Any Such Thing As A CPU Fan Buffer?

  • Thread starter Thread starter Agent_C
  • Start date Start date
A

Agent_C

When powering off the machine, I notice the CPU temperature shoots up
as much as 10c and then goes down slowly. Such rapid thermal expansion
could not be good for the life of the processor.

Something that would provide power to the CPU fan for a minute of two
after the machine is shut down would be ideal.

Any such gizmo available?

A_C
 
10 degrees is hardly anything to worry about if its at a safe temp anyways.
do u mean the sudden hike ten degrees could be harmful? if the machine is
powered off then its just the latent heat escaping, it isnt caused from a
burst of clock speed. chips are rated to something like 150 degs i think i
wouldnt worry too much, theres more things that can destroy a chip than a
sudden bounce up ten degrees. i know piss all about this stuff but this is
what seems logical to me.
 
Agent_C said:
When powering off the machine, I notice the CPU temperature
shoots up as much as 10c and then goes down slowly. Such rapid
thermal expansion could not be good for the life of the processor.
Click to expand...

Eh? Your CPU temperature will ramp up in an even more rapid fashion when
transitioning from zero to full load while the computer is running. In any
case, a 10C swing will have a negligible effect on the CPU substrate and
hence the working life of the processor. Sure, it might lop a few hours off
its ultimate working life, but in practice the overwhelming likelihood is
that your CPU will be obsoleted and tossed in the recycling cart a long time
before it fails. As such it's not worth worrying about.
Something that would provide power to the CPU fan for a minute of
twoafter the machine is shut down would be ideal.
Click to expand...

No, this is all a moot point given the fact that your underlying concern is
unfounded, but even your internal logic is flawed here. Even if we were to
assume that "thermal expansion" of the sort you describe, was an issue,
leaving the CPU fan running after the processor itself has powered down
would actually make things worse by promoting a rapid cooldown in the
processor (and hence rapid "contraction"). In contrast, the "best" scenario
would be a gradual cooloff - as indeed you get with the status quo.
Any such gizmo available?
Click to expand...

Yeah, you can get 'em, but they're aimed at extreme watercooled setups where
there can be a risk of boiling the water in the block if the pump shuts down
immediately the rest of the PC does. In most cases, even with a liquid
cooled system, this isn't going to be an issue. In your case, it's at best
unnecessary, and at worse (theoretically at least), undesirable.
--


Richard Hopkins
Cardiff, Wales, United Kingdom
(replace nospam with pipex in reply address)

The UK's leading technology reseller www.dabs.com
 
[...] the "best" scenario would be a gradual cooloff
- as indeed you get with the status quo.
Click to expand...

Thank you for that very thorough response. I'll take your advice and
leave things as is.

A_C
 
When powering off the machine, I notice the CPU temperature shoots up
as much as 10c and then goes down slowly. Such rapid thermal expansion
could not be good for the life of the processor.

Something that would provide power to the CPU fan for a minute of two
after the machine is shut down would be ideal.

Any such gizmo available?

A_C
Click to expand...

The one I have seen is called RD7-CA, where the CA stands for "Cooling
After." It's a timer costing about $20. Cyberguys used to carry it
and perhaps they still do.

I agree with the other people who responded... it's unnecessary.

If you want to do something to extend your hardware life, build an
oil-filled case. You would end up with a very heavy, dead-silent box.
Tom's HW did it, but only on a test bench. They used vegetable oil,
whereas I would use mineral oil. An aquarium might be cool.

Charlie
 
Agent_C said:
When powering off the machine, I notice the CPU temperature shoots up
as much as 10c and then goes down slowly. Such rapid thermal expansion
could not be good for the life of the processor.

Something that would provide power to the CPU fan for a minute of two
after the machine is shut down would be ideal.

Any such gizmo available?
Click to expand...

A diode spliced into the +12V line to the CPU fan and a really big 16V
capacitor across the fan could do it. I don't know of any other way,
except for something powered form the +5Vstandby line with a timer on
it. OTOH a 10C temperature rise isn't harmful for a CPU that's not
running..
 
Back
Top