How Do I Stop My Motherboard From Overheating?

The motherboard is the main component of a PC, and all other hardware components are attached to it. 

Motherboards have ICs, capacitors, and all other essential components that support other hardware and become a bridge between them. Different types of motherboards exist, including small and large form factors. Even with the latest technology, motherboards are not immune to issues. 

One such issue is overheating. Many users have reported that their motherboard is overheating. So, if you are one of these users, you are in the right place. Here, we will discuss the reasons behind this overheating and how you can resolve it. So, stay with us.

How Do I Stop My Motherboard From Overheating?

To avoid motherboard overheating, always ensure proper cooling and ventilation of all components. These components are the main cause of this issue. Moreover, the power supply unit, tangled cables, and high room temperature are also the main culprits. But fortunately, all these are resolvable issues.

Motherboards have many components directly or indirectly attached to them. These are also known as hardware. These hardware components affect the temperature of the motherboard and other related parts. Here are a few tips on stopping the motherboard from overheating.

Clean Your Hardware

Cleaning your hardware is essential to avoid motherboard overheating. Dust and debris accumulate with the passage of time on different parts, including fans, CPU coolers, GPUs, and RAMs, leading to overheating. Fans, including the case and coolers, must be clean for proper ventilation.

The accumulation of dust causes stress on components, and as a result, they start to overheat. When the components are not getting enough air to cool down, they start to heat up and transfer that heat to their adjacent component, which is usually the motherboard. So, if any of your parts are getting too hot because of dust, that heat will be transferred to the motherboard.

Periodic cleaning of the PC must be done to avoid this issue. You can use an air blower or canned air to clean your PC. Most importantly, always pay attention to the PC fans. If you see any dust, clean it immediately to avoid dust accumulation.

Check Your Fans or Add Some More

There are several fans in a PC, including the case ventilation fans, the CPU fan, the GPU fan, and the power supply unit fan. All these fans have only one task, to eliminate the heat accumulating inside the component. But like any other component, these fans get older and slow down. Which negatively affects their functioning.

Due to slow performance, the fan could not provide proper ventilation, resulting in overheating, eventually affecting the motherboard. So, you must check your fans regularly to avoid such an issue. You can also use third-party applications like SpeedFan to monitor your fans’ speeds.

Ensure Right Fan Placement

If you have custom-built your PC and are now facing a motherboard overheating problem, then it is possible you have placed the ventilation fans incorrectly. The fan settings must be appropriate for proper air circulation and ventilation. 

So, for example, if the CPU fan is placed in the wrong orientation, it will not work properly and will not provide the proper ventilation, resulting in CPU and motherboard overheating. 

Similarly, if your case fans are not placed in the proper sequence, they cannot throw the hot air generated inside the case outside. As a result, it will gather heat in one place. So, always ensure all your fans are placed in the right direction and orientation. For guidance, you can follow the manufacturer’s assembling guide. 

 

Lower The Overclocking

Overclocking is a process of increasing the clock speed of the CPU and GPU over the manufacturer’s limit to increase the overall performance of your PC. It is a great way to boost your gaming performance and take advantage of old hardware. But it also has a few side effects. As the component runs at a higher speed, it generates more heat.

And if the cooling system is not up to the mark, it will not be able to eliminate the heat, resulting in overheating. This overheating ultimately reaches your motherboard and raises its temperature. So, if you have recently overclocked any component and are facing overheating issues, you might have to lower the overclocking settings or turn it off. 

Replace The Case

PC ventilation depends on the fans and, secondly, on your PC case. The PC case plays a vital role in keeping your components cool. Different cases have different levels of ventilation. Some cases have two fan spaces while others have four; some have fans on only one side, while others have fans on both sides. 

So, your PC case matters. If it cannot provide the necessary ventilation, you might want to switch to a better and more efficient case.

Do Cable Management

Cables are the wired connections between your hardware and the power supply unit. They also play an important role in data transfer. A tangled mess of cables is unsightly and hinders the airflow of components. As a result, the components will not get enough air to cool down, resulting in overheating. 

So make sure to do proper cable management for the proper air circulation. It can be done by using cable ties or buying custom cables that suit the length of your case. Always keep the cables hidden as much as you can.

Avoid Short Circuits

Short circuits occur when a loose cable connection or the device is not properly grounded. Short circuits are one of the main reasons behind this issue. When your cables are not connected properly, they produce sparks, this spark creates a lot of heat, and if the components cannot dissipate, it will cause overheating in the component. 

To avoid such issues, always ensure that all your components are getting enough power and no component is consuming more than average. 

