usually think that when the temperature of the CPU is too high, it will automatically downsel and take care of itself. However, after the real machine test of XiaoShu, it was found that the current CPU does not seem to actively reduce the frequency in the high temperature, and even when the temperature reaches 100 ° C, it will not immediately reduce the frequency.

As you can see from the minutes above, when the CPU reaches 100°C, the frequency does not drop immediately.

When the high temperature lasts for about 30 minutes, the CPU begins to gradually decrease the frequency.

This result is the same in Linpack's performance benchmarks.

This result surprised Xiao A, and it seems that the durability of modern CPUs has been very exaggerated.

However, this does not mean that we can unscrupulously let the CPU continue to work in high temperatures. It is said that there are only tired cattle, and there are no fields that have been ploughed. Occasionally breaking through the limit is not too much of a problem, but if the CPU is squeezed in high temperature for a long time, its body will sooner or later eat up, not only the overall performance will gradually decrease, but the yang life will also be reduced. In general, the CPU should work in the range of 70 °C -85 °C to obtain maximum performance without squeezing out the CPU.

85°C-99°C is also within the design and operation range of the CPU, but over time it will gradually affect performance and longevity.

This is also the main reason why over time, we feel that the computer slows down.

I don't know if you have, long-term attention to the working temperature of the CPU.

Usually in the early stages of the computer career, its heat dissipation performance is good, and the temperature can generally be controlled below 80 ° C.

However, over time, the performance of the computer's cooling system will become worse and worse, and the average operating temperature will slowly rise.

If it's not particularly boring people who love CPUs, it's hard to find this problem.

There are two main reasons for the decrease in thermal performance. First, the efficiency of the heat dissipation hardware is reduced, such as dust on the fan and the cold pipe, which affects the operation of the fan.

There is also thermal grease / zhī / drying.

Thermal grease is a layer between the CPU/GPU and the heat sink, a toothpaste-like substance, usually gray or white (color is independent of performance). Thermal grease is composed of many components, common aluminum, copper, zinc oxide, etc., and even silver, gold and even diamonds are used in Versailles. The reason why these ingredients were chosen is not to force, but to improve the "thermal conductivity" of silicone grease, which is also the fundamental reason for the existence of thermal grease. If you take the CPU apart, you will find that the hot chip actually occupies only a small part of the package, and the high temperature of the fried steak comes from this area.

The work of the heat dissipation zone is to disperse the heat of the chip to a larger area, thereby increasing the contact area with the radiator and accelerating the cooling.

The surface of the CPU and heatsink that appears to the naked eye is smooth and flat, but it is actually very rough.

If you press the heatsink directly onto the CPU, the result is that the contact area is small and the air fills the gap. You know, stationary air is the best "warm" material. What's worse is that the CPU surface and the heatsink surface are not even horizontal.

In general, the amD CPU is slightly protruding in the middle, while the Intel middle is slightly recessed.

For the sake of the program effect, the picture is slightly exaggerated if you do not apply silicone grease, the radiator can not effectively contact the CPU at all, and it becomes a decoration. Silicone grease can effectively fill the gap between the CPU and the heat sink, making their intersection more thorough.

There are many techniques for applying silicone grease on the rivers and lakes, and the specific method used mainly depends on the fluidity of the silicone grease. But the first principle is "enough is good". Generally speaking, the silicone grease purchased separately cannot be used up at one time, so some friends with a thrifty attitude will apply as much silicone grease as possible to the CPU, which will increase the heat pressure of the CPU.

Because silicone grease is no matter how good the thermal conductivity, it is far less good than metal.

The best state of applying silicone grease is to only fill in the gaps and let the metal come into direct contact with the metal, but this is difficult to operate, and too little silicone grease will retain air and affect heat dissipation.

Therefore, under the premise of ensuring uniformity, no bubbles and no impurities, the thinner the silicone grease, the better.

Another point is that the silicone grease cannot be spilled, because the silicone grease is more or less electrically conductive, and if the silicone grease drips onto the motherboard, it may cause the motherboard to be short-circuited and scrapped.

High fluidity of silicone grease, it is recommended to use a brush to apply, easy to operate, even thin coating to the SURFACE OF THE CPU can be.

For medium and low fluidity silicone greases, it is recommended to first drop a small dot in the center of the CPU, then wrap your fingers in clean plastic wrap and rub it well.

It is not recommended to use cards to apply, the difficulty coefficient is too high, it is not easy to apply thin, and too much silicone grease is often needed to be used in order to apply evenly.

There are also friends who will directly drop a little in the center of the CPU, and then use the radiator to press it evenly.

However, with reference to the previous figure, we will find that the heating center of the CPU is actually a rectangle, so it is more recommended to squeeze the silicone grease into long strips rather than a lump.

There is no problem in using a radiator to even out the silicone grease, but considering the above, the Intel CPU may need a little more silicone grease because of the slight depression in the middle, and too little cannot cover the heating area.

In fact, the grease only needs to cover the heating area, and the edge part does not help to dissipate heat.

In addition, note that now buy the radiator sent by the CPU, generally the bottom has been prepared with silicone grease, directly cover it. , eliminating the need for the user to manually apply it.

If you use a self-built radiator, you no longer need to apply silicone grease separately, which is counterproductive.

Finally, whether thermal grease needs to be replaced throughout the life cycle of the computer has been controversial. Xiao Shu himself has tried many times to find that the replacement of thermal grease helps the CPU to cool down very obviously. This is probably the cheapest and easiest way to operate the temperature control. With the use of the computer, the silicone grease will dry out in about 3-5 years, and the heat dissipation effect will inevitably decrease.

But not everyone needs to change the silicone grease, if your computer is just doing simple office, learning, basically will not run at full speed. The demand for heat dissipation is not so high, the speed of silicone grease drying will be very slow, and the computer does not need to change the silicone grease throughout its life cycle.

But if your computer is used to play large games, video editing and other high-intensity work, then the effect of changing silicone grease once every two or three years is still quite obvious.

Since you are already planning to change the silicone grease, try to choose a better one, worthy of this toss

When purchasing silicone grease, choose at least a thermal conductivity of 5.0w/m K or more.

However, the thermal conductivity silicone grease market is relatively chaotic, the thermal conductivity is seriously false, and the smaller the factory gall, the fatter it is. Because this article is very conscientious and does not contain any ads (no one votes for ads), it is not recommended for specific brands and models here. Everyone tries to choose large factory products, the price is about 15-30 yuan.

In addition, to monitor the hardware temperature, please choose reliable software, such as Intel's official Intel Power Gadget, AMD's official AMD Ryzen Master. There is also the third-party AIDA64. Don't say goodbye to the big lady or something.