What is the main long-term effect of high temperatures on computer components?
Overall damage. Transistors burn out when exposed to high temperature for long periods of time. Connections at high temperatures are also more prone to oxidation and therefore their electrical resistance will increase over time. Generally integrated circuits are tested before hand for temperature sensitivity, but some of the very small connections have a small probability of expanding, disconnecting or shorting, so in computers they put large fans to try to control the temperature.
