Recently, I had a flood in my apartment that submerged half of my computer in water. After drying it out and cleaning it with 96% alcohol, I let it sit for a week and somehow, it still works. While I haven't noticed any performance issues in my games, a benchmark test indicates that my CPU is running slow. I read that this could mean my motherboard is damaged and that my CPU is locked at its base speed. Can anyone help me understand this benchmark result or suggest other tests to check for damage? Additionally, I previously replaced a malfunctioning SSD in the PC, and I'm thinking of returning it under warranty. I'm worried they might discover the water damage since it seems to function fine now. Should I risk returning it based only on the SSD issue?
3 Answers
Most modern tech has water indicators, which can reveal if there’s been any water damage. Experienced techs can usually tell just by looking. Your CPU should be capable of boosting to 4.6GHz, so if it doesn’t, there might indeed be an issue. I’d recommend disassembling your PC and cleaning it thoroughly with alcohol and Q-tips, just to be safe. Don’t risk breaking anything while doing it, though!
Honestly, Grok isn't always accurate. There are a bunch of reasons your CPU might not be boosting properly—maybe some settings got changed or the power supply itself is the culprit, especially if it got wet while still plugged in. Computers often survive water exposure as long as there’s no power running through them at the time of the submersion.
That makes sense! I think the power was off before the water hit, so hopefully that means there’s no long-term damage. What should I do next—keep using it as is or try to fix it somehow?
UserBenchmark is known for being unreliable, so it's not the best tool for diagnosing issues. It shouldn’t be the deciding factor to check if your CPU is damaged or not. Instead, consider running some standard benchmarks or tools like Cinebench to get a clearer picture.
Yeah, I get that it’s likely obvious if they look closely. I might just swap the SSD back to the old faulty one when I return it, since they’re just covering the SSD, not the overall PC. Kinda tricky with the water damage, but you're right about how I need to be careful when cleaning!