Gamers all across the world know very well how the CPU temperature while gaming gets higher and higher. All of the PCs turn into heat-emitting machines if spoken frankly. However, overheating is something that can cause multiple issues. Therefore, it is important to learn about the suitable CPU temperature to prevent any issues.
Key Takeaways
- CPU temperatures can increase significantly while gaming.
- Overheating can cause different problems, including hardware failure.
- Overheating can be decreased by installing a cooling system designed for PC.
- CPU temperature can be measured by downloading CORE TEMP or CPUID HWMonitor.
- There are plenty of ways through which you can reduce the temperature of your CPU while gaming.
CPUs Get Hot While Gaming – Why Is That?
CPU acts as the heart of a computer. Without it, the computer won’t work. Why do they get hot while gaming? The answer is simple; there is a flow of electricity to the CPU, and electricity flow is the flow of electrons. The collision between the electrons is called resistance, and due to resistance, heat is produced. The temperature is a measure of this heat.
CPUs do not get damaged easily due to temperature; they are made in such a way to bear the increments in heat. Yet there are limitations like everything has.
What Is Thermal Throttling?
Imagine you’re playing a competitive match, and at your absolute best, the PC shuts down. Sounds familiar, right? Such a situation can cause frustration. Why does this happen? The answer is overheating. Well, not always. But at times when you don’t pay any attention to the temperatures of your CPU.
Heat can cause different issues, and this is where thermal throttling comes in. Thanks to it, if your CPU is getting too hot, it will cool it down. If it heats way more, it goes to the second safety option, which is, shutting down automatically.
Temperatures Zones Of CPU
There are supposed to be three different zones of the temperature of your CPU.
1. Safe Zone
Below 70 degrees Celsius or 158 degrees Fahrenheit, you are supposed to be in the safe zone. It’s OK; you may keep playing and do not need to stress about anything.
2. Mediocre Zone
The mediocre zone is the one which is between 70-80 degrees Celsius and 158-175 degrees Fahrenheit. This zone is safe but closer to the danger zone. You need to stay in this zone while gaming, if possible.
3. Danger Zone
This zone is the one that you should be aware of. The limitations which we talked about earlier cross here. About 85-90 degrees Celsius or about 185-194 degrees Fahrenheit or above, this temp might turn out very dangerous for your CPU. This zone is not healthy for your PC.
Beyond the mediocre zone, i.e, the danger zone, damage to the CPU is imminent.
How To Tell If The CPU Is Getting Hotter
You can measure the temperature of your CPU in various ways. There are some CPUs that come with integrated temperature sensors through which you can monitor the temperature. On the other hand, you can measure the temperature by having third-party software, which includes Core Temp or CPUID HWMonitor, in real time.
This software tells the following details:
- Average and Peak temp
- Tells about the GPU, motherboard, and other temperature details.
Bear in mind that the temp of the CPU is affected by the workload. Similarly, the temperature of your CPU also depends on the surrounding temperature. If it’s hot outside, then your temperature will get hot too. So, we recommend you have a room with good ventilation and airflow. A room that remains cool keeps the PC cool.
Finally, you should always know that all different CPUs have different ranges of safe temperatures. However, the overall temperature does not vary that much.
What Happens If CPU Temp While Gaming Is High?
High CPU consumption is not a problem of high level in itself. However, CPUs are designed to operate at maximum capacity for years or even decades. The use of your CPU at 100% does not harm it.
However, extreme heat is an issue. Although colder temperatures are preferred for CPU operation, 70 degrees Celcius isn’t too awful. Your CPU’s lifespan may be shortened if you’re near the 80-degree mark.
Making your PC outwork, like letting it be turned on for higher periods of time, can decrease the life of your PC by 1-2 years, even though it might otherwise last for 10 years. Long-term running in temperatures exceeding 85 degrees Celsius can badly harm your CPU.
Your PC might be thermally throttled if your CPU does reach excessive temps. When you don’t listen to computer needs, it stands up for itself. In order to cool down, it self-throttles and reduces its temperature by taking a bit of rest when it reaches the temperature of around 90 degrees Celsius.
Your game can experience issues as a result of this variation in CPU power. Additionally, suppose the CPU hasn’t been calibrated properly to operate at full power. In that case, you can experience stability problems as a result of the CPU not receiving enough or consistent enough power.
How To Reduce CPU Temperature
You can reduce the temperature in many ways. Some of the most common methods are mentioned below.
Cleaning Your PC
Clean the Dust. The CPU has to have ventilation. If there lies dust on it, the airflow obits low; consequently, the CPU gets an increment in the temperature. Which you don’t want, do you? Here are some guides related to cleaning.
