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Here's how I made my PC run cooler without installing any more fans
We're always looking at ways to minimize the impact of heat generated by internal components. The primary culprit is the central processing unit (CPU), requiring dedicated solutions with air coolers or all-in-one liquid kits. How one goes about cooling their CPU (and the rest of the system) is largely the same from build to build, but it's always important to remember this one trick that I use to keep temperatures within optimal ranges for maximum performance.
What's the ideal PC temperature?
The lower the better
Unsurprisingly, the cooler your PC, the better. It's not uncommon to see the latest AMD or Intel processors hitting 90 degrees Celsius or higher, but this is by design. Back in the day, one would overclock their CPU manually to get as much out of the chip. I spent days on my custom PC build with an open-loop liquid cooling solution for an old AMD FX CPU being pushed hard. Temperatures would quickly get out of control, even with plenty of liquid to soak up all that waste, passing it through two 480mm radiators with eight fans forcing cool air through.
There's almost no point toying with clock speeds and other parts of the CPU within a UEFI BIOS since the algorithms designed by Intel and AMD are smart enough to adjust everything on the fly. It's why they get so hot. These companies can push their hardware far more efficiently than we can, pulling back when approaching defined limits and cranking everything to 11 when plenty of headroom is available. With a capable Asetek-powered 360mm AIO liquid kit, you'll have little trouble keeping an Intel Core i9 or AMD Ryzen 9 CPU cool, even under intensive loads.
My primary system has a total of 10 120mm case fans, three of which are attached to a 360mm AIO liquid cooler. This is connected to the AMD Ryzen 9 9950X, running at stock settings with Precision Boost Overdrive (PBO) enabled. At room temperature (around 23 degrees Celsius with a few PCs running and no air conditioning), this chip runs at between 40 and 50 degrees Celsius idle, depending on how often the chip is hit with background tasks. Full load only sends it up to around 75 without getting close to thermal throttling.
It's perfectly suited to doing work and handling even the most demanding games — though an AMD Ryzen X3D CPU would better handle gaming — and although temperatures do get warm, I'm able to keep everything in check by ensuring fan curves in the BIOS are set accordingly, everything is working as intended, and one simple task. (And no, it's not by adding more fans into the mix.)
Reduce temperatures without installing more fans
Grab a bush and a can of air
It's simple. I open up my PC case regularly and give the inside a good clean with a can of compressed air and an anti-static brush. It's amazing how quickly dust can settle inside your PC case, especially on fans and other moving parts. These components are responsible for handling air flow, and this can bring with it countless particles that can be trapped on the surface area of each blade or worse, creep into the motor area. Dust is one of your PC's worst enemies and has the potential to build up over time and increase thermals.
I'm sure you've seen photos of older PCs where the inside hasn't been cleaned for years, and the thick layer of dust coating each part. Even vertical parts, such as the motherboard, can be susceptible to dust due to the thousands of parts installed on the PCB. Everything from your chipset heatsink, capacitors, VRM heatsink, and even headers can accumulate dust over time. It's good practice the take each system you have running outside for a quick blast of air and many careful brush strokes.
It's simple. I open up my PC case regularly and give the inside a good clean with a can of compressed air and an anti-static brush.
Depending on the location of your PC, the rate at which dust builds up inside the case can vary. Self-hosting apps and services are gradually taking off, and more people own network-attached storage (NAS) enclosures and home servers than ever before. These devices produce heat and have fans to direct air through carefully designed passageways, often pulling in dust particles with all that cool air. Most of this unwanted content will be caught through filtration, but much of it can bypass these measures.
If you spend a considerable amount of time in the same room as your PC and other hardware, such as working from home, you may find your PC quickly building up dust within the chassis. I know my PC does with not one but two people working from home in the same room. It's easy to forget just how often you need to clean the inside of your PC. Even with everything running for hours each day, I made a monthly calendar entry when I take the panels off the case and give everything inside a quick clean.