What is a safe temperature for a PC?

This topic can be pretty subjective, and if we had a comment section. we're sure there would be arguments down there.

First we will need to define what “too high” is. Is it when the number seems high? when a component starts throttling? Or do we just stick with the max operating temperature for each part?

If we only care about the temperatures limiting the performance of the components, and disregard fan noise, and the PC kicking out enough hot air to make the room uncomfortable, then the question is easy. For example, take a modern day CPU, say the 9800X3D, we simply want to stay below 95 degrees (Thermal target,) as that is where the CPU will no longer boost. But is that all there is to it?

So how much faster will your CPU die if you run it at high temperatures? The answer is that you will likely never find out, because if it does, it will be way after you have already replaced it with a new one. If you plan on running your Intel Core Ultra 285K at max temperatures for the next 20 years, then yes, it might start having an effect, but realistically that will never happen because the chip would be massively outdated at that time anyways.

It is also worth noting that most people actually underutilize their PCs quite a bit. Remember, there are data centres where CPUs and GPUs runs under full load for 24/7, 365 days a year. Cooling these to run at 10-20C lower than what they are specified to safely run at would be an incredible waste of power.

So in short, you should care if your components are reaching the clock speed they should, and if they are staying within their thermal targets. But what are the thermal targets actually? Let us have a look at some recent components:

• RTX 5090: 90°C
• RTX 4090: 83°C
• Ryzen 7 9800X3D: 95°C
• Intel Core Ultra 9 285K: 105°C

Now, these are some scary high numbers, but it goes to show that you should not be scared about having graphics card temperatures reaching 80+ degrees. Indeed some components like GPUs have memory and VRM components where the thermal limits are even higher, in some cases 110+°C

Now, IF your components are running at their thermal limits all the time, then you do not have sufficient cooling, as a 5090 running at 90°C will likely be downclocking itself. So if you see your components running at the thermal limit for long periods of a time, you will want to check what clock speeds they are running at.

If your CPU is rated at 5.7ghz, and running at 105c all the time with a clock speed of 4ghz, then you are in trouble. On the other hand, if it is running at 105c with a clock speed of 5.6ghz, then you are riding on the limit, and will be fine - although you might want to consider one of our 360mm AIOs to keep your CPU in check.

Boosting up your fan speeds to get some numbers that are more comfortable to look at is of course completely fine, but not strictly needed, and if you are trying to get your CPU to run at 50°C we will not stop you, but ultimately you are just making your PC louder than it needs to be. If your CPU or GPU exceeds its thermal target it will just start slowly clocking down (getting slower) until it returns to within the thermal target.

Our iCUE software gives you the option to both monitor the temperatures live, but also log temperatures if you want to see how they are during a long gaming session.