Is it normal for PC's to start heating up during gaming sessions?

[Edwin Van Queef]

Hi, basically I've had this PC for about 3 months now it cost me a fair few pounds (1100£) however I've been playing the witcher 3 recently and have noticed after an hour or so my computer will start to make a loud noise as if the fans are doing over time and the PC starts to warm up, not crazy like but I'm scared to play for sessions longer than 2-3 hours in fear of causing damage.. I know witcher 3 is a pretty demanding game but my PC can run it on recommended... so just curious as to whether its normal? or do I have myself an issue, My PC will cool down almost instantly if I stop playing.

PS: Im a real noob with PCs so if anyone does have any helpful tips please talk noob friendly hahaha

Thanks!

 

[Danny75]

It's normal. Which isn't to say it can get as hot as it likes. If you want to know whether the temps are fine, post your system spec (including case, CPU, CPU cooler and GPU), and install a program that can monitor temps like HWiNFO64. The latter will allow you to see the maximum temps reached after gaming a few hours.


CPU:

GPU:

 

[mattyfez]

Yeh leave hwmonitor running whilst playing to see what peak temperatures you are reaching.

As long as it's not getting too hot, it's perfectly normal.

 

[Devrij]

Anything under 80C is fine for extended use in most cases. If you're seeing temps over that then you may want to look at better cooling. But yeah it's normal for it to heat up and fans to spin up louder as gaming will ramp the components up to full speed and utilisation.

 

[User Name:]

My PC also had the same issue of getting louder when I played games.

I pinpointed the noise increase down to the CPU cooler which I replaced for a silent one and gaming is so much better.

Sometimes it could be other factors like case fan or PSU but once you pinpoint the noisemaker and replace it, gaming becomes so much more bearable.

 

[mattyfez]

I like to have my speakers or headphones pretty loud for a cinematic experience so fan noise never bothers me.

However that's a good point.. If the PC sounds like a helicopter taking off, it can spoil the enjoyment in quiet parts of the game.. It does pay to figure out which fans are making a lot of noise.
Whip the side off the case and get your ears in next time it spins up, it should be fairly apparent which fans are the culprits.

Do you have a good cpu cooler, are you using a generic crappy cooler? The cheap OEM one's are capable of making a right racket when they spin up.

You'll always get a level of fan noise when gaming as the components are working hard but with careful targeting and possible upgrading the cheaper /noisier fans means the difference between annoyingly loud and barely audible.

Is it a pre built system? Or did you build it yourself? If you tell us what case you have and pc specifications and post a picture of the inside of the case, people will be able to make better recommendations.

 

[Glanza]

It's normal, you'll notice it more when playing graphically intensive games like TW3 compared to say LoL.

Run some temp monitoring software, if you can might be handy to upload a photo of your rig with the side panel off so we can see what sort of hw and fans you've got and how they are setup.