# Can the cold damage my PC? \[edited title\] **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [January 11, 2003, 5:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-the-cold-damage-my-pc-edited-title/147971 "2003-01-11T17:03:48Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 19\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Zazie](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/6f9a4e/32.png) [@Zazie](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Zazie)\ **Post date:** [January 11, 2003, 5:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-the-cold-damage-my-pc-edited-title/147971/1 "2003-01-11T17:03:48Z")
My computer is in a back room of my house that is not heated… First, the desktop is now quite old and outdated, but on top of this, I was wondering if the cold could damage its performance. I am actually looking into buying a new PC and I am worried about putting the new one through this. I gets pretty cold back there… Do you think the cold is bad for the machine? ---
**Author:** ![Zazie](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/6f9a4e/32.png) [@Zazie](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Zazie)\ **Post date:** [January 11, 2003, 5:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-the-cold-damage-my-pc-edited-title/147971/2 "2003-01-11T17:05:07Z")
and, … um…, how do I edit my post to correct spelling mistakes? ! ---
**Author:** ![Speaker\_for\_the\_Dead](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/c77e96/32.png) [@Speaker\_for\_the\_Dead](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Speaker_for_the_Dead)\ **Post date:** [January 11, 2003, 5:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-the-cold-damage-my-pc-edited-title/147971/3 "2003-01-11T17:06:04Z")
Well, it could be if water froze onto the electronics, but just being in a cool place may actually make it run faster, IIRC. Computers run more quickly when they’re cool - some Supercomputers run in frigid, frigid temperatures. ---
**Author:** ![java\_king01](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/71c47a/32.png) [@java\_king01](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/java_king01)\ **Post date:** [January 11, 2003, 5:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-the-cold-damage-my-pc-edited-title/147971/4 "2003-01-11T17:10:49Z")
Computers work better in a room that maintains constant temperature and humidity, but the weather does not usually affect it. ---
**Author:** ![java\_king01](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/71c47a/32.png) [@java\_king01](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/java_king01)\ **Post date:** [January 11, 2003, 5:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-the-cold-damage-my-pc-edited-title/147971/5 "2003-01-11T17:50:10Z")
And there is always the chance that you could touch the freezing cold mouse, jerk your hand back unexepectedly, accidentally knock your coffee all over your keyboard, and screw your computer for life. ---
**Author:** ![Urban\_Ranger](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/u/e9c0ed/32.png) [@Urban\_Ranger](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Urban_Ranger)\ **Post date:** [January 11, 2003, 6:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-the-cold-damage-my-pc-edited-title/147971/6 "2003-01-11T18:03:16Z")
What? Keyboards can be replaced easily. ---
**Author:** ![techchick68](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/ea5d25/32.png) [@techchick68](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/techchick68)\ **Post date:** [January 11, 2003, 6:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-the-cold-damage-my-pc-edited-title/147971/7 "2003-01-11T18:04:15Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by java\_king01 \* > …jerk your hand back unexepectedly, accidentally knock your coffee all over your keyboard, and screw your computer for life. In that case you’ve only screwed up your keyboard. As for the OP, your computer should be fine. I have run mine at 46ºF in my office in the past. Yes, a consistant temp, preferably cooler than what we consider a good room temp is best but it’s not likely that your components will be harmed. Just don’t turn it on and off alot at cooler temps. It wears out the components quicker going from hot to cold over and over again. ---
**Author:** ![SlickRoenick](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/e68b1a/32.png) [@SlickRoenick](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SlickRoenick)\ **Post date:** [January 11, 2003, 6:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-the-cold-damage-my-pc-edited-title/147971/8 "2003-01-11T18:32:40Z")
Running anything that’s electronic at cold temperatures is good. Computers, amplifiers, game consoles, etc. Heat is bad for electronics, that’s why heat sinks are used so often. The colder the better. ---
**Author:** ![bernse](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/a9a28c/32.png) [@bernse](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bernse)\ **Post date:** [January 11, 2003, 6:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-the-cold-damage-my-pc-edited-title/147971/9 "2003-01-11T18:39:10Z")
Maybe his old desktop is a C64. In that case, dumping a coffee on it would almost certainly screw it for life. Not that it would be a bad thing… 😉 ---
**Author:** ![racer72](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/racer72/32/3075_2.png) [@racer72](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/racer72)\ **Post date:** [January 11, 2003, 10:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-the-cold-damage-my-pc-edited-title/147971/10 "2003-01-11T22:20:55Z")
I had a chance to tour a facility that house the servers for a couple hundred thousand websites, including [Amazon.com](http://Amazon.com). Row upon row of nothing but servers. And the place is kept at a rather chilly 38 degrees. The guy that gave the tour even claimed they save 10 percent on the electricity bill when they dropped the temperature from 44 to 38. He also said the monthly electric bill is around a quarter million, saving 10 percent is a lot of money. ---
