Carnal Self-Knowledge, A DIY Multimedia PC

Page 4

The BIOS in the Biostar TF7050-M2 make it very easy to overclock the computer for novices and experts alike.  If you are new to the overclocking game, the TF7050-M2 BIOS has three different automatic settings that raise total computer performance, from CPU to memory, in one easy step. 

But if you want to get into it, there are a host of BIOS settings that you can manually play with to individually increase CPU, memory, PCI and PCIe speeds, plus some other system goodies you can tweak.

If you decide to take the manual overclock plunge and inadvertently overdo it, have no fear.  All that will happen, at worst, is the system goes all shaky and won’t boot into the operating system. Fortunately for you, the TF7050-M2 has its stealth Self Recover System, which is not seen in the BIOS settings and is always on.

If the TF7050-M2 detects an oh-my-god, you crazy fool situation at startup, it doesn’t blast an arroogah! It just automatically logs you in using the default (safe) BIOS settings and all your madman overclock setting are reset back to sanity.

Without getting into all the gory details, basically, when you overclock you are pumping up the CPU frequency, which works in direct proportion to system performance. But to maintain system stability as you goose up the frequency, CPU voltage also must be increased.  Higher frequency = higher voltage = more electricity = more heat.

You can do the same frequency/voltage trick with DRAM, which also means even more heat boiling off the computer, which must exit the case in some good fashion; otherwise, well, draw your own meltdown conclusions.

So, maybe now you know why a small one-story computer server farm consumes as much electricity as a 60-story office building. The huge power supply drain at server farms is a natural consequence of the second law of thermodynamics, which in one form states that irreversible processes create entropy (which can be loosely stated as heat). AND gates, one of the most fundamental logic elements within a microprocessor, are presently designed to work in only one direction, and are thus irreversible in their operation.

 

Thus, whenever an AND gate clears (destroys) one bit of data, it also generates heat. Badda-boom! No coincidence that all those California power crises typically happen first in Silicon Valley, which is ground zero for probably the highest concentration of server farms and bit burning AND gates in the world. Entropy is killing them — and California’s lights. The rest of our worldwide silicon economy is next for lights out. And BTW, say hello to global warming.