Has your computer ever spontaneously crashed or even shut down during an intense gaming session? Then you may want to monitor your system hardware. While a computer may close down mid-game for a variety of different reasons, one of the main culprits is a scorching hot CPU.
In most cases, heat shouldn’t be an issue so long as everything is running smoothly. Although you’re very likely to experience a drop in performance if you’re constantly hitting high temps. In the long-term, high temperatures can even shorten the lifespan of the chip. This is something that nobody should want to experience, especially after investing in a high-performance CPU for gaming.
That being said, if you’re dealing with temperatures higher than 80°C, something definitely isn’t running as it should be. Chances are, the issue is easily solvable, but if you own an older system, you may need to go out and purchase some new fans to keep things cool. Albeit, since there are so many reasons as to why CPU temperatures may be higher than they should be, we decided to put together a guide on how to reduce CPU temperatures.
This way, you won’t experience a performance drop during important matches.
What Happens If Your CPU Overheats?
Before we jump straight into our guide, we should first inform you of the risks involved when a CPU overheats. First of all, if overheating occurs during intense gaming sessions, then you may experience a drop in performance. Competitive players should especially avoid high CPU temps as it could mean the difference between winning a ranked game.
Do you know what’s worse than a performance drop? Your computer freezing up or even close down, causing those important Overwatch matches to end before your very eyes. Furthermore, if you happen to see your CPU hitting these high temperatures every single day, the lifespan of your chip may even shorten.
So, roughly what temperature should your processor be when gaming? Or, more importantly, what temperature should you avoid reaching?
What Is the Best Temperature for Your Processor?
Despite the fact that everyone should generally aim to stay below 75-80°C, the ideal maximum temperature will completely depend on the CPU you own. If you don’t know what the safest maximum core temperature is for your specific CPU, you can simply check this in BIOS or via third-party apps.
Related: How to Update BIOS
If you happen to own one of the best Intel processors for gaming, then you can easily check the temperature junction maximum (Tj. Max) using programs such as Core Temp. By using these programs, you will also be able to view the temperature of each core to see how everything is running.
With that being said, this is merely the maximum temperature that your CPU can handle before problems start to emerge. Constantly hitting such temps will inevitably shorten the lifespan of your CPU. Which is why we advise you to follow the below guide in order to understand what temperatures are normal/abnormal:
- Under 60°C: Everything is perfectly fine!
- 60-70°C: Things are running fine, though you may want to check for dust in your computer fans.
- 70-80°C: Unless you’re overclocking, things are getting a little hotter than they should be. At this point, you should check your cooling fans.
- 80-90°C: Your CPU is getting far too hot, especially for long-term gaming. You shouldn’t push your CPU further than this.
- Over 90°C: Keep away from temperatures this high. This will certainly destroy your CPU in the long-run.
Top Ways to Decrease Your CPU Temperatures
If you’ve recently noticed that you’re regularly experiencing CPU temperatures of over 80°C, then something certainly isn’t running as it should be. Luckily, there are many steps you can take in order to fix such a problem. This is why we have listed the best ways to reduce CPU temperatures to prevent your computer from freezing up or even shutting down during those important ranked games.
Allow for Better Airflow
One of, if not the, easiest things you can do to reduce the temperature of your CPU is to merely give it room to breathe. Simply changing the location of your computer will dictate how much cold air can be pulled into your system by the fans. Which in turn, will inevitably help cool your processor when it starts hitting those high temperatures. Free space will also enable the fans to push the hot air out of your case to prevent additional problems.
If your computer is sat under a desk, then you should consider changing the location of your PC to allow for better airflow. For this reason, we highly recommend placing your computer next to or even on top of your desk so long as nothing is blocking the sides. If you have no other choice but to put your PC under a desk, then you must make sure that there is at least a couple of inches of free space on either side of the case.
Improve Cable Management
If you’re obsessed with cable management and you often find yourself scrolling away at r/CableManagement for hours on end, then you probably don’t need to worry about this step. On the contrary, if your computer looks like a pigsty, then you may want to consider tidying up those cables in order to improve overall airflow.
As to be expected, cables take up a massive amount of space on your computer, especially if you have multiple GPUs. As a result, messy cables can reduce how effectively air can flow through your system throughout the day. Therefore, if the cables inside your PC are a mess, you should attempt to tidy them up using some cable ties.
Clean Your Computer
Over time, computer fans accumulate everything from dust to cat hair, which will inevitably cause your fans to slow down and even stop. To prevent such problems from arising, we highly recommend cleaning your case fans out several times a year. In order to do this, you’ll have to shut off your computer, open the case (remember to put it back on) and use compressed air to blow the dust away. When doing this, remember to hold the fans while blowing dust away as allowing them to spin can cause additional issues.
If you’re curious about how to clean the fans inside your gaming laptop, then you may want to refer to our handy guide on how to clean laptop fans safely.
Keep the Case Closed
Now that you’ve finally decided to clean the dust off your case fans, for the love of everything that is holy keep the case closed! While some people understandably think that opening the case open will keep things cool, it can actually cause more damage than good.
Doing something as simple as keeping the case closed will reduce the amount of dust that can get inside the system. Reducing the amount of dust that can get inside your PC is vital as it’s one of the main reasons things go wrong: it clogs up fans and blocks up vents, causing your hardware to fry.
Install Some Case Fans
Is your CPU still hot enough to cook bacon on? Maybe your fans are coming to the end of their life? Then you may want to pick up some brand new case fans for your computer. Installing one or two new case fans can help airflow through your computer more efficiently, reducing the risk of overheating. If you don’t have some additional fans already, then we highly recommend installing some in order to reduce the temperature of your CPU.
You could even invest in some sleek RGB case fans to keep everything looking fresh.
Upgrade Your CPU Cooler
If your processor is fairly old, then it may be time to upgrade the CPU cooler to keep things running smoothly. Even if your CPU is fairly new, you should still consider opting for an efficient CPU cooler, rather than settling for the stock fans. Investing in a CPU cooler is especially important for those of you who tend to overclock your CPU, causing it to overheat.
This is due to the fact that high-quality CPU fans will help keep CPU temperatures much lower than the stock fans that come with the processor.
You may even want to invest in a low profile CPU cooler if you own a smaller computer case such as a mini-ITX.
Apply Some Thermal Paste
On the topic of an older processor, it may be time to remove and apply some new thermal paste to your chip. Simply applying thermal paste can improve heat transferring results between the CPU and the heat sink. Which in turn, will reduce the overall temperature of your processor.
If you don’t know how to properly apply high-quality thermal paste to your chip, then you may wish to refer to our handy guide on how to apply thermal paste.
After all, applying it wrong could potentially damage your computer, something you certainly want to avoid.
Conclusion
At the end of the day, there may be many reasons as to why your computer is randomly freezing up or even shutting off mid-game. That being said, the main culprit is often high CPU temperatures caused by something as small as dust. Since these high temperatures can damage your computer in the long-run, it’s best to reduce them where possible. Which is why we decided to create the above step-by-step guide on how to reduce CPU temperatures. Did you manage to lower the temperature of your processor using our guide? Let us know how you did in the comments below!
Fancy learning more about processors? Then you may enjoy checking out our CPU hierarchy guide. In the article, we ranked every AMD and Intel processor-based on its overall performance. This way, you’ll be able to find the right processor for you and your personal requirements.