Computer Temperatures – Do You Ever Check Yours?
Most of us keep an eye on how quickly our computers are running, but how often do we check their temperatures?Modern processors and graphics cards have built-in temperature sensors, and most will automatically reduce their performance if they become too hot.
This is known as thermal throttling.
A few things can contribute to higher temperatures:
- Dust building up in fans and heatsinks.
- Poor airflow around the computer.
- Fans that aren't working properly.
- Dried or poorly applied thermal paste.
- Heavy workloads such as gaming or video editing.
Windows: HWiNFO or HWMonitor.
Linux: lm-sensors, Psensor or KDE's System Monitor.
One thing worth remembering is that there's no single ideal temperature for every processor. What's normal depends on the hardware and what the computer is doing.
I've been monitoring temperatures on my Linux PC and Raspberry Pi recently, and it's interesting seeing how they change depending on the workload.
Does anyone here monitor their computer temperatures, or do you just leave the cooling system to look after itself?
And has anyone ever solved a performance problem simply by cleaning out the dust?
