Rapidly moving electrons radiate heat as they scramble through the circuits of a motherboard and cause a rise in temperature. Also, different components of a motherboard handle different jobs, so they also generate heat differently. It’s not the motherboard itself that gets hot. The stressed CPU, GPU, and RAM cause most of the temperature spikes. The rise in heat slows down a computer’s performance. At its worst, an overheated computer can crash and damage the motherboard.
How Hot Is Too Hot for a Motherboard?
A yardstick for the ideal motherboard temperature range is anything between 68 degrees and 176 degrees Fahrenheit (20 degrees to 80 degrees Celsius). This is the acceptable temperature range for the CPU on the motherboard. Computers run at around 122 degrees Fahrenheit (50 degrees Celsius) when idle. A computer is idle when it’s switched on but no program is being actively used.
The temperature can increase when the CPU or GPU starts to handle more intensive tasks like gaming or graphics editing and touch the upper limits of the range mentioned above.
Are 40 Degrees Celsius Hot for a Motherboard?
Any temperature below 50 degrees Celsius is fine and usually the benchmark for a computer in everyday use. So, 40 degrees Celsius (or 104 degrees Fahrenheit) is definitely not hot for a motherboard.
Motherboards like cooler climates, but the motherboard temperature shouldn’t be lower than the ambient temperature of the room. Condensation and water droplets on the motherboard are greater dangers than heat.