Intel 830 5

Datasheet 75

Thermal Specifications and Design Considerations

5Thermal Specifications and

The Intel® Pentium® D processor requires a thermal solution to maintain temperatures within

operating limits as set forth in Section5.1.1. Any attempt to operate the processor outside these

operating limits may result in permanent damage to the processor and potentially other components

within the system. As processor technology changes, thermal management becomes increasingly

crucial when building computer systems. Maintaining the proper thermal environment is key to

reliable, long-term system operation.

A complete thermal solution includes both component and system level thermal management

features. Component level thermal solutions can include active or passive heatsinks attached to the

processor Integrated Heat Spreader (IHS). Typical system level thermal solutions may consist of

system fans combined with ducting and venting.

For more information on designing a component level thermal solution, refer to the Intel®

Pentium® D Processor and Intel® Pentium® Processor Extreme Edition 840 Thermal and

Mechanical Design Guidelines.

Note: The boxed processor will ship with a component thermal solution. Refer to Chapter 7 for details on

the boxed processor.

To allow for the optimal operation and long-term reliability of Intel processor-based systems, the

system/processor thermal solution should be designed such that the processor remains within the

minimum and maximum case temperature (TC) specifications when operating at or below the

Thermal Design Power (TDP) value listed per frequency in Table 5 -1. Thermal solutions not

designed to provide this level of thermal capability may affect the long-term reliability of the

processor and system. For more details on thermal solution design, refer to the appropriate

processor thermal design guidelines.

The Pentium D processor has a methodology for managing processor temperatures that is intended

to support acoustic noise reduction through fan speed control. Selection of the appropriate fan

speed will be based on the temperature reported by the processor’s Thermal Diode. If the diode

temperature is greater than or equal to TCONTROL, then the processor case temperature must remain

at or below the temperature as specified by the thermal profile. If the diode temperature is less than

TCONTROL, then the case temperature is permitted to exceed the thermal profile, but the diode

temperature must remain at or below TCONTROL. Systems that implement fan speed control must

be designed to take these conditions into account. Systems that do not alter the fan speed only need

to ensure the case temperature meets the thermal profile specifications.

To determine a processor's case temperature specification based on the thermal profile, it is

necessary to accurately measure processor power dissipation. Intel has developed a methodology

for accurate power measurement that correlates to Intel test temperature and voltage conditions.