Gaming PC Lies People Believe

The Testing of PC Gaming Myths: A Cautionary Tale

In the world of PC gaming, myths and rumors abound. In this episode of Tech Busters, our hosts aim to test these claims head-on, using a variety of powerful magnets to see just how strong they really are. Before we begin, it's essential to note that safety should always be our top priority. Fortunately, most of the components used in this experiment are already recycled or obsolete, ensuring no harm will come to any PCs.

The Origins of Magnet-PC Interaction

Our host reminisces about a school computer from his childhood, which was equipped with a CRT monitor. He recalls an incident where a classmate took a magnet and placed it on the front of the CRT, causing it to discolor and become wonky. This experience sparked his curiosity about magnets and their potential impact on PCs.

The Experiment Begins

With a variety of powerful magnets at their disposal, our hosts set out to test just how strong they are. They start by running a system with 100% CPU utilization, applying the magnet along the RAM to see if any problems arise. However, as soon as the magnet comes into contact with the graphics card, things take a turn for the worse. The system starts to malfunction, and our hosts quickly realize that this is not an innocuous experiment.

The Power Supply Takes a Hit

One of the magnets proves to be particularly strong, causing the power supply to be ripped out of its socket. Our host laughs, acknowledging that this magnet is indeed quite powerful – "that's what they use for magnet fishing!" As he moves on to test the exhaust fan, he discovers that the magnet has an even greater effect, killing the CPU fan altogether.

The Hard Drive Takes a Turn for the Worse

Our hosts then focus their attention on the hard drive, applying the magnet in different locations. After counting down from 10, our host hits start and carefully guides the magnet close to the hard drive. To his surprise, the system immediately shuts down, and the hard drive's activity comes to an abrupt halt.

The Graphics Card Gets a Visit

Finally, our hosts turn their attention to the graphics card, placing the magnet as close as possible to it. Despite their best efforts, they manage to grab onto the GPU, causing the system to shut down once more. However, in a surprising twist, the system manages to recover, and a disc check is initiated.

Conclusion

In this experiment, our hosts have demonstrated just how strong magnets can be when applied to PC components. While some parts of the system are more susceptible than others, it's clear that magnets can have a significant impact on even the most seemingly invulnerable systems. As always, we must remember to exercise caution and respect for the components we use in our beloved PCs.

