Intel QX68000 Core 2 Extreme, Design Manual

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Introduction
Thermal and Mechanical Design Guidelines 9
1 Introduction
1.1 Document Goals and Scope
1.1.1 Importance of Thermal Management
The objective of thermal management is to ensure that the temperatures of all
components in a system are maintained within their functional temperature range.
Within this temperature range, a component is expected to meet its specified
performance. Operation outside the functional temperature range can degrade
system performance, cause logic errors or cause component and/or system damage.
Temperatures exceeding the maximum operating limit of a component may result in
irreversible changes in the operating characteristics of this component.
In a system environment, the processor temperature is a function of both system and
component thermal characteristics. The system level thermal constraints consist of
the local ambient air temperature and airflow over the processor as well as the
physical constraints at and above the processor. The processor temperature depends
in particular on the component power dissipation, the processor package thermal
characteristics, and the processor thermal solution.
All of these parameters are affected by the continued push of technology to increase
processor performance levels and packaging density (more transistors). As operating
frequencies increase and packaging size decreases, the power density increases while
the thermal solution space and airflow typically become more constrained or remains
the same within the system. The result is an increased importance on system design
to ensure that thermal design requirements are met for each component, including
the processor, in the system.
1.1.2 Document Goals
Depending on the type of system and the chassis characteristics, new system and
component designs may be required to provide adequate cooling for the processor.
The goal of this document is to provide an understanding of these thermal
characteristics and discuss guidelines for meeting the thermal requirements imposed
on single processor systems using the Intel
®
Core™2 Extreme processor QX6800 B3
Stepping and Intel
®
Core™2 Extreme processor QX9770 C0 Stepping.
The concepts given in this document are applicable to any system form factor.
Specific examples used will be the Intel enabled reference solution for ATX/uATX
systems. See the applicable BTX form factor reference documents to design a thermal
solution for that form factor.