Without proper cooling, the delicate electronics within a modern CPU can fry in seconds. Why waste all of that heat warming a room when you can do something useful like fry an egg?

The Setup and Obvious Warning(s)

We pieced together a suitable system for "Project Breakfast" using an MSI motherboard and Intel's 3.20E Pentium 4. Our cookware consisted of some fresh copper foil, a thick copper base from an old heat-sink, and generous amounts of thermal compound.

Our initial attempts at cooking with the 3.20E didn't fare so well. With a dab of thermal compound between our foil tray and the processor, the CPU couldn't make it past the BIOS POST. Adding the copper base allowed it to reach the Windows desktop, but the processor quickly overheated and initiated a system shutdown. That was the first time we have seen a CPU's thermal sensor report a temperature of over 200-degrees Fahrenheit. The Pentium 4's integrated Thermal Monitor was likely the only thing that saved the CPU from a fiery meltdown.

Scaling back to a 2.4c P4 processor worked much better. At idle, the CPU would hover around 170-degrees (F). Initiating Prime95's "torture test" mode pushed the reported temperature past 190-degrees (F). With the egg/tray/block in place, we managed to maintain system stability while cranking out a sunny-side-up every 10 minutes or so.

Obviously, there are better ways to cook breakfast. And, it's never a good idea to allow a CPU to reach the temperatures we did. One thing is for sure: We have a newfound respect for the lowly heat-sink. Considering the amount of heat today's CPUs need to dissipate, it's always a good idea to brush up on proper thermal compound application techniques.

Stay cool and cook safe.