Monitor your CPU temperature to avoid a meltdown

Computer overheating is something that can be detrimental to your computer, and while most newer computers have devices (both hardware and software) to prevent this from happening, it is still a common occurrence. Mainly due to higher-powered video cards for intense gaming or watching movies online, faster CPU speeds overall, and even something called overclocking. There are many signs to pay attention to to see if your CPU temperature is too high, some of them you may not even realize that this would be the cause.

Things to keep in mind are the following:

* The computer restarts unexpectedly.

* In the middle of a game and it seems that each frame is moving slower and slower than the previous one.

* Your computer crashes too often.

* The computer suddenly crashes.

* Things start to go very slow, which used to be fast.

* You must listen to the sounds that the fans make. Do they sound like they’re constantly working, or do they sound sporadic, loud at times and then sound like they’re not working?

Generally, the CPU temperature will start to rise as the computer is used continuously. Heat will start to build up and eventually lead to overheating. If you live in a hot climate and don’t have adequate cooling in your work area, this could also speed up heat production inside the computer.

As you can imagine, high CPU temperatures that cause overheating can, in turn, cause hardware failure and worse, a fried motherboard, although most computers these days have built-in protections (like the system reboot).

Most motherboards now incorporate a way to monitor the CPU temperature in the BIOS settings. During your computer startup, you’ll want to enter BIOS and go to PC Health or Power. You should be able to see what the temperatures are for both the CPU and the system. If you don’t want to have to do this every time to check, you can also install software within your Windows system that will monitor the CPU temperature at all times. However, you need to make sure that your motherboard allows it.

Normal CPU temperatures for processors made by Intel are typical idle: 40 to 55 Load: 55 to 85, tend to run higher and hotter than AMD, which is idle: 30 to 45 Load: 50 to 70 .

If your CPU temperature seems to be very high, you may want to take some steps to try to alleviate this. A simple measure is to open one side of the tower to let in air (but be aware that a lot of dust can get in and will get in). Another is to add or replace the processor heat sink with a better one. You should also regularly dust (with compressed air or a foot pump) the fans both inside the computer and at the power supply. Lastly, try to keep your computer in a cool work area.