WEBVTTKind: captionsLanguage: en(taser buzz)- Obligatory. Definitelydefinitely do not try this one at home.In case you're curious how strongthis magnet is. Very strong.Okay. Three, two, one.(electric buzz)Welcome to Tech Busters.The show where we test the most ridiculousPC gaming myths and rumors,of course, disclaimer,do not try this at home.We are trained and licensed professionalsand also keep in mindthat a lot of the components we were usingto test these myths are alreadygoing to be recycled anyway.So, no PCs were harmed inthe filming of this video.It's a mostly true statement.Mostly.- Austin can magnets kill your PC?- I remember as a kid,we got a school computerand this was back obviouslyin the days of CRTs.I remember one of thekids in my class, like,you know what we can do?take a magnet and you putit on the front of the CRTand it starts to like discolor itand it gets all like wonky and stuff.So that was my first experiencewith magnets and PCs.- I imagine that thingsare probably a littlebetter off now than theyused to be at least.- This seems like an easy one to test.We just get a bunch ofmagnets, some PC hardwareand we see at what pointwe start breaking things.- I just want to expensemagnets on the company accounts.- Magnets aren't expensive you realize.Basically it's an excuseto play with magnets.It looks incredibly innocuous.This is to be fair, nota very powerful magnet.This is like a little desk magnetfor like paper clips and whatnot.So just for reference right nowwe're running this system at 100%, right?So it is a hundredpercent pegged on the CPU.We're hitting it with afairly intensive workload.So if there's any problemswe should be able tonotice it pretty quick.So I'm going to run the magnetalong the RAM and see what happens.This feels very wrong.I'm running it right along.I'm gonna get in between.I mean, it's definitely magnetizingto the graphics cardand it should be fine.Ooh. Okay.That is a much stronger magnet.I'm gonna rip the power supply out.Oh, okay.- That's what theyuse to go magnet fishing.(laughs)- So in case you're curioushow strong this magnet is,very strong.Actually, I'm going totry that the exhaust fan.If I can stop the exhaustfan, that will be a success.Ooh. I feel it tugging.Yep.- What do you mean?How about CPU fan?(fan rumbling)Oh, you hear that?Wait, wait, listen to this.(fan rumbling)So getting close to theCPU fan killed the fan.Oh, look at this.Okay. It did start back up, but actuallythe magnet is strong enoughto kill that CPU fan.So this certainly couldknock out a system, right?If I kill that CPU fanand you don't actuallymanually restart it, that fan will stopand it'll overheat.The hard drive is certainly somethingthat I think is prettysusceptible to this.But-- Yeah, I think if weput the magnet here that'lldefinitely kill the system.Okay. So we're reading and writingat 130 megabytes per second.- Okay. So I'm going tocount you down. Okay?I'm gonna hit start and you goand get it as close as you can.Okay. Ready?- Okay.- Set. And..Oh, it stopped. It stopped.(laughs)It immediately stopped.Yeah. That hard drive's toast.You just killed the hard drive.So magnet will absolutelykill a hard drive.- It makes sense, mechanicalmoving pieces. Right?- I think there's reallyonly one thing left.I'm gonna get as closeto the graphics card and see what happens.Watch my fingers.If I lose them.- Ooh. It shut off.- Ooh.- I mean, it grabbed ontothat GPU pretty hard.Um.. the system is still running though.It looks like it's coming up though.And we got a disc check.Cause windows is like,"uh-oh, I don't like that."I think this is no longer a myth.Powerful magnets, not regular stuff.Right? There's lots of magnetsand all kinds of like sortof PC hardware and everythingwe use, but powerful magnetsaround something like acomputer or I assume somethinglike the inside of asmartphone can and absolutelywill cause major, major issues.Might not completely kill it immediately.But it'll certainly dodamage to your hard drive.And I feel like if wegot it close to somethinglike our CPU or our RAM it would just die.Like we would just actually crash it.- Austin does mixing RAMequal worst performance.- Ooh. I don't think I'veever actually tried this.So usually the advice is ifyou're going to have, you knowtwo, three, four sticksof RAM in your systemyou should have them allfrom matching manufacturers,matching speeds.Now that's not technically like necessary.Right? So modern DDR4,it'll always defaultto a base speed.- Well, this isn't totally unreasonablebecause obviously hardwarefor some people might be hard to come by.Or some people might justbe scraping the parts- Yeah- Scraping the barrelfor some parts.