The same thing was happening with my GPU so I underclocked and undervolted it to hell using msi afterburner and now instead of getting 85 C during gaming sessions it’s around 70 C. my CPU fan is always loud. i think the thermal paste is gone. I’m not willing to take my computer apart because where my computer is it’s really awkward. rn the package temp is idling at 46-55 C, jumping every second. min temp is 45 C. the max temp is 80 C idling. i’m getting spikes in high temperature that last a second or so but when I’m playing a game it can spike to 95-100 C
What nobody has yet mentioned is that redoing the thermal paste is dead simple, and doesn’t carry any significant risk.
Make sure you’re grounding yourself by touching the metal case frequently. Open the case, unclip the CPU fan, clean the old paste off with isopropyl alcohol and a lint-free wipe (both the fan and CPU). Use as high a concentration of alcohol that you can lay hands on, and eyeglass wipes and gun cleaning patches are lint free. While the fan is off, hold the blade still and blow off all the dust with some canned air. Dab of thermal paste, between the size of a grain of rice and a pea, right in the middle of the CPU. Don’t spread it. Clamp the fan back on, done and done.
As long as you’re taking the fan off, might be worth investing in a new fan at the same time.
Also give that radiator a good whiff of canned air while the fan is off. Dust can accumulate there too.
the case will only ground you until you disconnect the power, which you probably should do before doing things in there. for your safety, and for when a screw falls to the wrong place
Ground is a very relative concept in electronics. You are correct about earth ground, but if the case is unplugged and you touch it, you are still grounding yourself to chassis ground. Chassis ground is the important one for this since the danger isn’t electrocution (assuming the PC is unplugged) but electrostatic discharge (ESD) that can damage components.
This is still a massive simplification of the concept of ground.
but is it enough that way to touch the case frequently? I thought you would need to touch it constantly while touching things inside
If your worried you can get a wrist band that attaches you to the case/ground for a few dollars. You really just need to touch something that would discharge the static before grabbing a part. The real risk is everything in the PC is bloodthirsty and wants to cut you.
I joked about blood on my soundcard at an IT job.
Because yes, I managed to cut myself installing a sound card.
The younger guys were just like, “Sound card?”
Unless you really need something specific, the stuff built into mobos is fine these days.
The PC generally won’t boot till you pay the blood toll.
Good enough! You only need to discharge any static your currently (heh) carrying. Unless you’re rolling around on the carpet in an arid room, you’ll be fine.
When you shock yourself on a doorknob, notice how you don’t get shocked again?
ok, but where do you discharge that static electricity to? where does it go? or is it more about “dispersing it” so that both you and the case and everything inside have roughly the same amount?
yeah true, probably it is about dispersing it. didn’t really think about this much before
I believe - and @[email protected] will correct me if I’m wrong - that as long as the static charge differential between you and the equipment is low enough, there’s no concern about damaging static electricity flow through components. Touching the case, even if it’s not earth grounded, will discharge any potential you’re holding into the case. Then the difference between you and the components will be small enough to be safe.