Physical Damage if CPU Overheat?

[petepham]

I recently bought a P3 800EB using the intel supplied heat sink fan. The CPU FAN failed after a couple of days an stopped working without my knowledge and after heavy CPU usage, the CPU temperature ran up to 64 C where my BIOS shutdown the CPU (I set autoshutdown at this temp). My CPU was running hot (about 40-50 C) for less than 10-15 minutes and reached a max of 64 C for only a few mins. I want to ask and see if there would be any long term damage to my CPU or and performance degredation due to an exposure to this high temp. Any help would be appreciated thanks!!!!
:|:|

 

[TonyT]

The CPU will most certainly sustain damage if subjected to high heat for an extended period of time. You should (if you haven't already) go out and buy a new CPU fan.

If you're asking if the CPU is already damaged due to the limited amount of time it had already spent at a high temperature, I couldn't say. High temperatures definitely decrease the life of a CPU (or any computer part), but it's too early to say how your system will be affected by the overheating in the long run.

 

[Noriaki]

It's not a terribly good idea to run it that long at high temps.
64*C isn't horribly high, higher than you want normally, but it's not going to blow up at that temp. I woudln't use the CPU anymore until you have a good heatsink/fan though.

 

[Zenmervolt]

I seem to remember PM saying that Intel specs its CPUs to run for 7 years with periods at 80 degrees Centigrade, but that seems so far out there that I think I must have misunderstood him. I doubt that it will cause any serious damage to your CPU, by the time you would notice the results from that minor overheated period you will likely be two upgrades away from your current system. Send a personal message to PM and ask him, he's an expert in this area and has always been helpful to me.

Zenmervolt

 

[peemo]

If you CPU is under warranty, maybe the fan failure is grounds for a new CPU + HSF from Intel. Otherwise, get a new cooler and run some stability tests. Maybe you shortened its life by a week but it could well be OK.

 

[pm]

Zenmervolt: I did make a statement like that, and I think it's correct. I just walked around and talked to the other CPU designers here and they all agree with me. Intel designs it's CPU's for 7 years of continuous operation. Intel tells everyone what the operating "envelope" is. This envelope depends on the chip, but let's say that it's -10C to +80C at 1.7V. If you operate the chip within these specs, the chip should work continuously for 7 years. That's how I understand it and my fellow engineers sitting next to me right now agree with me.

As far as PetePham's question, 64C is well within spec. There should be no permanent damage. If you were to exceed the maximum spec - which I think is 80C in this case - then there could be permanent damage. But you didn't, so I wouldn't worry about it.