# computer operating temperature



## seriously

ok. i'm not building a new system. but i don't know where my question should go, so i picked here.

a client just bought a generic pc last friday and was running perfectly the whole day long. this morning (monday) the computer refused to start up. actually it refused to stay on. it powers up when you hit the on button, but then shuts down (power off) after 1 sec.

i went out there and found the computer sitting in a very cold warehouse (about 5 degrees c). and was told by one staff that the temp dropped to about 2 degrees on the week end.

after restarting the computer a few times while removing all unnecessay components and performing a clear c-mos, the computer finally stays on. went into the bios and it shows cpu temp 7 degree c. 

now the question, do you think the clear c-mos did the trick or it's the temp? perhaps one of the computer's component was playing up, until it warms up a little after a few starts up?

how low is too low for the normal operation of a computer? 
what's your opinion? better if you have some facts or links i can go and read 

thank you.


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## MaverickUK

This issue is very likely to be caused by low humidity in the room being a contributing factor, which in turn can cause issues such as ESD (electrostatic discharge) or atleast increase the likeliness.

Take a read of this; http://www.esdsystems.com/whitepapers/wp_humidity.html

You can use items such as humidifiers and dehumidifiers to keep the room at a stable humidity. The ideal levels of humidity for proper computer operation is between 40-60%. 

Nick.


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## crazijoe

This is very interesting. I do remember a place I worked at, they put a PC in the warehouse to replace a dumbterminal. Well in the winter time, when the temp dropped below freezing, the computer would not boot up. I was suspection a frozen HDD because the POST would stall at detecting IDE devices. But when the temp warmed up the computer would boot up fine. 

One must take caution when moving a computer to different rooms with such a large temp variances. If you move a computer from a cold climate to a warm climate quickly, condensation will form on the cold components and may damage it.


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## TheMatt

Additionally, the stress of the rapid expansion and contraction of components will overall reduce the lifetime. The biggest stress you can put your computer through is simply doing a cold boot because all the components are rapidly heating up.


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## seriously

yeah, forgot to mention i'm in melbourne, australia. we're in the middle of winter here.

i've been here 20 yrs and the temp in the metro never fall below zero degree c so far. (that's 32 degree farenheit.)

i've done some googling and found most computers rated their min op temp at zero degree c. a couple at 5 degree c, and the shocker is one apparently from ibm, at 10 degree c!? so i suppose it's no surprise this machine won't boot up at 5 degree c?

have no idea what the humidity was. but after what you guys said, i think the condensation and stress issues might be the biggest problems eh? wonder what happened to the computer that they just replaced?


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