**Author:** ![sailor](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/a587f6/32.png) [@sailor](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/sailor)\ **Post date:** [January 11, 2003, 10:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-the-cold-damage-my-pc-edited-title/147971/11 "2003-01-11T22:25:58Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by racer72 \* > \*\*I had a chance to tour a facility that house the servers for a couple hundred thousand websites, including [Amazon.com](http://Amazon.com). Row upon row of nothing but servers. And the place is kept at a rather chilly 38 degrees. The guy that gave the tour even claimed they save 10 percent on the electricity bill when they dropped the temperature from 44 to 38. He also said the monthly electric bill is around a quarter million, saving 10 percent is a lot of money. \*\* That makes no sense. The only place where he’d be saving would be the heating bill. ---
**Author:** ![engineer\_comp\_geek](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/engineer_comp_geek/32/504_2.png) [@engineer\_comp\_geek](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/engineer_comp_geek)\ **Post date:** [January 12, 2003, 12:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-the-cold-damage-my-pc-edited-title/147971/12 "2003-01-12T00:15:34Z")
I took a peek at a random hard drive on Maxtor’s web site and its operating temp was 5 to 50 deg C. As long as your room stays within that range you should be ok. I’m thinking the room would be mighty uncomfortable for a human at either extreme of that range too. > [@](#): > > Well, it could be if water froze onto the electronics, but just being in a cool place may actually make it run faster, IIRC. Computers run more quickly when they’re cool - some Supercomputers run in frigid, frigid temperatures. One of the things you are fighting when you make a computer faster is that as transistors switch more often they generate more heat. So it is true to some degree that you can make a faster computer if you keep it colder. However, if your computer runs at 1 GHz at room temperature, it’s going to run at 1 GHz way down at 5 deg C too. It won’t get faster just because you cooled it down. ---
**Author:** ![Lezaza](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/7ba0ec/32.png) [@Lezaza](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lezaza)\ **Post date:** [January 12, 2003, 12:44am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-the-cold-damage-my-pc-edited-title/147971/13 "2003-01-12T00:44:35Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by engineer\_comp\_geek \* > \*\* > One of the things you are fighting when you make a computer faster is that as transistors switch more often they generate more heat. So it is true to some degree that you can make a faster computer if you keep it colder. However, if your computer runs at 1 GHz at room temperature, it’s going to run at 1 GHz way down at 5 deg C too. It won’t get faster just because you cooled it down. \*\* True, in a sense. But when overclocking the computer, you need to have a stable processor, and the cooler it gets, the more stable it is. I myself is looking at getting myself a freezing system to the computer, and overclock my 2ghz by 25%… Anyways, components that are chisel-based (did I spell that correctly?) work smoother, and faster, the cooler it gets. ---
**Author:** ![Mangetout](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mangetout/32/19_2.png) [@Mangetout](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mangetout)\ **Post date:** [January 12, 2003, 12:51am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-the-cold-damage-my-pc-edited-title/147971/14 "2003-01-12T00:51:21Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Lezaza \* > **I myself is looking at getting myself a freezing system to the computer, and overclock my 2ghz by 25%…** This is something I don’t understand; an elaborate cooling system for your machine is going to be expensive and/or take a lot of effort to put together; why not just get a 3ghz processor (OK and maybe a new motherboard to go with it)? ---
**Author:** ![bibliophage](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bibliophage/32/7615_2.png) [@bibliophage](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bibliophage)\ **Post date:** [January 12, 2003, 1:39am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-the-cold-damage-my-pc-edited-title/147971/15 "2003-01-12T01:39:41Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Carine \* > \*\*and, … um…, how do I edit my post to correct spelling mistakes? ! \*\* You don’t. That function has been disabled for members because of the potential for abuse. If there’s something that needs fixing, you can e-mail the moderators to ask us to fix it for you. I’ll change “damaged” to “damage” in your thread title. I assume that’s the change you wanted? ---
**Author:** ![Spit](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/76d3ee/32.png) [@Spit](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Spit)\ **Post date:** [January 12, 2003, 2:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-the-cold-damage-my-pc-edited-title/147971/16 "2003-01-12T02:02:16Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Mangetout \* > \*\*This is something I don’t understand; an elaborate cooling system for your machine is going to be expensive and/or take a lot of effort to put together; why not just get a 3ghz processor (OK and maybe a new motherboard to go with it)? \*\* Anyone can do that. However, a person who likes to tinker would prefer to risk damage, extra work, etc. to obtain the same result. ---
**Author:** ![Tuckerfan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/eada6e/32.png) [@Tuckerfan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tuckerfan)\ **Post date:** [January 12, 2003, 2:18am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-the-cold-damage-my-pc-edited-title/147971/17 "2003-01-12T02:18:08Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Mangetout \* > \*\*This is something I don’t understand; an elaborate cooling system for your machine is going to be expensive and/or take a lot of effort to put together; why not just get a 3ghz processor (OK and maybe a new motherboard to go with it)? \*\* At one time there was a company selling overclocked PC’s with essentially a freezer surrounding them. I think that they might even sell the “freezer” units seperately. Sadly, I don’t remember the name of the company. ---
**Author:** ![clayton\_e](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/c57346/32.png) [@clayton\_e](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/clayton_e)\ **Post date:** [January 12, 2003, 5:14am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-the-cold-damage-my-pc-edited-title/147971/18 "2003-01-12T05:14:48Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by sailor \* > \*\*That makes no sense. The only place where he’d be saving would be the heating bill. \*\* If they heat with electric (not all that common but not unheard of)… Or maybe he forgot that his friend really said heating. ---
**Author:** ![Zazie](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/6f9a4e/32.png) [@Zazie](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Zazie)\ **Post date:** [January 14, 2003, 5:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-the-cold-damage-my-pc-edited-title/147971/19 "2003-01-14T17:03:35Z")
Thank you for the edit Bibliophage! And I can see the cold isn’t too dangerous for the PC and might actually make it run better/faster… Well that’s too prove how crappy it is, because cold or not, it is slow, freezes and drives me nuts! Thank you all for your replies!