Whats the fastest CPU anyone has ever seen that didn't require a heatsink or fan ?

[Dazed and Confused]

I was just kinda wondering what the fastest CPU is that doesn't require a heatsink or fan to opperate at it's default frequencies.

If you post a processor you know of please also list the device it is installed in and a link would be nice

The fastest I can think of is the 216mhz CPU in my Linksys WRT54GS for starters

 

[adairusmc]

We have some boards we use at work for wireless AP's that have integrated 333 Mhz CPU's, with no heatsink or anything on them. They are AMD Geode chips.

 

[Capt Caveman]

My Nokia 770 used a Texas Instruments OMAP 2420 processor running at 320MHz

 

[zephyrprime]

The Dell Axim X51v PDA had a 624 MHz Processor. It probably had a passive heatsink or was heatsunk to the body or something.

 

[f4phantom2500]

eh, you would get a much faster chip as a reply if you accept passive cooling (heatsink, no fan; tuniq tower anyone?).

 

[Dazed and Confused]

Yeah, then you could have any CPU in existance and wheres the fun in that ? I was just told by my cooworker that those Cyrix CPU's are up to 1ghz and can opperate without heatsinks or fan's, can anyone verrify this ?

 

[Arkaign]

I've seen a Via 500Mhz with no heatsink or fan running some crappy Linux distro.

The most impressive and unbelievable bare processor that I've ever seen was a few years back, I upgraded a Novell server for a beer distributor in Wichita Falls. The server had been running for years with a 2.1G hard drive, and it needed upgrading. So I go up there with my server magic (think Ghost for Novell) disk and a 8.4G hard drive (plenty for their little database/shipping records), and open the case.

OH MY GOD! It was a Cyrix (IBM Stamped) PR200 processor, with absolutely no cooling on it whatsoever. The thing had been running like that for years. The area around the processor was slightly shaded by the incredible heat it had endured for so long. I couldn't believe the thing still ran. I yanked a Socket 7 cooler off of a dead P133 PC that was in the closet, and went on to upgrade the hdd. Everything came off without a hitch, and afaik, that server is still in use today.

 

[VirtualLarry]

Originally posted by: Arkaign
OH MY GOD! It was a Cyrix (IBM Stamped) PR200 processor, with absolutely no cooling on it whatsoever. The thing had been running like that for years. The area around the processor was slightly shaded by the incredible heat it had endured for so long. I couldn't believe the thing still ran. I yanked a Socket 7 cooler off of a dead P133 PC that was in the closet, and went on to upgrade the hdd. Everything came off without a hitch, and afaik, that server is still in use today.

I'm amazed. Those chips ran hot, and slightly unstable as-is.

 

[AllGamer]

386 SX 25 Mhz

any 386 SX or DX higher than 33 Mhz needed a HSF, else they'll burn if they have a closed case.

if you left yoru case open it was sort of "safe" to have 386 DX 33 Mhz running if it had enough flesh air.

BTW, the above reference is for the Intel CPUs only, since AMD CPUs back in the days were HOTter than Intel CPUs clock per clock

 

[Crassus]

I had a Slot-1 Covington Celeron-300 (the one without L2 Cache) running with no heatsink at all. I could jack it up to around 445 MHz, but you couldn't get near the thing with your fingers then.
I used it later on to test mainboards for a while, until Slot 1 boards became too dated to be any good.

 

[eBauer]

How about a Core Solo running at 1Ghz?

http://www.xtremesystems.org/f...howthread.php?t=139368

 

[f4phantom2500]

Originally posted by: eBauer
How about a Core Solo running at 1Ghz?

http://www.xtremesystems.org/f...howthread.php?t=139368

i think we have a winner...

 

[myocardia]

Originally posted by: f4phantom2500

Originally posted by: eBauer
How about a Core Solo running at 1Ghz?

http://www.xtremesystems.org/f...howthread.php?t=139368

i think we have a winner...

Actually, look around on XS. There was a guy there who had his Opteron 165 or 170 running at 1.0 Ghz, with no heatsink, about 18 months ago. He wasn't running it at the stock 1.1v for 5x200, though. IIRC, he was running it at .9v, but it might have been 1.0v.

 

[f4phantom2500]

Originally posted by: myocardia

Originally posted by: f4phantom2500

Originally posted by: eBauer
How about a Core Solo running at 1Ghz?

http://www.xtremesystems.org/f...howthread.php?t=139368

i think we have a winner...

