Should I Be Worried About Liquid Metal in My Laptop?
I sent my ASUS TUF F15 in for a deep cleaning and thermal paste replacement, but there was a misunderstanding and liquid metal was applied instead. I don't…
hardware safety
Is my PC safe to test after the power supply popped and tripped the breaker?
My PC suddenly shut off while I was gaming, then the power supply made a loud pop and threw sparks. I immediately switched it off and unplugged everything.…
Could a Heavy Dual-Tower CPU Cooler Damage a Motherboard During Car Transport?
I'm planning to transport a computer by car and I'm wondering whether a large dual-tower CPU cooler could damage the MSI motherboard. The GPU seems less concerning because…
What’s the best beginner-friendly guide to building and understanding a gaming PC?
I've been gaming on consoles for more than 30 years and am interested in making the switch to PC for general gaming while still keeping a console for…
I accidentally spammed my PC’s hard reset button—should I be worried?
I recently got my first desktop PC with a dedicated hard reset button. I pressed it once without knowing what it did, and when the display went off,…
How can I safely ship a fully assembled PC overseas?
I need to ship a desktop PC overseas, but I can't disassemble and reassemble it when it arrives. I'm considering using a large, durable wheeled storage box and…
Is It Safe to Power a 3×8-Pin RX 9070 XT with Two PCIe Cables?
I'm building my first PC with an Asus Prime RX 9070 XT OC Edition, which requires three 8-pin PCIe power connectors. My Montech Century II 850W Gold power…
How should I safely transport hard drives during a move?
I'm moving several HDDs to another location about an hour away. They may be transported loose rather than installed in a computer. Should I use anti-static bags, bubble…
Could a Sudden Bump Damage My NVMe SSD?
While I was gaming, my dog pushed the small rolling rack holding my PC backward by about 4–5 inches. The computer was powered on and under load, but…
Is It Safe to Keep Using My RX 6600 After a Capacitor Burned?
A blue, cylinder-shaped capacitor labeled 5kE20 270 16V on my AMD Radeon RX 6600 burned while I was using my computer. I saw a spark and a small…
How Close Is Too Close When Using an Electric Duster on a PC?
I recently switched from canned air to a rechargeable electric duster because I was tired of constantly buying cans. During my first cleaning, I kept the PC powered…
Could I Have Damaged My Astral 5090 by Touching the Exposed Components?
I was unboxing my Astral 5090 and got a little too excited. I was wearing rubber slippers on carpet, and the card was sitting in its box on…
How should I pack my desktop PC for a house move?
I'm moving soon and will be transporting my desktop computer in the car. What should I remove or pack separately to prevent components from being damaged? I was…
Is It Safe to Keep Using a Laptop After Aerosol Sunscreen Got Inside the Display?
A can of Coppertone Sport SPF 50 aerosol sunscreen discharged inside my bag while my Dell XPS 13 9315 was packed inside. This happened more than 48 hours…
Can I safely pause my PC build and finish it after sleeping?
I started assembling my first PC late at night and am getting tired. I've installed the CPU, RAM, and SSD, but still need to install the cooler and…
Any advice before I build my first PC?
I'm planning my first PC build and haven't purchased the parts yet. The current list is an Intel Core i5-14400F, Zalman Turbo Zet5 cooler, Zotac RTX 5060 Ti…
Does Hibernate Significantly Wear Out an SSD or Harm Ryzen CPUs?
I recently read that using Hibernate instead of shutting down can wear out an SSD because Windows writes the current session to disk. I usually hibernate my desktop…
What's the best way to safely transport my PC a few kilometers?
I'm relocating to a nearby city and I'm really worried about how to transport my PC without damaging it. Any tips on how to pack it up or…
Is a Little Wiggle in GPU Cables After Cable Management Normal?
I just finished organizing the cables in my PC build, and I'm a bit anxious about the GPU connections. While I was adjusting the PCIE cables and pulling…
Can I use a daisy chain for my Asus RX 9070XT Prime OC with a PSU that only has 2 PCIe connectors?
I recently purchased an Asus RX 9070XT Prime OC graphics card, but I didn't realize it needs three 8-pin PCIe connectors. I have a Corsair RM750x (2018) power…