Computer Shopper - UK (2019-12)

ADVANCEDPROJECTS

ISSUE 382|COMPUTER SHOPPER|DECEMBER 2019 125

POORCOOLINGMAKESforavery
annoying PC. Whirringfans are distracting
whether you’re working or tryingto enjoy
some music orafilm. Even worse,
overheating components can cause your
PC to crash. It’s worth checking your
coolingevery so often, particularly after
installing some flashy new hardware.Even a
£5 fancan makeabig difference.
First, you needto assess your current
cooling and identify any issues. If your PC is
loud when it’s not doing anything, you have

two potential problems: either you have a

very cool PC and yourfans are working

harder than theyneed to,ory ou haveahot

PC and your cooling isn’t really adequate.

Youcan tell if your PC is proneto

overheating, or which component might be

overheating, as thefans will spin up and

become quiteloud when you’re running

certain software or working onaparticular

task. If your PC is loud when you’re editing

videos or batch-processing images, your

processor is probably running hot. If gaming

turnsyourPCintoawindtunnel,yourgraphics

card is probably the culprit, but your CPU’s

cooler could also be workingtoohard.

FINDINGTHECAUSE

Youcan do afew quick manualtests to check

if your cooling is adequate. With your PC

running, open your case and carefullytouch

all the heatsinks (toavoid static, discharge

yourself onaradiator first). If your PC is idling,

the heatsinks should be warm but not hot.

Cold heatsinks might indicateapoor contact

with the chip underneath: the chip will be

runningfartoo hot, so you’ll needto reattach

the heatsink. Conversely,ift he heatsink is

scorching hot, it’s not getting enough airflow.

While you’re poking around, try stopping

the fans: just press gently on the solid

portion at the centre,asp oking anything into

the spinning blades can cause damage,for

example,toy our fingers. It’s fineto do this

forasecond or two; you won’t damage the

motor or cause anythingto overheat.By

stopping eachfanindividually,you might be

able to find aloud one that you can replace.

Aloud fanblowing hard onto acool yet

well-seated heatsink might be an opportunity

to dial down thefanspeed. Youshould be

able to do this via the BIOS, so check your

motherboard’s manual. However,before

lowering yourfanspeeds, you needto

check what your cooling is like when your

PC is working hard, andforthat you’ll

need to run stress-test tools.

⬆It’s worth checking the cooling inside your PC regularly,and especially if you’ve just installedanew pieceof hardware

Youcan tell if your PC is proneto overheating as thefans

will spin up and become quiteloud

⬆Don’t poke anything intothe fanblades while
they’re spinning, as you could cause some damage