Introduction
When I was in college, I was looking for the best gaming laptops that would last me years to come. I currently owned a Surface Book, which was actually really good for gaming. I was able to run games like Skyrim and Metal Gear Solid- both very demanding games, at smooth settings.
My friend in computer science told me it wasn’t good for a normal computer to run games because it overheats it etc, even if they run well. I didn’t believe him so I did some research. This article is everything I found about if gaming ruins a laptop.
So is gaming bad for laptops? As a general rule, gaming on a laptop is perfectly fine. While there is a tendency for your laptop to heat up more than usual for gaming, your laptop’s built in cooling system and software will prevent any permanent damage or data loss. Gaming does not damage a laptop in any other way.
Will Gaming Overheat My Laptop?
The short answer is no, if your computer can’t handle the game you’re trying to run, if will shut itself down utilizing thermal throttling or freeze entirely (which will require a forced shut down). This does not mean any damage will actually come to your computer.
It is advised that you save all word docs and PowerPoints from the off chance you have to shut down your computer as a result of your gaming session.
Even if you have a normal gaming PC, your computer will heat up. Whether or not it will shut down as a result of being too hot varies from computer to computer, but there is no threat to data loss of total destruction of your computer!
To prevent your laptop from overheating, consider the following:
- Don’t game on your lap or on a blanket if you can help it. Doing this prevents airflow and makes the fans work overtime to keep your laptop cool.
- Turn off all background apps when you start a gaming session. You place a heavier demand on your computer if you leave other apps open and force it to multitask.
- Avoid playing high-end games on ultra graphics if you know your computer can’t handle it. I’m talking about games with some of the best graphics on this one.
Ninja Tip: buy a laptop cooling pad on Amazon. These can fit in your backpack and it will also make gaming even more smooth because you’re computer will be adequately cooled.
How Hot Does a Laptop Get When Gaming?
A laptop (gaming laptop in particular) will reach temperatures as hot as 150F. A laptop is considered overheating if it exceeds this temperature by more than 20 degrees fahrenheit. This measure is strictly talking about the internal temperature of the system, not the temperature you feel on the surface.
According to gaming engineer expert Jonathan Ma:
“A gaming laptop is designed to get extremely hot- hotter than you might realize. Any modern laptop from the last 8 years will also be able to handle this temperature. As for game performance, most people who play games on computers that can’t handle it will realize the game is too slow and shut it off before the laptop itself gives out.”
In the final bits of our conversation, he also told me that there isn’t any real permanent damage to gaming. Just because you’re placing a high demand on your system doesn’t mean you’re aging it or degrading it’s functionality.
What happens when a laptop gets too hot?
When a laptop exceeds 100F, the CPU will kick itself into thermal throttling. This is basically when the processor on your computer realizes it’s getting too hot so it will decrease it’s processing function to cool down and slow down your computer as a result.
Because of this technology that is in all modern devices, there is actually no danger of overheating your computer simply from extreme use. Some people find this feature annoying, but it’s literally to protect your laptop from what would otherwise be the destruction of your device.
Conclusion
I found all this information to be true from personal experience as well. I’ve gamed on a Surface Laptop for 7 years (the same laptop)! I used it for extensive computer programming, gaming, video editing, and everything in between and it still works like new. I take good care of it, but also can personally confirm gaming on a laptop will not ruin it.
If this was ever a question and was holding you back from getting a laptop to game on, hopefully this helps! Thanks for reading! If you have any questions or comments, feel free to reach out to me at entertainmentden.ns@gmail.com and I’ll do my best to respond. I’m currently taking article suggestions so feel free to send those over if you have any, if not stay tuned for the next article!