I recently decided to clean out my PC because it was getting pretty dusty. After I dusted it off and plugged everything back in, I noticed that my games, like Cyberpunk, are now running at a terrible 2-4 FPS when they used to perform perfectly. I used a soft bristle toothbrush to clean because I didn't have compressed air, and now I'm worried that I've messed something up for good. My specs are an RX 7600 graphics card, a Ryzen 5 processor, 16 gb of RAM, and 8 gb graphics memory. Can anyone help me figure this out?
4 Answers
Sounds like a classic case of a connection mishap! If you were rushing, it’s totally possible that the display cable got plugged into the wrong spot. I’ve been there! Just take your time, double-check every connection, and you’ll probably find the problem. If you monitor the temperature and it looks good, then it’s just a connectivity issue.
Honestly, using a toothbrush could be a mistake, but it probably wouldn’t permanently damage anything. The real issue here might be that you accidentally plugged the display cable into the motherboard instead of the GPU. That’s an easy fix! Make sure everything is connected where it should be and check your drivers too. If everything looks good and it’s still laggy, you might want to look at cooling issues.
Don’t stress too much! It’s likely that something got unplugged or didn’t get plugged in right. Just double-check that the display cable is connected to the GPU. If you used a toothbrush, it should be alright, but it could have caused a connection mishap somewhere. Also, make sure to check all temperatures after any cleaning just in case something got loose. Low FPS like 2-4 usually means the GPU has issues.
First things first, check all your connections again. Make sure the cable from your monitor is plugged into your GPU and not the motherboard. This is a common mistake! If you used that toothbrush, it's unlikely you did permanent damage unless you messed with something sensitive. You might also want to reseat your GPU and ensure the power cable is securely connected. Dusting can occasionally shake things loose. Also, keep an eye on your CPU and GPU temperatures; a loose cooler can lead to overheating and throttling, affecting performance. Oh, and definitely reinstall or update your GPU drivers!

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