How cold is too cold?

[Mr. Boe Jangles]

There is a recording studio I work at,
And I have been recording some tracks out in an old barn,
For Acoustic reasons...

Its new england and cold overnight...
I was wondering if I could leave my computer out overnight or if thats really too cold...
I have a hunch it is,
But it would be nice to not have to lug it in and out every day...

Any input would be great...

 

[Ph?bus]

It depends on how cold it gets,
but generally,
No, your computer can't get too cold.

 

[Mr. Boe Jangles]

Maybe 20f

 

[Sharpe]

Colder computers = The faster the run. Usually. If it's below 25F, Then dont leave it outside. Below freezing might be bad.

 

[Ph?bus]

As long as nothing is getting moist or anything,
like its just getting really cold, then I imagine it can't be bad for your computer.

 

[shadows5631]

Like he said, if it's not moist, it's fine.

Extreme overclockers use liquid nitrogen on the CPU and north bridge which is about -200 Celsius.


Oh, and the theory on cooler = faster I don't really believe.


If you take a CPU heatsink off, of course it's going to go slower because it's dying from heat. But a difference between 19c and 40c isn't anything performance wise.

 

[Putty]

If you do, wrap it in some blankets or something to somewhat shelter it from the cold. Then put some tarps on top to keep it from any moisture.

 

[Adam]

If you do, wrap it in some blankets or something to somewhat shelter it from the cold. Then put some tarps on top to keep it from any moisture.

Yeah, and set the tarps and barn on fire, so it doesn't get too cold.


In all seriousness, id be more worried about bugs, dust, ect rather than the cold.

 

[GBear]

I think he means by the colder the CPU is, the more you can push the overclock thus being faster.

 

[Mr. Boe Jangles]

Well Thanks guys for your input...

I am not using the machine after 6pm or so, it gets too cold out. So I'm not looking at a perfomance boost. I was just wondering about storing it overnight...

And Yea i will but a tarp or something around it to keep the moisture out.

 

[zetas]

Actually, lower temps reduces the resistance in wires and things leading a electric current.

So it should be "faster" but won't be noticeable under small temp changes.

 

[GBear]

Actually, lower temps reduces the resistance in wires and things leading a electric current.

So it should be "faster" but won't be noticeable under small temp changes.

It only lowers it very very slightly. It doesn't effect it too much until you hit a low enough temperature that turns the metal into a super conductor.

 

[JunK]

you know how to judge if its too cold to play football? or so we used to say when we were kids...
if you spit and it freezes before it hits the ground, its too cold

which im pretty sure is impossible, even with liquid nitrogen

 

[Mr. Boe Jangles]

if you spit and it freezes before it hits the ground, its too cold

I love that

 

[NCA]

While your CPU will perform better at lower temps, there are other components in your computer cabinet that will slowly deteriorate at freezing point or lower.

 

[NADES]

read up on chip creep.
Also these "extreme overclockers" are applying those temps to the cpu, nto the hard drives, fans, video cards, etc...

 

[Tee Hee Hee]

Like he said, if it's not moist, it's fine.

Extreme overclockers use liquid nitrogen on the CPU and north bridge which is about -200 Celsius.


Oh, and the theory on cooler = faster I don't really believe.


If you take a CPU heatsink off, of course it's going to go slower because it's dying from heat. But a difference between 19c and 40c isn't anything performance wise.

Physics would beg to differ, the colder the wires are the greater their conductance and therefore the lower their resistance which will = faster

How much of a difference between 19c and 40c I don't know but certainly once you start cooling things dramatically you can have superconductors :biggrin:

 

[shadows5631]

Physics would beg to differ, the colder the wires are the greater their conductance and therefore the lower their resistance which will = faster

How much of a difference between 19c and 40c I don't know but certainly once you start cooling things dramatically you can have superconductors :biggrin:

Well I mean a noticeable difference in performance.


Like a GPU runs just as good at 80c under load than 50c with the fan speed turned all the way up. But, cooler is better for longer lasting components and makes for an all around happier computer.


(Unless things changed alot since a Pentium 4. I did lots of benchmarks with different fan speeds and the only thing that changed the average fps of course was overclocking)

 

[Stinky Wizzleteats]

As long as you dont let it ice over youll be fine & even then its damage from moisture & not the cold itself.

 

[Ryken]

I'd wrap it up in a tarp and maybe put some sort of moisture collecting agent in with it. Maybe a bowl of rice or something similar.