Replace Power Supply

The power supply unit is also a culprit of the motherboard overheating. It is responsible for providing power to all the components, including the motherboard. If the power supply is not up to the mark, it cannot provide sufficient power to the components. Due to this, components will start to draw more power.

This power surge increases the overall temperature of components. It is because the power consumed by all components has to go through the motherboard. Either it is a CPU or a GPU. So, if you are facing severe motherboard overheating, try to replace your power supply unit (PSU) with a compatible one. 

Maintain Room Temperature

The internal components of the PC can only run at the optimal temperature it is designed for. If the room temperature is within its limits, it will give you the best performance. But if the room temperature is higher, all the components will start heating up, resulting in the motherboard overheating. 

So, it is important to ensure the room temperature does not exceed the optimal temperature level. To do this, you can use an air conditioner or a fan to reduce the temperature. You can also install a temperature monitor in the room to track the temperature. 

Replace Heatsink or Thermal Paste

When a CPU or GPU runs, it generates a lot of heat. To avoid overheating, these components should have a proper cooling system. CPU and GPU coolers are the main components of the cooling system. These are mostly the fans that blow the hot air away from the component. 

These coolers are fitted with heatsinks, the basic heat-conducting material between the component and the fan area. These coolers need thermal paste to provide proper cooling. Thermal paste also acts as a bridge between the heat source and the cooler. Over time, the thermal paste gets old, loses its efficiency, and must be replaced. 

If the thermal paste is not replaced, then the heat generated by the component will not properly transfer and will start to accumulate on the motherboard. So always make sure that the thermal paste is not old or dried up.

How Do I Know If My Motherboard Is Overheating?

There are symptoms to determine whether your motherboard is overheating or not. If you are a computer geek, you might know how important the motherboard is for your computer system. If it’s getting overheated, then it might not work properly. Check these symptoms for overheating.

System Instability

If your computer is not stable or mostly laggy, then this might be due to the motherboard overheating. This instability decreases the overall performance of your computer. To ensure that, you can use temperature-measuring applications like HWinInfo. 

Such applications can provide accurate temperatures for components like the CPU and GPU. If you see any higher fluctuations in any of these components, then you have to cure them accordingly.

Blue Screen of Death

Blue screen death is majorly occurring due to hardware problems. It is the second indication that something is wrong with your hardware. The first thing you have to do is check all of your hardware components. Either any of them is overheating or consuming more power. 

It is because if any component is causing the error, it will directly impact your motherboard. After identifying it, you either have to resolve the component issue or replace it to avoid future errors.

Sudden PC Turn Off 

There is a mechanism called thermal throttling. The mechanism decreases the temperature of overheating components by increasing the fan speed or turning off the whole computer system. So, if you are facing a sudden PC turn-off, your components, including the motherboard, are overheating. 

When the components attached to your motherboard start overheating, they cause the temperature sensors to trigger, leading to a sudden shutdown in response. In this case, you have to increase the overall ventilation of your PC or replace the problematic hardware component. 

Can Heat Damage Motherboard?

Overheating can have a devastating effect on your motherboard. That is why it is important to keep your computer cool to prevent damage. Mostly, this heat damage is caused by connected components or power surges. Heavy hardware on a small form factor motherboard also causes this issue. 

This heat can permanently damage the major components of your motherboard, like the BIOS IC. Therefore, always keep an eye on the increasing temperature of your hardware components to avoid any sudden collisions. 

What Is The Safe Temperature of Motherboard?

The safe temperature for the motherboard is below 70 °C. If it exceeds 70 °C, you might have overheating and performance loss. High temperature causes permanent damage to the motherboard’s components. You must use the best cooling and ventilation systems to keep your motherboard cool.

There is no way to directly check the motherboard temperature, but you have to get an idea from the related components, especially the CPU. In idle conditions, your motherboard’s temperature should not exceed 40 °C. But while you are gaming, it can range up to 75 °C, which is quite a high temperature. 

Conclusion

It is essential to properly maintain the temperature of your motherboard and other components to keep them running at optimal performance. Overheating the motherboard is a critical problem that can cause severe damage to your motherboard and overall system. That is why it must be avoided at any cost.

The best way to do this is to keep all the attached components cool through proper ventilation and use compatible coolers for the CPU and GPU. Cleaning is another good solution to avoid overheating due to dust and debris. Always ensure all of the PC fans are free of dust to avoid this issue.

Overclocking must be done at a limited rate as it produces heat due to energy surges. So, if you constantly face heat issues, lower or remove the overclocking. If you resolve these major issues, you can eliminate the motherboard overheating issue for good.