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Theoretical Question - No CPU speed limit

By MC_User ·
I recently read an article in the September Wired magazine on the creation of synthetic diamonds. If I understand the article correctly two companies are currently producing diamonds in the lab.

The ultimate goal of one company is to replace the silicon in chips with diamond. The benefit is that diamond chips would have an extreem tolerance for heat.

My question is, would there be any point in developing more sophisticated CPU's if you can take Pentium I technology and clock it up 10 to 100 times? If you can take Pentium I technology and make it work reliably at 50 or 100 GHz what would be the point in using more complex chips?

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Heat is not the only factor

by TheChas In reply to Theoretical Question - No ...

The heat produced by the CPU is not the only, or even the primary factor of the maximum processing speed.

In fact, for most PCs, the CPU speed is less then 25 percent of the total in the equation for system speed.

The primary reason that faster CPUs run hotter is that the physical size of the junctions on the die are smaller and more dense.
With a smaller volume of material performing the same amount of work, more heat is produced.

When over-clocking, more heat is produced because the CPU core voltage needs to be raised to have stable operation at the higher clock speed.

IF you eliminate ALL heat issues, you will still have many other factors that will limit the CPU speed.

Chas

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