Actually, look around on XS. There was a guy there who had his Opteron 165 or 170 running at 1.0 Ghz, with no heatsink, about 18 months ago. He wasn't running it at the stock 1.1v for 5x200, though. IIRC, he was running it at .9v, but it might have been 1.0v.

that's the winner for multi threaded apps core solo would probably be faster for single threaded since it's basically a core duo with a disabled core.

 

[Arkaign]

Originally posted by: VirtualLarry

Originally posted by: Arkaign
OH MY GOD! It was a Cyrix (IBM Stamped) PR200 processor, with absolutely no cooling on it whatsoever. The thing had been running like that for years. The area around the processor was slightly shaded by the incredible heat it had endured for so long. I couldn't believe the thing still ran. I yanked a Socket 7 cooler off of a dead P133 PC that was in the closet, and went on to upgrade the hdd. Everything came off without a hitch, and afaik, that server is still in use today.

I'm amazed. Those chips ran hot, and slightly unstable as-is.

lol yeah me too, my brother had an older PR166 Cyrix chip (before IBM scooped up the remains), and it was one hot bastard. Cyrix chips were really crappy compared to the K6 and PMMX.

 

[AllGamer]

i think the REAL winner are those CPUs that can run without HSF for long period of times, like for a whole year without problems.

and not those mentioned above that only lasted enough for a bench test.

i know for a fact most 486 and any newer CPU will not last very long without HSF

definitely not long enough to run them permanently without HSF

 

[firewolfsm]

Did you see the temps on the Core Solo though? It never went over 60C naked, that sounds stable to me.

 

[Dazed and Confused]

That core solo is pretty freaking kick ass if it can pull that off I'd rather have the opty though Just the thought of a dual core CPU without a HSF running is pretty freaking awesome. I wonder how low you'd have to put a C2D to make it run without a HSF ? Anyone out there with money to burn willing to find out

 

[f4phantom2500]

ultimately, this is stupid; anyone who's going to spend the money on a high performance, modern chip like a core or a64 isn't planning on running it bare. at the ABSOLUTE least i would put some kind of heatsink on it, ideally a big tower with heatpipes and a lot of fins. you won't hear it, so once the side panel's on you wouldn't be able to tell the difference between no fan and no heatsink audibly; might as well, you know, not fry your chip and get a heatsink. i mean, why would anyone specifically aim to run one of these chips bare in an everyday setup? if you do that, you're just looking for problems.

 

[myocardia]

Originally posted by: f4phantom2500

Originally posted by: myocardia

Originally posted by: f4phantom2500

Originally posted by: eBauer
How about a Core Solo running at 1Ghz?

http://www.xtremesystems.org/f...howthread.php?t=139368

i think we have a winner...

Actually, look around on XS. There was a guy there who had his Opteron 165 or 170 running at 1.0 Ghz, with no heatsink, about 18 months ago. He wasn't running it at the stock 1.1v for 5x200, though. IIRC, he was running it at .9v, but it might have been 1.0v.

that's the winner for multi threaded apps core solo would probably be faster for single threaded since it's basically a core duo with a disabled core.

Haha, true. I was just amazed that it was able to run dual cores, naked.:Q

 

[brxndxn]

Originally posted by: f4phantom2500
ultimately, this is stupid; anyone who's going to spend the money on a high performance, modern chip like a core or a64 isn't planning on running it bare. at the ABSOLUTE least i would put some kind of heatsink on it, ideally a big tower with heatpipes and a lot of fins. you won't hear it, so once the side panel's on you wouldn't be able to tell the difference between no fan and no heatsink audibly; might as well, you know, not fry your chip and get a heatsink. i mean, why would anyone specifically aim to run one of these chips bare in an everyday setup? if you do that, you're just looking for problems.

If you can run a chip bare, it's 'sinking' much less heat into the room as a chip that requires a huge heat sink. So, instead of having to pay the energy costs of cooling an additional ~75W of heat, a bare cheap may only output the equivalent of ~10W or so of heat that needs to be cooled..

I read somewhere that for the average chip, every 1 watt of heat output requires 4 watts of extra air conditioner cooling..

Plus, a chip that can run bare means you do not have to worry about dust accumulation ruining a fan.. It's the ultimate in stability.

 

[Dazed and Confused]

If you can run a chip bare, it's 'sinking' much less heat into the room as a chip that requires a huge heat sink. So, instead of having to pay the energy costs of cooling an additional ~75W of heat, a bare cheap may only output the equivalent of ~10W or so of heat that needs to be cooled..

I read somewhere that for the average chip, every 1 watt of heat output requires 4 watts of extra air conditioner cooling..

Plus, a chip that can run bare means you do not have to worry about dust accumulation ruining a fan.. It's the ultimate in stability.

That never even occured to me