CPU running hotter than normal after drive to high altitude.

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SchrammD

SchrammD

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Jan 17, 2014
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Hey all, brought my PC to a friends house to house-sit for a month. I live in Fort Collins, CO and drove to the house in Steamboat Springs, CO. A total altitude increase of almost 3,000ft. Before the trip, my CPU temps idled at solid 33C, and under load 43C. After a gaming sesh today, I notice my CPU was at 50C under load. After idling for a while, I got it down to 33C again, slowly. Im just concerned because I've never seen my CPU go over 47C. Would the altitude have something to do with this? Or would the royal pain in the bum of replacing the air-cooler be necessary?
 
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Just road bums and pebbles spread out over time could be enough to move the CPU cooler slightly(if you have a large cooler this is even more likely) and create air cavities in the thermal paste if this happened you cooler contact just went out the window and your thermal transfer is limited. It seems likely that cavities have formed in your thermal paste because a 3,000 f elevation change shouldn't make a huge difference in the density of air(noticeable but shouldn't affect cooling all that much)

re-seating of the cooler is most likely required.
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cklaubur

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Oct 4, 2006
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On the trip, did the computer get jostled? Altitude shouldn't cause a noticeable effect on temperature, but a hard bump could have loosened the cooler enough to cause a rise in temperatures. The fix would be to remove and reinstall the cooler with new thermal paste.

Casey
 
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dragonbud20

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Feb 9, 2014
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Just road bums and pebbles spread out over time could be enough to move the CPU cooler slightly(if you have a large cooler this is even more likely) and create air cavities in the thermal paste if this happened you cooler contact just went out the window and your thermal transfer is limited. It seems likely that cavities have formed in your thermal paste because a 3,000 f elevation change shouldn't make a huge difference in the density of air(noticeable but shouldn't affect cooling all that much)

re-seating of the cooler is most likely required.
 
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yourmom46

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Nov 3, 2014
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At higher altitude the air is less dense and therefore has less cooling power. Your increase in temperature is to be expected. I sincerely doubt it is due to any jostling. To remedy this you would just need more airflow (e.g. bigger fan) or a better heatsink. Source: I'm a mechanical engineer and design cooling systems for power electronics.

 
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