Electromigration: It’s Atomic!
ACPUworks thanks to the flow of electricity through microscopic electronic components made fromsemiconductormaterials.
As electricity moves through the CPU’s circuits, heat is generated.
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Related:What Is a Semiconductor, and Why Is There a Shortage?
If this happens long enough, it can cause that circuit to fail.
The Two Types of Electromigration Failure
Electromigration can break a circuit in one of two ways.
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The first is by creating a void in the circuit line.
This is the equivalent of cutting the cord on a lamp: the lights go out!
The second pop in of fault triggered by electromigration is a short circuit.
This happens when so much wire material is shored up that it invades a neighboring wire.
Should You Worry About Electromigration?
Related:What Is Overclocking?
Modern CPUs are also highly-advanced in controlling their temperatures and performance.
They can protect themselves from heat-related degradation even when the computer’s operator might not be particularly careful.
In general, you’ll simply experiencethermal throttlingor at worst a system shutdown to protect the CPU.
Related:What Is Thermal Throttling?
