Warming up / Heatsoaking

david_xr · 16 Jun 2018 at 20:48

Had a random thought while sat at the pc.

whats peoples thoughts on warming up/heat soaking? by this I mean do you:

A - pc on, straight into gaming.

or

B - pc on, let it warm up and let components gradually heat up and become stable at idle before jumping in a game.

do you think there are any advantages/disadvantages to either option?

Thekwango · 16 Jun 2018 at 20:52

It’s not a 40 year old car!! Pc on, game on.

JasonM · 16 Jun 2018 at 21:42

If a computer has been running very hard (long period of 100% usage), then I let it simmer for a few mins before turning the computer off.

Skorpion · 17 Jun 2018 at 07:00

Boot up, then launch the game.

Minstadave · 17 Jun 2018 at 07:04

david_xr said:
A - pc on, straight into gaming.

or

B - pc on, let it warm up and let components gradually heat up and become stable at idle before jumping in a game.

do you think there are any advantages/disadvantages to either option?

Don’t be daft.

LuckyBenski · 17 Jun 2018 at 10:55

Thought this would be concerning stress testing and benchmarking TBH.

I usually consider the boot sequence to be enough really, by the time Steam and a game have loaded and you're in play, it's had some time to get up to temp.

If the system is properly saturated after an hour of gameplay I flip the fan controller switch from 5V to 9 or 12 and give it a couple minutes to flush the heat. Usually do this during a toilet or snack break.

Smffy · 17 Jun 2018 at 14:55

Thekwango said:
It’s not a 40 year old car!! Pc on, game on.

Lol ^^ exactly

BinnsY · 17 Jun 2018 at 16:40

david_xr said:
Had a random thought while sat at the pc.

whats peoples thoughts on warming up/heat soaking? by this I mean do you:

A - pc on, straight into gaming.

or

B - pc on, let it warm up and let components gradually heat up and become stable at idle before jumping in a game.

do you think there are any advantages/disadvantages to either option?

David Bisset · 17 Jun 2018 at 18:32

As cold runs better I'd actively avoid pre-warming. Not that it makes any difference, the time to "stable" temps is tiny anyway.

LuckyBenski · 17 Jun 2018 at 18:44

David Bisset said:
As cold runs better I'd actively avoid pre-warming. Not that it makes any difference, the time to "stable" temps is tiny anyway.

I discovered it's way, way longer with water cooling. Takes a good few benchmark runs to get the system balanced.

David Bisset · 18 Jun 2018 at 08:46

Yeah that's one of the advantages, big heat capacity so brief bursts of heat have less effect. While sustained load will not gain from that, it's still useful in the right circumstances

EsaT · 18 Jun 2018 at 08:51

David Bisset said:
Yeah that's one of the advantages, big heat capacity so brief bursts of heat have less effect. While sustained load will not gain from that, it's still useful in the right circumstances

That's also good for making it look more effective than it is if testing stress temperatures only for short time.

LuckyBenski · 18 Jun 2018 at 13:10

EsaT said:
That's also good for making it look more effective than it is if testing stress temperatures only for short time.

That's why it's not a proper stress test until you let the temperature stabilise. Even PSU testing, if you're thorough, because there will be additional fan current needed if the cooling system is working harder.