A computer is an appliance made up of several electronic pieces that receive continuous energy and heat up. In the summer, then, when the heat becomes heavy and temperatures rise, the computer heats up more and needs to send out this heat by making the fans spin madly. Those who own older PCs could therefore hear the fans spinning fast, making an annoying noise. A very high heat could also ruin pieces of the computer such as the CPU or the graphics card which, without melting, could become covered with droplets of steam which, inevitably, can damage the device.
For this reason, a computer, especially a laptop, could turn off suddenly, to prevent the pieces from being damaged.
READ ALSO: Solving Laptop cooling problems
In these times, cooling the computer and keeping it cool is essential to not risk damaging the interior and also to avoid the annoying noise of the fans and the excessive consumption of energy.
I have found 8 solutions to cool a PC that overheats, more or less effective, free or otherwise cheap.
1) Allow a continuous flow of air
The easiest thing to do to keep your PC cool is to breathe it so that the back and sides are free of obstacles. It is necessary to allow the heat to go out of the case through the heat sink, thus avoiding to attach the PC to the wall or at a corner or to close it inside a piece of furniture.
Cold air enters from the front and sometimes from the sides of the case, so if you close it in a desk all day, the hot air recycles inside, raising the temperature without end. If the place where the computer is located is too hot or too dirty, consider changing the location by placing it in a cooler area, perhaps near an air conditioner.
2) An "urban legend" about cooling PCs is that if you remove the case and leave the computer open, it will stay cooler.
This is also true because it would be open to the air from all sides but by no means practical and not even advantageous because the electronic parts would tend to cover themselves with dust faster and it would be necessary to clean it every day.
Dirt is perhaps the main cause of computer overheating .
After some time, you will be able to see how the dust obstructs the air intakes outside the case, so it is easy to imagine that the situation inside could be even worse. Dust and dirt bring heaviness to the fans who have to strain more and turn faster than usual.
In a guide of this blog you can read the guide to clean your computer and fans from dust and dirt .
3) Change the CPU fans
The processor, the CPU, is the most sensitive and expensive part of the computer and also the one that suffers the most from overheating.
If the pc is a bit old, a small expense to change the fan with a better and bigger one above the processor would be an absolutely necessary expense. Changing the fan is less difficult than expected, it unscrews and re-starts, however, unless you have experience, you will still need to contact a technician to make the change and to find out which type of fan to buy.
4) Changing the case with one that has two built-in fans, one to move the cold air into the PC and another to blow the hot air out of the PC, is a great way to keep a computer cool. Changing the case fans is easier than the CPU fans so it can also be done independently at home, without fear of getting inside the computer.
4) Stop any Overclocking
Who does not know what overclocking is, probably does not have to worry about this, unless the pc has been configured by a friend or technician.
Overclocking pushes the computer's capabilities to its limits and is a function that can be activated in many new computers, in the bios settings.
Obviously, increasing the power of the processor or graphics card also leads to a greater overheating of these pieces.
For the video card, you can read this article on overclocking the ATI Radeon graphics card with AMD Overdrive while, in general, there are some control software for CPU and video card, to increase the performance of the computer.
5) Replace the power supply if old or noisy
The power supply in the PC always has a large heatsink or built-in fan. The air you feel putting a hand behind the computer comes from this fan. If the case does not have its own fans, the power supply fan is the only way to cool the inside of the computer. Unfortunately, you cannot simply replace only the power supply fan but you have to change the whole piece. If the PC makes too much noise, it is certainly the fault of the power supply heatsink.
6) It is true that the CPU is the main producer of heat in the computer, but the other components also heat up .
Using programs to keep temperatures under control, it would not be wrong to consider buying specific fans for RAM memory or for the graphics card.
7) On laptop PCs a cooling base can be installed to be placed under the computer.
A cooling base costs 15 Euros and can be purchased online on Amazon.
On high-end PCs you can also install a water cooling kit that can drastically reduce the temperature of a CPU.
The cost of a heatsink with liquid cooling system is higher, around 100 Euros.
8) As seen in another guide, you can reduce fan speed and computer noise through some free programs like Speedfan.
In another article there is also a free program to control the energy consumption and the temperature of the computer .
In the image above, the Cool-It PC Case that I don't think is for sale somewhere.
READ ALSO: How to keep the laptop cool
