Am i correct in assuming larger process = greater heat tolerance?

[Maximilian]

Questions in title. Thats the reason a pentium II can take up to 80-90C and todays new CPU's... cant. Isnt it?

 

[firewolfsm]

I'm not sure, but I don't think that's true. My 7800GT had a throttle temp of 115C, when I stepped up to the 7900GT I saw that is was raised to an obscene 130C.

edit: well, since lower processes produce less heat, maybe the manufacturer-set heat tolerence isn't actually based off of heat tolerence but voltage or some other spec...just an idea though...

 

[JAG87]

yes you are correct. the smaller the die size the more heat damages it. because the space between transistors decreases, heat becomes more concentrated. think of it as heating a large room and a small room with the same heater. the smaller room will be much hotter (smaller die). so a 130nm chip can take higher temperatures then a 65nm chip, but the whole point of going smaller is to produce less heat and be more energy efficient

 

[Maximilian]

Awsome, liked the room analogy, good stuff.

 

[Casawi]

One of the reasons they have dual cores right now is because of heat problems. More complex/smaller cpu's generate more heat which was a limitation to the size and complexity of cpu's.

 

[Duvie]

Hence why you see the smaller vcore each time....the tinier process with its smaller transistors and gates are more prone to damage with heat and voltage....

http://www.intel.com/technology/silicon/si08042.htm