Also discusses high temps, and any things that should NOT be stored in garages that reach temperature extremes. Details what might happen.
TLDR quotes:
At temperatures lower than 41 degrees Fahrenheit, it is likely the electronics will become unstable and display erratic behavior.
Most electronics are designed to continue operating at temperatures up to 120 degrees Fahrenheit (50 degrees Celsius). At temperatures higher than 120 degrees Fahrenheit, the electronic can reach its thermal limit, causing components to fail and degrade.
The problem is atmosphere and the water vapor in it. Drop the temp too much and the water condenses out of the air on to the electronics. That can cause ice which causes extreme mechanical stress as it form and expands. Also you can get high thermal gradient across components. All of this causes mechanical stress and things crack.
Really the limits are more about packaging / jointing material science rather that the electronics. For the electronics themselves, the limit is absolute zero when the electrons stop moving.
It’s more like, chips are tuned to operate in the same environment as we do.
Chips usually work better under cold conditions but may need higher voltages to compensate. That’s why extreme overclockers use liquid nitrogen. I had a phone I had to overvolt during winter for it to not crash when it goes too idle.
Heat affects conductivity and leakage currents especially in tiny circuits. More heat more conductivity, that’s why chips that run hot are sometimes susceptible to thermal runaway: they get so hot they conduct more which produces more heat until it fries. That’s also why chips being cooled better tend to reduce power consumption, or crash when they get too hot. Similarly, if they’re too cold, the given voltage may no longer be enough for it to switch fast enough and signals to make it all the way in time.
You can go really pretty cold if you give it extra juice. Just also have to account that the chip will produce a bit more heat, so depending on the cooling solution, the temperature differential between off and full power can be pretty big which would affect the ideal input voltages. It could need much more to start up but quickly require less as it heats up so it doesn’t immediately overheat. But with active temperature and performance monitoring like modern CPUs do, we could in theory expand the range a fair bit. Sometimes it’s easier to throw a heater at it.
Construction materials can also affect that, as metals shrink and expand in the cold and heat. That could cause the tiny wires to break especially if there’s big heat cycling.