Are CPU Fans Working?
Check whether the fans of the CPU are working properly or not. Again, this is also for the ventilation of the CPU. As the CPU produces a lot of heat, there are in-built little fans to keep the temperature of the CPU low. Check if they are working properly. If they are not working properly or working at low speed, get them checked by the technician or get new ones. Here are some relevent articles that might be useful.
Are you Overclocking? If Yes, Then Don’t.
Do not do overclocking. People tend to increase the speed of their processor more than it is originally intended for. This is overclocking. Hence, as a result, the temperature rises. So, do not overclock if you are already experiencing heating issues.
Increase The RAM
If your RAM has low storage and your game is taking up a lot of space, your processor is in trouble. Your processor is making a lot of effort to let you access the game. So, try to increase the RAM. This will result in your processor emitting less heat eventually.
Install A Cooling System
There are PCs that overheat a lot. Yours can too. This is where a cooling system comes in. There are powerful systems designed to avoid overheating. CPU coolers are available in a variety of forms and sizes, so it’s safe to conclude that the larger the heatsink or radiator, the more effective it is.
When it comes to a fan, the larger, the better. Large fans may revolve slowly while circulating a lot of air, and since they move at a slower speed, they are typically considerably quieter.
If you just have a low-power CPU, maybe 40 watts to 70 watts, there isn’t any reason for you to invest in a large cooler. Instead, go for the less expensive, small to medium-sized CPU cooler. You should choose larger, more efficient CPU cooling if your CPU is near or higher than 70watts. Speaking of coolers, make sure to check out our guide on how to test CPU coolers.
Have Good Ventilation In Your Room
To maintain a good CPU temperature while gaming, we recommend that your PC is located close to a window or some other area where air can easily flow. Keep it away from the corners of your space where it will get crowded with other furniture.
Avoid placing it on the ground because doing so will allow your PC to inhale all the dust there, turning it into a very costly vacuum. Over time, this can harm the parts of your computer. Due to the significant impact that dust and airflow have on CPU temperature during gaming, all of these factors affect it.
Apply Thermal Paste
Thermal paste is extremely important, and many PC users fail to understand this. If you haven’t changed your CPU’s thermal paste in the last few months, now would be the right time to do so. Why? Well, thermal paste is used to keep the temperatures low. If it’s dried out, the temperatures will start increasing. The obvious indicator of this is when your CPU temps start to increase even when you are doing the same task as before.
Conclusion
Hopefully, after reading our guide, you have learned about the ideal CPU temperature while gaming. CPUs are made to bear high temperatures. Yet there are some limits to it. The components might burn up and be out of order if their temperature becomes unbearable. Cooling down the CPU is the key to longevity. Keep monitoring the temperature regularly. Do not let it go above 85 degrees Celsius.
Possible solutions one can take to overcome overheating are; not overclocking, installing the cooling system, keeping the surroundings cool, keeping the CPU clean, making sure that fans keep working, and applying the thermal paste of the CPU if required.
Frequently Asked Questions
Yes. Your computer must remain in the range of 80-85 degrees Celsius. Otherwise, it can damage the CPU.
Due to CPU overheating, throttling is activated. Through this, the PC cools down itself by lowering the speed. By this, the CPU temp while gaming gets lowered. If the temp is very high, then the CPU shuts itself down to keep things safe.
Yes. One of the major reasons why processors suffer the most from heat is because of lower storage. When bigger software like games start and run, they take up a lot of space in the computer, and if your RAM is not sufficient, your CPU will hang. It will overheat to do the required task. Hence your increment in the RAM might help.
Exceeding 90 degrees celsius temp is very harmful and dangerous for the PC. If not turned off, the PC will start to do thermal throttling. Thermal throttling happens to decrease the temp. If this isn’t enough, your CPU or whatever you’re straining it with will almost certainly crash shortly after.
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Ali Rashid Khan is an avid gamer, hardware enthusiast, photographer, and devoted litterateur with a period of experience spanning more than 14 years. Sporting a specialization with regards to the latest tech in flagship phones, gaming laptops, and top-of-the-line PCs, Ali is known for consistently presenting the most detailed objective perspective on all types of gaming products, ranging from the Best Motherboards, CPU Coolers, RAM kits, GPUs, and PSUs amongst numerous other peripherals. When he’s not busy writing, you’ll find Ali meddling with mechanical keyboards, indulging in vehicular racing, or professionally competing worldwide with fellow mind-sport athletes in Scrabble at an international level. Currently speaking, Ali has completed his A-Level GCEs with plans to go into either Allopathic Medicine or Business Studies, or who knows, perhaps a full-time dedicated technological journalist.