- Specially if you're upgradinglike a pre-built or somethingor you have some old memory.It might actually, if this worksand we're able to getit sorted, this would bea really good and cheap upgradeto get yourself another 8-16GBs of RAM in your system.So this one seems pretty straightforward.So to test, I've got myselfa fairly high end system.So we have now a Ryzen processorwhich Ryzen processors aretypically pretty relianton memory, speed andconfiguration, but alsowe're using a very highend one, a Ryzen 9 5900X.That basically means thatwe've got 12 CPU coreswe need to feed with memory.So to start out with,I have a configurationthat we would probably all usewith a processor like this.This is 32 GBs of CorsairVengeance RGB memory.And it is running in dualchannel at 3,600 megahertz.So this will serve as our control.Now the main test we're looking at hereis the multi-threadedscore inside of Geekbenchwhich is a score for this setup of 12,232.Now this does also make a differencefor single core and abunch of other stuff.But again, I want to have afairly high-end representationkind of like the worst case scenario here.It's 12,232 that's thenumber we're going to beat.Spoiler alert(whispers) We're not going to beat it.Now you might be wonderingwhat exactly havewe done this time?So this is the worst case scenario.So instead of having 32 GBsof fast dual channel memorywe have a single stick of8 GB, 2133 megahertz memoryA.k.a. literally about theslowest possible memoryyou could put inside ofa Ryzen system like this.Now it will be a surpriseto exactly no one.That this is slower, butI was actually surprisedat how much lower it really is.This configuration witha Ryzen 9 5900X processoronly deliver 65% the performance of ourproperly optimized setup.I don't think I need to bea math genius to figure outthat's a lot of performancethat you're leaving on the table.Now, to be fair.We also did run the test with the sameCorsair Vengeance that we tried initiallyexcept this running at 3,600.So it's still single channel, butat least it's running ata more reasonable speed.And that only gave us 70% the performanceof running it in the properlyoptimized configuration.So if you are using a mediumto high-end Ryzen processorpretty much any Ryzen processor really,but especially some ofthese like higher end onesand you're running a single stick of RAMyou're losing serious performance.So here againwe've done a little bitof an extreme comparison.So we have a 16 GB, high-end3,600 megahertz stickof RAM paired with a verylow-end 8 GB stick of RAMfor total of 24 gigabytes.The problem really here isgoing to be in the speedwhen you're runningmismatched sticks of RAMthey're always going todefault to the lowest speed.I can't run one, stick of RAM at 36and the other one at 21.It doesn't work like that, right.They're really tied together.So with this set,I've actually defaultedto the base 2133 speedwhich means that even thoughI've got my dual channel memoryI'm still only runningit 77% of the performanceof running in the optimized configurationwith two matching sticks of RAM.It's not really recommendedfrom a perspectiveof the motherboardmanufacturers and whatnot.Should work, maybe randomcrash here or therebut probably more importantly, even thoughit is better than runningin single channel mode.We're still losing a lot of performancenot by running it atthose higher clock speeds.Than at least some ofour RAM is capable of.This video is sponsoredby the new Roccat KonePro and Kone Pro Air.These are the latest in theirlegendary line of gaming miceas they are now onlyincredibly light coming inat 66 grams for the wiredKone pro and only 75 gramsfor the wireless Kone Pro.That pair with Roccat'sheat treated glides, makethem slide like butter.Although don't slidethem on actual butter.That seems like a bad idea.Underneath they share thesame 19,000 DPI Owl-Eye sensorfor precision and they alsohave the AIMO RGB support.Which looks especially nicethrough the honeycomb patternthat you can see through the surface.That gives the micethe strength to survivethrough intense gaming sessionswithout sacrificing weightand importantly ergonomicsof the Kone to make it incrediblycomfortable to play with.So if you're in need ofa gaming mouse upgradedefinitely be sure to gocheck out the Roccat Kone Proand Kone Pro Air at thelink in the description.And of course, huge shout out to Roccat.For sponsoring this portion of the video.- Now this one's not really a myth.We know this to be true.- Oh, okay, cool.- Can static kill your components?- Well, okay.So if you've ever seen a PC tutorialfrom the year 2012.They tell you to use youranti-static wrist band and stuffa little spoiler for ya.I have neverever done that.Well, and they think this is oneof the things that mayhave changed over time.I would wager that componentsare better shielded nowthan they were 10-20 years ago. Right?My big question is this.When it comes to workingon or building a computer.How worried do you reallyneed to be static electricity?