【后补】(三)Paul Ledak对该问题的理解:
Paul Ledak:
Undervolting your CPU is completely safe. There is no physical/electrical mechanism associated with undervolting that can cause damage to your CPU. However. there are some things you should know and be aware of when you are undervolting your CPU.
When CPUs are manufactured, there are variations in the manufacturing process that produces CPUs that can achieve different maximum clock frequencies… i.e.. some are faster and some are slower than others. The manufacturer tests these CPUs…. finds which ones are faster and which ones are slower… labels them and sells them at different prices… even though they may have all been produced exactly the same. However, when they say that a CPU will work at a certain frequency, say 2 Ghz, this really means that they have tested that the chip will work at this frequency plus some margin of error (say 10% or 2.2 Ghz (I cannot say what margin of error Intel uses in its manufacturing test)) at the worst case operating voltage and the maximum operating temperature.
It is important to note that worst case operating voltage is the LOWEST voltage that the processor is spaced to operate at as in general, the lower the voltage…. the lower the operating frequency. Additionally, note that the highest operating temperature as the hotter the CPU is, the slower it runs. CPUs when first turned on typically operate at room temperature (or about 25 degrees C) but are typically speced at a maximum operating temperature of 85 degrees C (or sometimes hotter). If you could somehow keep the processor closer to 25 degrees C, it would certainly run at a higher clock frequency than if it heats up to 85 degrees C.
So what happens if you undervolt the CPU. First, you are reducing the maximum operating frequency of the processor. Depending on the processor and the voltage change, for example, you might change your 2 Ghz processor to a 1.8 Ghz processor. However, remember that the manufacturer really tested this processor to work at say 2.2 Ghz, having some margin of error. So, your 1.8 Ghz under voltage processor probably is still a 2 GHz processor… but with little margin of error. The only way to know how low you can lower the voltage and test to see if the computer keeps working.
So what is the best way to test how low you can lower the voltage to see if the computer is still working? One obvious test which is a very BAD test it to simply boot the computer. Of course if you lower the voltage and you cannot boot the computer than you have definitely lowered the voltage too much. But if you CAN boot the computer, this DOES NOT mean that you will have a functioning computer. Why? Because when you boot the computer, your processor is probably running at a cool 25 degrees C and is therefore running in its FASTEST thermal operating zone. So, in order to know if your computer will be reliable at the under voltage, you have to have the computer running under some more extreme conditions, where the processor is working at its hardest and generating the maximum amount of heat… and for a sufficiently long time to get the processor up to its maximum operating temperature… around 85 degrees C. If the processor still runs at this temperature than you have found a safe under voltage to us. Some applications that might do this are video compression, 3d rendering…
There is an additional complexity that you may also have to consider depending on the processor and laptop you are using and the options available in the Intel’s Extreme Tuning kit. One feature that some laptops use is a temperature sensor on the CPU and an automatic throttle back in the CPU clock frequency when the processor starts to get too hot… thus allowing it to cool down a bit before it brings the clock frequency back up. This obviously adds some complexity, but may also help your processor to stay running at the lower voltage by not allowing the processor to heat up so much. You may also be able to lower the temperature at which the system throttles down the clock frequency to allow your system to run at even lower voltage. This will of course reduce performance in the cases where the clock frequency is throttled back… but depending on you use scenarios, you may not care about this.
The other feature available in CPUs is a turbo burst mode. Given that most laptops are running applications like Word, etc. that do not make heavy use of the processor, they typically do not heat the processor up too much. And therefore, when the CPU is cooler, it can run at a much higher clock frequency… but only for a short amount of time… i.e. until it heats up to the point where it can no longer run at that frequency. If your processor supports such a turbo boost mode, it may or may not work at the lower voltage you selected and you will probably want to run a test to determine if your processor’s turbo boost mode still works.
The advantage of undervolting your CPU is that you can extend the lifetime of your CPU… first by reducing the temperature that the processor runs at on average and thus the thermal cycling failure mechanisms. In addition you will reduce slight the hot electron injection into the gate electrode failure mechanisms which are reduced with lower voltage. However, processors usually last plenty long today… usually longer than the amount of time most people want to keep their computers before they are longing for a much faster and newer model so I am not sure this enhanced reliability is anything of value. And finally, it is worth noting that even though operating at lower voltage does somewhat reduce the maximum clock frequency, it does at the same time reduce the power dissipation and therefore also the operating temperature of the processor which tends to increase the maximum clock frequency… which depending on application usage, can somewhat balance each other out. And finally, the under voltage will reduce power consumption and thus enhance battery life, which maybe is your main reason for wanting to under volt your CPU in the first place.
回答很长很长,我将有用的信息提炼出来并翻译成人话:
1.降压对硬件完全安全无害,降压损坏cpu的说法是完全不存在的。
2.处理器制造的时候是将一堆处理器一起制造,造完后跑个分测试一下,发挥优秀的u贴上i7的标签,发挥平庸的贴上i5的标签,发挥差的次品就贴上i3(逃。。。。。。)
3.如何安全降压的方法(我在这里也讲过,传送门:
http://tieba.baidu.com/p/5853076688)
4.关于温度墙,睿频的一些讨论
5.关于cpu老化缩缸的讨论:结论:降压反而会保护cpu,使其老化速度减慢
壹.降压会降温,降温可以减少”热循环失效机理“( thermal cycling failure mechanisms)(我也不知道这是什么,似乎和电路焊接有关)
贰.降温可以减少”电极失效机理“(electrode failure mechanisms)(降温可以大大减少高速运动的热电子闯入cpu中的逻辑门电路的几率)
6.降压的优点与缺点:
pro:壹.降温,缓解笔记本电脑发热,使其能满血不撞温度墙运行很久(增强性能)
贰.节能,延长续航
con:壹.系统可能不稳定:直接断电重启,蓝屏,花屏死机
7.Paul Ledak认为:
壹.完全没有必要为了保护u而降压,毕竟一般u都能用十年以上,没到那时你就想换电脑了
贰.如果是为了提升续航与性能那到对于笔记本用户是一项不错的选择