Cooling fans..general question...

advidadvid Posts: 609
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..why do dual and quad core tablets and mobile phones operate without a need for cooling fans when even an ssd laptop has to have one..surely a completely silent laptop can be built....?

Comments

  • flagpoleflagpole Posts: 44,641
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    Laptops do have fans.

    But generally battery powered devices are designed with low power consumption in mind. And this means less heat. Even more so mobile phones.
  • advidadvid Posts: 609
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    ...i know laptops have fans..thats why i'm asking the question....they also run off batteries...again..tha's why i'm asking the question....
  • [Deleted User][Deleted User] Posts: 2,583
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    Because laptops use different chips for their main processing as they are generally more powerful than tablets. The chips give off enough heat that fans are needed on them.

    Tablets are based mostly on Arm architecture which are designed to be low powered and efficient. Therefore can be cooled passively.

    I almost build a fanless PC it had a massive passive heatsink but the heat inside the case took it a little too warm for my liking so I added 1 very quiet fan. You can't get massive heatsinks in a laptop.

    There will be some convergence as Arm gets more and more powerful.

    I have just purchased a low powered Netbook, only runs at 9w for the processor but even that has a fan on it.
  • flagpoleflagpole Posts: 44,641
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    Alright smart arse. I misread the word tablet as laptop. The answer still stands.
  • RobinOfLoxleyRobinOfLoxley Posts: 27,040
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    As in 'Expenditure rises to match income', laptop component designers have always known there is enough power from a 'big' battery or mains to use all available power.

    Since this is many Watts, it needs cooling.

    (Smart)phones and tablets have much smaller batteries that don't have anything like the oomph.
    Natural convection and conduction is enough to keep them cool.
  • advidadvid Posts: 609
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    Ok guys...thats put that to rest...
    Heres another question....
    Why are cpu processors designed to be so small..
    Getting evermore onto a 'standard' size chip with ever narrower micro architecture onto the same width/size chip..
    Why not make them larger...i know this might slow them down a but even a 50 percent size/width would increase the amount of what could be put into it....
  • flagpoleflagpole Posts: 44,641
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    advid wrote: »
    Ok guys...thats put that to rest...
    Heres another question....
    Why are cpu processors designed to be so small..
    Getting evermore onto a 'standard' size chip with ever narrower micro architecture onto the same width/size chip..
    Why not make them larger...i know this might slow them down a but even a 50 percent size/width would increase the amount of what could be put into it....

    It doesn't work like that. There are many advantages to smaller chips. Not the least of which is power consumption.
  • [Deleted User][Deleted User] Posts: 2,583
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    advid wrote: »
    Ok guys...thats put that to rest...
    Heres another question....
    Why are cpu processors designed to be so small..
    Getting evermore onto a 'standard' size chip with ever narrower micro architecture onto the same width/size chip..
    Why not make them larger...i know this might slow them down a but even a 50 percent size/width would increase the amount of what could be put into it....

    Everytime they make advancements in the nano processing they manage to fit more onto same size. If you increase size its like going back a generation, same computational power bigger footprint.

    If you mean make em larger so you can get more transistors on and therefore more computing power then I guess there is nothing stopping them from putting a supercomputer onto a PCB but costs will dictate. You aren't going to get many customers if your average cpu is 10 grand or whatever.

    Advancements in electronics, transistor manufacture and chip design all lend themselves to making the same item in ever smaller/efficient/cheaper designs.
  • bobcarbobcar Posts: 19,424
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    advid wrote: »
    Ok guys...thats put that to rest...
    Heres another question....
    Why are cpu processors designed to be so small..
    Getting evermore onto a 'standard' size chip with ever narrower micro architecture onto the same width/size chip..
    Why not make them larger...i know this might slow them down a but even a 50 percent size/width would increase the amount of what could be put into it....

    Making them smaller makes them cheaper, faster and consume less power (for the same processing power). The reason you can have such a powerful computer on your desktop and even in your phone is because they are continually getting smaller, getting smaller was the driving force behind the entire microelectronics revolution. The reason some CPUs are still so expensive compared to some other chips is because their die size is so large in comparison as they become more powerful rather than shrinking as much.
  • bobcarbobcar Posts: 19,424
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    If you mean make em larger so you can get more transistors on and therefore more computing power then I guess there is nothing stopping them from putting a supercomputer onto a PCB but costs will dictate. You aren't going to get many customers if your average cpu is 10 grand or whatever.

    Also as you get larger the chances of a fault get greater, this can make a massive difference to the cost.
  • whoever,heywhoever,hey Posts: 30,992
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    The larger a component like a CPU is the more heat its going to generate as well to carry the energy across the gap.

    So again, smaller is less heat and consequently less energy in cooling or even the battery to power the lost heat.
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