(panting)How long do I have to do thisbefore I have enough ofa static shock you think?Oh, they are, wellI just wore off half of my sock. Didn't I?Wait, I should really start doing this.I'm really destroying my socks right now.What should I touch?So we have a graphics card in here.We have some RAM.- Motherboard.- I wasn't static enough.I'm not getting any static electricity.This is harder than I thought.Don't mind me.(wind blower blowing)Ooh. I feel some static.I can feel like the hairson my ear standing up.Okay hang on.I'm no clown(giggles)That's all. That's allI have to say. Yeah.- Oh yeah- Ready?- Do it. Do it. Do it.- No, nothing.(balloon pops)- So the side of thegraphics card is sharpand I popped the balloon.That's not really testing a myth.Balloons will pop if youshove them inside PCs.Today I learned.I think we're going to have to go backto the drawing boardand figure out what kind of electricitystatic really is consisted of. Right?I assume it's going to be very high voltsand very low amps.But what is that number?And is there a way thatwe can replicate itwithout socks on carpet and balloons?This is gonna be a lotharder than I thought.There were a lot of variables involvedwith getting a static shock.So we're gonna take allthat out of the equationand we're going to get alittle more scientific.So what we're using hereis a regulated power supplygoing into a Tesla coil,which we have a little bitof wire running right up to the RAM,theoretically this will deliverup to 50,000 voltsdirectly to that memory.And that would be the equivalentof a very strong static shock.Now the system, as you can see is running.So we've got a Cinebenchrender going on right now.So it's running at full capacity.Also, of course don't try this at home.We have our friendly neighborhood Weson standby with the fire extinguisher.So safety, it's important kids.Don't burn your house down.Trust me, not fun.Are we ready?And..Whew, are systems still running?I mean, system's stable.We can actually just do that again.I'm gonna crank it.Whew.It is still on.That has not stopped rendering.So..look.Is this a definitive test?Absolutely not, butthat is more electricitythan I would ever havefrom a static shock.And we're running that ina pretty consistent look,it's going straight into the memoryand it is not enough to causea problem with the system.Let's do it around some of the VRM maybe?Ready and activate.Oh, look at that flowingstraight in there.Do you see that?I love that sound too.And the system is absolutelychugging away, no problem.What? You think aregoing to be done that fast?Clearly you should nevertry this at home, but I meanif we're going to be amyth-busting duo todaygotta be thorough. Right?Right?- Sure.- If 3.8 million voltsis not enoughto severely impact this PC.I'm going to be really surprised.Everyone ready?Okay. We're going to get one shot at this.Okay. Three..Two..one.(electric buzz)Nothing, at all.Wow.Hold on a second.All right. Three..Two..one.(electric buzz)Oh, it did kill it.Okay. That did kill the system.All right.At least we got a crash.So the fans are cranking into overtime.Let me actually unplug the systemand see if it comes back up.Because that was a really sustained burst.I mean, it's doing things.Wow!That is 3.8 million volts!Again for context, staticelectricity is usuallyabout 20,000, directly tothe memory on the system.And it's coming up no problem.Look at that.Full 8 GBs of RAM showing up. No problem.Now of course. When you're building a PC,you don't have the protections of the caseand the power supply tokeep you grounded. Right?So there could still be an edge casewhere a ton of staticelectricity builds upand hits just the rightpart of the component.It's maybe, maybe possible.But I find it to be really hard to believethat a modern system, wouldsustain serious damagewith something as simpleas a static shock.Stun guns, maybe a littlebit more aggressivebut I'm legitimately really impressed.That is crazy.- A certain website mayor may not have madea PC tutorial(Austin laughs)a couple of years ago.- Oh. Let's do it!- Very infamous.Uh-huh. Yeah, yeah.- This personsent a GIF to us.And he just said use the whole tubeof thermal paste.(Austin laughs)- Oh God. Okay.- You can't ever be too sureif your surface area iscovered or not. Right? I mean..- Ken are you the kind ofguy who wears two condoms?And then, that just completelynegates the whole thing.- That's why you wear three.