How does temperature affect the performance of an AMD Athlon socket A 
processor running at 950MHz?  For example, does this processor perform better 
in benchmarks when the processor temperature is 92 degrees F vs. the same 
processor at a temperature of 122 degrees F?  Graphic charts and/or figures 
showing these performance deltas is preferred.

Hi,

As the Comments that have already been posted indicate, an AMD Athlon processor 
is a clocked CPU whose operating speed depends only on the choice of clock 
speed. Overclocking these processors has been a popular activity, because they 
have been found to be capable of significant overclocking, but you are 
presumably asking about performance at the nominal 950 MHz operating speed. The 
likelihood of CPU failure will increase with operating temperature over the 
maximum rated value, but in the temperature range you quote, you are well 
within normal safe operating conditions.

The maximum operational temperature for the AMD Athlon can be found in the 
product data sheet which is posted at the AMD website http://www.amd.com.

The relevant datasheet is at

http://www.amd.com/us-
en/assets/content_type/white_papers_and_tech_docs/23792.pdf

The maximum operation temperature for the AMD Athlon 950 MHz Processor is 90 
degree Celsius.  Your range of 92-122 degrees F is about 30-50 C, which is well 
below the 90 C limit.


I hope that answers your question! If I’ve misunderstood your concern regarding 
the Athlon processor, please post a Request for Clarification, and I will do 
further research.

CPU performance does not vary with temperature.  The cpu has a temperature 
range that it can operate within at a given speed.  If the temperature falls 
outside of that range, the cpu will become unstable.  Using active(fans) or 
passive cooling devices(heatsinks) increases stability by helping a cpu operate 
within that ideal temperature range, but will not increase performance.

Hope this helps.

In a way, cpu performance does depend on temperature, to a certain degree.  
When the cpu temp reaches to high, its performance actually decreases, and it 
becomes unstable and unhealthy for the life of the cpu.  When overclocking a 
processor, the key to doing it successfully is proper cooling.  The cooler you 
can keep you processor, the more "processing" it is capable of.

CPU performance controled by the cpu clock, so a 950 Mhz cpu will be the same
speed regardless of temperature.  Allowing a cpu to go higher then it's rated
temperature will effect it's reliability and longetivity, but will not effect
performance (until the cpu stops working).

As someone else has remarked, overheated procesors tend to operate erraticaly 
and can even jump to the middle of an instruction.  When testing computer 
hardware equipment one performs a four corners test in an oven,  That is one 
looks at low and high voltage and low and high temperature. Voltage and 
temperature affect the   electronic circuit and change its timing.  When a 
circuit is operating within its correct timing it behaves digitally.  When it 
is operating outside the correct timing, because e.g. a higher voltage made a 
signal change earlier than expected, it leaves the digital realm and the analog 
effects begin to take effect, this is bad.