If you’re unfamiliar with how hot a CPU can safely run, we’ve got an article dedicated specifically to answering that question.Ĭomputer components don’t mind the heat up to a point, but things can go south pretty quickly when they overheat. Your computer’s central processing unit (CPU) and graphics processing unit (GPU) can generate a lot of heat when you start up resource-intensive software or crank up the graphical settings in your favorite game.

Your computer doesn’t have to worry about getting muddy or rusty or soaked in torrential rain, though there is one big environmental factor that you need to keep in mind: heat.

They’re so powerful and complex, in fact, that it’s easy to forget that they’re just machines, not mystical boxes that run on magic and fairy dust.Īnd like most machines, computers won’t work right unless they’re well-maintained and in the right conditions. They perform billions of calculations a second, connect us to the rest of the world, and let us play awesome games with graphics that look as good or better than real life. These handy little graphs tell you exactly how your computer fans will respond in different situations, and they all follow a similar (and obvious) pattern: The fan spins faster as the temperature increases.Ĭomputers are powerful.

7 Final Recommendations What is a Fan Curve?Ī fan curve is simply a graph that shows how fast your fan spins when your computer hits certain temperatures, usually with temperature on the X axis and the fan speed (as a percentage of max speed) on the Y axis.

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