The heat wave falls on France, and here are some essential tips to avoid killing your PC with heat. Monitoring the temperature of the components is more essential than ever.
While the heat wave hit the headlines all of France in early July 2025, the consequences are not limited to our comfort or our health. Our computers also suffer. And if you use a laptop or a badly ventilated tower, overheating can quickly become a real danger. Here are the temperatures not to be exceeded to keep your machine healthy, and avoid grilling everything. Whether it’s on Steamfor work or even simple office automation.
Why the temperature of a PC is crucial, especially during a heat wave
Each component of a computer produces heat. In normal use, this heat is regulated by fans, dissipators and sometimes liquid cooling. But during periods of high outdoor heat, like during a heat wave, hot air prevents the system from cooling effectively. Result: the temperature climbs quickly, and the risk of crash or material failure becomes very real. A component that heats up too much can slow down, cause errors or completely cut yourself to avoid breakage. In the worst case, overheating can permanently damage your equipment. And when we paid for several thousand euros, it’s very bad!
Temperatures not to be exceeded
Here are the temperature thresholds to know to preserve the most sensitive components of your PC, very important for a heat wave as at the moment:
- Processor (CPU) : never exceed 90°C. Ideally, stay Under the 80 ° C.
- Graphics card (GPU) : depending on the model, until 85-90°C maxbut better stay Under the 80 ° C.
- Hard drive (HDD) : beyond 50°Cthe risk of accelerated wear is increasing. Stay between 30 ° C and 45 ° C.
- SSD : tolee a little more, but the ideal beach is between 30 ° C and 50 ° C Max.
- Motherboard : variables depending on the probes, but any exceeding of 60-70°C On VRM or chipsets must alert.
How to monitor the temperature of your PC during the heat wave (and not only)?
No need to open your turn or set up a thermometer: several free software allow you to monitor the temperature of your components in real time during the heat wave.
- HWMonitor : a complete reference, simple to read.
- CoreTemp : Perfect for monitoring the CPU, with direct display in the taskbar.
- MSI Afterburner : Ideal for seeing the temperature of your graphics card live.
- Speccy : Good compromise for a global diagnosis of your machine.
- Crystaldiskinfo : to favor to check the temperature of your discs (HDD and SSD).
These tools allow you to identify overheating before it becomes critical.
Tips to avoid overheating during the heat wave
During a heat wave, each degree counts. Even a well ventilated PC can quickly reach critical temperatures if the environment does not follow. Fortunately, some good practices limit breakage.
Start with a large cleaning: Dust is the number one enemy of cooling. Remember to regularly dust the ventilation grids, fans and, if possible, internal radiators. A simple blow of panel or compressed air can do wonders.
Then pay attention to where you put your machine. A laptop pc placed on a bed, a sofa or a blanket will see its vaulse, which stifles the cooling. Prefer a rigid, flat and ventilated surface. If you can, slightly raise the back of the computer to let the air circulate. A ventilated base is also a good investment, especially in summer.
Also think of your environment. Close the shutters during the day to keep your room cool, and do not hesitate to use an auxilant fan to circulate the air around the workstation. Even a simple flow of ambient air can help evacuate stagnant heat around your machine. Obviously, air conditioning remains the ideal solution, especially in the heat wave. But alas, in France, it is still far from being democratized among individuals.
In terms of use, avoid large workloads during the hottest hours, between 11 a.m. and 9 p.m. If possible, keep the most demanding tasks such as video rendering, intensive game or multitasking streaming for the evening, when the room temperature starts to go down. Finally, if you have a somewhat old PC or a very powerful configuration, remember to activate an energy saving mode. Certain utilities such as MSI afterburner or Armoury Crate help limit the frequency of the processor or the graphics card. Result: less performance … but also much less heat.
