Can Computers Get Too Cold?

[elliott35]

Mechanical HDDS can. Best to let them thaw

[shert73]

Yes, when people do extreme overclocking with liquid nitrogen they have to make sure their temperatures don't drop too low, otherwise the CPU will just lock up.

but that's like -90 lol. Vrams stop working when to cold.

[gibbsy81]

Thd cmos battery won't make enough current to do its job.

If it is too cold for the cmos battery to work then the times and bios setting will be forgotten it wont make much difference.

[typographie]

I've heard that under some circumstances, poor quality or old solder can become brittle and contract in cold temperatures. This can create micro-fractures and possibly break connections.

[CatzRuleZWorld]

I was just watching Alaska state troopers and one of them left there PC in minus 5 degree temps and it wouldn't boot. Is this a thing or is it for some other reason it would not boot?

*their

Yah, despite most of that show seeming staged, that part doesn't have to be.

[Tortured]

If I recall correctly, when I saw someone Liquid Nitrogen cooling a 1st gen i7  on a x58 Classified mobo, the guy literally stuck a blow torch, YEAH a freaking BLOWTORCH, ontop the CPU after he poured Liquid nitrogen onto it.

 

... it was so cool

 

But I imagine the CPU and its components must be a specific temperature to allow energy to flow without too much resistance. 

[Guest Philosophy]

*their

Yah, despite most of that show seeming staged, that part doesn't have to be.

I was in Law Enforcent and i find it to be one of the only realistic shows  

[elliott35]

Mechanical HDDS can. Best to let them thaw

Good practice it to microwave them

[vanman69]

The biggest issue is the excessive condensation that normally comes with being too cold. If you can eliminate the condensation, being too cold is not an issue. Just look at all the extreme liquid nitrogen overclockers out there.

[ShadowCaptain]

The biggest issue is the excessive condensation that normally comes with being too cold. If you can eliminate the condensation, being too cold is not an issue. Just look at all the extreme liquid nitrogen overclockers out there.

 

LN2 overclockers isolate the cpu from the rest of the board, not all components can take it

[Hero7750]

Not really too cold, just condensation. People use liquid nitrogen to do extreme overclocking its just you don't want to get water on anything.

[geekguy]

Yes indeed a computer can get to cold, it gets dangerous if it starts to get below freezing. (0 Degrees Celsius) At that point the computer can start to produce cendensation and obvisosly this is bad because water+electronics=bad.... There are ways to prevent this such as using a sort of silicone beads to pull condensation away from the PC components.... Or making sure the computer has very very little humidity.

[Guest]

Cold no, Water yes.

[ThomasD]

Extreme cold could create mechanical forces (contraction) that disrupt electronic connections.

 

Also, many electronic components - VRMs, capacitors, and such are designed to operate within a given range of temperatures, try to run them outside of that range and they may not perform as desired, leading to faulty or incorrect voltages, etc.

[Pony080905]

Yeah, I think that's why northern gamers use AMD GPUs

thats how you heat your house

[dadasmithywinkle]

*their

Yah, despite most of that show seeming staged, that part doesn't have to be.

Staged, how?

[FairladyZ]

If the inside of the PC is cooler than the air around it (which is nearly impossible, in NATURAL CIRCUMSTANCES) then condensation will form inside the case and most likely cause short circuits. But in terms of CPU temps, I'm not sure, but phase-change cooling will keep the CPU running sub-zero and sub-zero CPUs run really well. Linus got an i7 to run at 5GHz while phase change cooling it.

[randy hutajulu]

Yeah, I think that's why northern gamers use AMD GPUs

Lol