(laughs)- Alternate thermal paste examples.What happens if we use toothpaste?I've never done it before.I've seen so many memes.I mean, look, this mythhas a lot to it, right?Will it work?There's only one way to find out.So testing this oneshould actually be fairlystraightforward. So firstwe're going to do a controlwith the CPU running as it should.So this is a Ryzen 5 1600Xrunning on an X570 motherboard.And we also have the Wraith cooler.So we're going to be running Cinebench.I've already run it stock,which our score is 6398.So that's the score to beat.So right now it's idlingat about 31-32 degrees.But while we're running the testit topped out at justunder 62 degrees celsius.Ordinarily, when you're building a PCyou want to put roughly the sizeof a grain of rice on your processor.That's all you need.However, that's not what we're testing.This is what we're testing right now.Oh, ugh.That hurts so much.If you're ever in a scenariowhere your hand slipped or somethingyou should immediately wipethat off and call it a day.But it's not the myth we're testing.This is about to go absolutely everywhere.Oh, I felt it squish. Ew.Oh my God. That is disgusting.That is actually disgusting.I've got the cooler on.I actually don't see that muchthermal paste leaking out.So running the Cinebench test again,this time with way too much thermal paste,almost exactly the same.We were within one degreeof the temperature and it's 6423.So I think it's safe to saythat too much thermal pastewhile it's certainly not a goodidea in terms of cleanlinessand of just making a mess of things.Now comes the real test.What happens when we take all that sweetthermal paste away, andreplace it with toothpaste?This is a terrible idea.(sniffs)Ooh, that smells good.- This is definitely goingto make it run coolerbecause of all the minty-freshness.(laughs)- I'm just gonna go for it.Ooh, that just looks, that's gross.You know what actually is kind of weird?It's a warm toothpaste.Cause the CPU is stillwarm from our benchmarking.It's like a little bitof a different aroma.All right. Here goes nothing.It's nice knowing you little CPU.I'm going to put the cooler onnow and ask questions later.And with that, ourtoothpaste is installed.I've got to say just likewhat the thermal paste.Maybe I didn't use enough.It's actually not really squirting out.Let's actually fire upCinebench and see what happenswith this CPU temperature.Let's remember that with theoptimal conditions, you know,using thermal paste the way it's intended.We saw about 62 degrees.So our final temperature lookslike it's just under 74 degrees.So we went from 61-62to about 73-74 degrees.So say 12 degrees celsius.But our score exactly the same 6,412.We lost zero performance goingfrom thermal paste to toothpaste.I think long-term, there's no waythis toothpaste doesn't dry out.There's a way this toothpastemight corrode the metal.I mean, there's a lotof problems with thisas a long-term solution, right?I mean, I think we've got tosay that this is not a myth.This is actually a real thing.You can cool your CPU with toothpaste.You probably shouldn't but..I guess you can?- I don't know why anyone would do this,- (Austin laughs) Great start.- But I think.I think this is somethingthat people have, you knowin their morbid curiosityprobably thought of.Can you wash your PC componentsin a dishwasher- No!- and use themas long as you drive them thoroughly- Uh-uh, putting in a dishwasher.First of all, no soap.Soap seems like a very bad idea- I have a feeling. If you justtake those components that we wash.Let it dry out.- Aw man.- I think it would work.I mean, why wouldn't it work?- Hello and welcome toAustin's kitchen vlog cornerWhere today I'm going to beexpertly washing a motherboard.You know what you need on YouTubeis a guy in his kitchen trying to tell youthat you should washcomponents to make them faster.The top, this seems like the smart move.No.No, I don't do it like this, do I?This is so stupid.Why am I doing this?I was hoping to avoid thesort of stronger stuffon the bottom, but I don'tthink it's going to work.Goodbye motherboard it's nice knowing you.This is such a bad idea.Oh, it's running.All right.It has been over anhour now and let's see.What we've got inside.I mean, I'm sure it'sgonna look fine, right?Oh, wow. It's so warm.Oh my God, it's absolutely soaked.Looks fine.Nothing is missing.Nothing has fallen out.It just seems like it's just washed.All right, So now that theboard has had a day to dry.We have our motherboards set upon the test benchand there's really only one thing for it.Do we see any signs of life?I don't know. (laughs)This one's going to be sketchy.Turn on power. Oh!That's a very good sign.I turned on the powersupply, we have LEDs.So at least something's happening.If there's any signsof life here, I almostgoing to consider this to be a success.Ready and..Ooh.Nothing. I'll try to jump it.That should be working though.Nothing. So I think it's safe to saythat you should notwash your PC componentsin the dishwasher and thatthis is a dumb idea.(upbeat music)