Gaming is one of the most popular forms of entertainment throughout the World. Laptop ownership is also rising year on year. With this lots of people are asking the question does gaming damage your laptop? In short, no, but there a few things you need to be aware of to help maintain a healthy laptop.
Does Gaming Damage Your Laptop?
When you play a game numerous things happen to your hardware. Your CPU and GPU will work harder to process and display the games on your screen. This increase in processing means your hardware will start to warm up – this is only natural, it is working harder!
So does this mean gaming will damage your laptop? No! To enjoy some smooth gaming on decent settings, you need to expect some heat coming from your laptop. But if you don’t carry out some basic laptop maintenance from time to time, you may experience overheating.
Overheating will cause you problems in terms of both performance and hardware issues. Overheating can also lead to irreparable damage of key hardware components. So in order to maintain a healthy laptop whilst gaming, you should be aware of the following common causes of overheating:
- Dust build up on fans and vents.
- Poor airflow / ventilation around your laptop.
- Running hardware intensive processes for long periods of time.
Most causes of overheating can be resolved with very little technical knowledge. We take a deep dive into this in our guide “Signs of Laptop Overheating And How to Fix Them”
Does Gaming Damage Your Laptop Battery?
Another common question is whether gaming damages your laptop battery. You should not see any adverse affects on your laptop battery from gaming.
If you are gaming solely on battery power, you may notice that the battery doesn’t last long. This is completely normal! When gaming, your laptop is working harder, meaning more power is required by the hardware. Naturally, this means the battery drains quicker. But it is not damaging the laptop battery, solely using the power stored to power your hardware.
A top tip would be to keep your laptop charger plugged in whilst gaming. This stops the laptop from automatically switching to any power saving modes, ensuring the full hardware capabilities can be utilized. In the following article we explore the question: Is It Safe To Use A Laptop While Charging?
Does Gaming Damage Your Laptop Keyboard?
Generally speaking, gaming does not damage your laptop keyboard. Whilst more delicate than a USB keyboard, laptop keyboards are still designed to withstand everyday use. It can really depend on how you use your keyboard when gaming.
What you may find is that when gaming you are subconsciously pressing your keys harder, especially during those tense gaming moments! Mostly this won’t be an issue due to the build quality of modern laptops. But with heavy excessive use the keyboard may become worn, damaged, or worse still for those really battering their keyboards, the internal components may be damaged.
A lot of people nowadays will game whilst sat at a fixed desk rather than on their laptop. This has performance benefits from improved airflow, and as an added advantage it is much easier for you to connect a USB keyboard. For most this is personal preference, but a USB keyboard can certainly help gaming performance.
