Game On: Playing through the heat

What you could do to ensure the safety of your gaming devices

 

Summer has come early, a lot early, in 2024. Hyderabad, like Mumbai and Pune, has scaled the 40-degree Celsius mark in April to make it one of the hottest summers on record. Most parts of the city were registering temperatures north of 40 degrees as early as April 7.

So, without further ado, let us quickly take a look at what you can do to protect your gaming devices from the heat this summer:

Playing on PCs

The most intense of all gaming platforms, the PC/gaming PC is often configured for incredible amounts of power, which means that it also runs a lot hotter than most gaming devices. Now would be an ideal time for you to use software that tells you the temperatures of your build.

It would be prudent not to overclock your hardware and also to try not to run games at maximum settings. I would also recommend checking how well your fans work and how the heat exchange is happening between inflow vs outflow fans.

For those who use liquid cooling systems (highly recommended), it would be a great time to check if you need to do something to maintain their efficiency.

Lastly, now would be a great time to also minimize RGB settings as heavy light setups tend to increase the temperature around the gaming PC.

Playing on mobile phones

Mobile phones are the most popular platforms of play in the country. However, with the temperature soaring over 40 degrees, the very portability that mobile phones offer can become a disadvantage.

It would be sensible to judiciously pick the right times to play games while on the move. If you are in air-conditioned/climate-controlled environments, then there’s not much of an issue. However, make sure to check the temperature of your device and stop playing when you think it’s getting too hot. I would recommend not playing when the device is charging.

Playing on consoles

The most optimized devices in this list, consoles carefully balance power and performance, but can be a little too compact in size when it comes to dissipation of heat.

If you’re using a last-gen device like the PS4, make sure to check the amount of dust that has built around it. If you’re using the slim variants of consoles, ensure that you’re doubly careful when it comes to playing in hot temperatures.

While each device faces its own challenges when it comes to managing the heat, there are a few overall considerations that all players can take:

Play games early in the morning and late in the evening, clean your devices regularly, avoid excess multitasking, and ensure that your device’s internals are free of dust. In this heat, let’s game responsibly and with moderation.