How does a computer overheating make it perform worse actively?

Question

I understand the increased degradation of parts over time, but what is the heat doing to make a computer perform worse in real time?

In: 13

Answer 1

While fan controllers and chips themselves are very good at regulating temperature it is because chips work effectively below certain temperatures and irreversibly degrade after certain temperatures. After all silicon and other semiconductors have thermal expansion, a melting point and autoignition points just like any other material.