Fan Spring and CPU cooling?
My cpu has a standard heat sink (metal fins) with a fan blowing on it.
And a set of springclips to hold the fan heatsink tightly against the CPU, I know exactly what he’s talking about some of them can be a real bitch to lock in. Some of the early Intel PIII Mobo’s and cooling fans could be a major pain, resulted in more than a few physically damaged boards.
AMD did make a number of CPU’s that would boil coffee quite nicely a couple of development cycles back. They got a real rep for it, and drove CPU cooling tech to an entirely new level. The Computer discussion boards were overrun with stories just like Gary told. Intel’s product gets hot, but AMD’s gets dammed hot!
Side note, that was the reason you saw a lot of liquid cooling systems on the market for a while.
As for Moore’s Law?
Cost driven delay IMHO, the chip manufacturers have begun pushing the limits of physics in their latest and greatest. When conductors and components get to a certain size (think almost nanometer dimensions), Quantum Effects begin to play larger and larger havoc on electrical theory. Not to mention sensitivity to heat and physical shock.
To continue the race for more speed and power the very basic architecture will most likely have to change.