(taser buzz)
- Obligatory. Definitely
definitely do not try this one at home.
In case you're curious how strong
this magnet is. Very strong.
Okay. Three, two, one.
(electric buzz)
Welcome to Tech Busters.
The show where we test the most ridiculous
PC gaming myths and rumors,
of course, disclaimer, do not try this at home.
We are trained and licensed professionals
and also keep in mind
that a lot of the components we were using
to test these myths are already going to be recycled anyway.
So, no PCs were harmed in the 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 computer
and this was back obviously in the days of CRTs.
I remember one of the kids in my class, like,
you know what we can do?
take a magnet and you put it on the front of the CRT
and it starts to like discolor it
and it gets all like wonky and stuff.
So that was my first experience with magnets and PCs.
- I imagine that things are probably a little
better off now than they used to be at least.
- This seems like an easy one to test.
We just get a bunch of magnets, some PC hardware
and we see at what point we start breaking things.
- I just want to expense magnets on the company accounts.
- Magnets aren't expensive you realize.
Basically it's an excuse to play with magnets.
It looks incredibly innocuous.
This is to be fair, not a very powerful magnet.
This is like a little desk magnet
for like paper clips and whatnot.
So just for reference right now
we're running this system at 100%, right?
So it is a hundred percent pegged on the CPU.
We're hitting it with a fairly intensive workload.
So if there's any problems
we should be able to notice it pretty quick.
So I'm going to run the magnet
along 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 magnetizing
to the graphics card and it should be fine.
Ooh. Okay.
That is a much stronger magnet.
I'm gonna rip the power supply out.
Oh, okay.
- [Matt] That's what they use to go magnet fishing.
(laughs)
- So in case you're curious how strong this magnet is,
very strong.
Actually, I'm going to try that the exhaust fan.
If I can stop the exhaust fan, 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 the CPU fan killed the fan.
Oh, look at this.
Okay. It did start back up, but actually
the magnet is strong enough to kill that CPU fan.
So this certainly could knock out a system, right?
If I kill that CPU fan and you don't actually
manually restart it, that fan will stop
and it'll overheat.
The hard drive is certainly something
that I think is pretty susceptible to this.
But- - [Ken] Yeah, I think if we
put the magnet here that'll definitely kill the system.
Okay. So we're reading and writing
at 130 megabytes per second.
- Okay. So I'm going to count you down. Okay?
I'm gonna hit start and you go
and 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 absolutely kill a hard drive.
- It makes sense, mechanical moving pieces. Right?
- I think there's really only one thing left.
I'm gonna get as close
to the graphics card and see what happens.
Watch my fingers.
If I lose them.
- Ooh. It shut off. - Ooh.
- I mean, it grabbed onto that 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 magnets and all kinds of like sort
of PC hardware and everything we use, but powerful magnets
around something like a computer or I assume something
like the inside of a smartphone can and absolutely
will cause major, major issues.
Might not completely kill it immediately.
But it'll certainly do damage to your hard drive.
And I feel like if we got it close to something
like our CPU or our RAM it would just die.
Like we would just actually crash it.
- Austin does mixing RAM equal worst performance.
- Ooh. I don't think I've ever actually tried this.
So usually the advice is if you're going to have, you know
two, three, four sticks of RAM in your system
you should have them all from matching manufacturers,
matching speeds.
Now that's not technically like necessary.
Right? So modern DDR4, it'll always default
to a base speed.
- Well, this isn't totally unreasonable
because obviously hardware
for some people might be hard to come by.
Or some people might just be scraping the parts
- Yeah - Scraping the barrel
for some parts.
- Specially if you're upgrading
like a pre-built or something
or you have some old memory.
It might actually, if this works
and we're able to get it sorted, this would be
a really good and cheap upgrade
to get yourself another 8-16 GBs of RAM in your system.
So this one seems pretty straightforward.
So to test, I've got myself a fairly high end system.
So we have now a Ryzen processor
which Ryzen processors are typically pretty reliant
on memory, speed and configuration, but also
we're using a very high end one, a Ryzen 9 5900X.
That basically means that we've got 12 CPU cores
we need to feed with memory.
So to start out with, I have a configuration
that we would probably all use with a processor like this.
This is 32 GBs of Corsair Vengeance RGB memory.
And it is running in dual channel at 3,600 megahertz.
So this will serve as our control.
Now the main test we're looking at here
is the multi-threaded score inside of Geekbench
which is a score for this setup of 12,232.
Now this does also make a difference
for single core and a bunch of other stuff.
But again, I want to have a fairly high-end representation
kind of like the worst case scenario here.
It's 12,232 that's the number we're going to beat.
Spoiler alert
(whispers) We're not going to beat it.
Now you might be wondering what exactly have
we done this time?
So this is the worst case scenario.
So instead of having 32 GBs of fast dual channel memory
we have a single stick of 8 GB, 2133 megahertz memory
A.k.a. literally about the slowest possible memory
you could put inside of a Ryzen system like this.
Now it will be a surprise to exactly no one.
That this is slower, but I was actually surprised
at how much lower it really is.
This configuration with a Ryzen 9 5900X processor
only deliver 65% the performance of our
properly optimized setup.
I don't think I need to be a math genius to figure out
that's a lot of performance
that you're leaving on the table.
Now, to be fair.
We also did run the test with the same
Corsair Vengeance that we tried initially
except this running at 3,600.
So it's still single channel, but
at least it's running at a more reasonable speed.
And that only gave us 70% the performance
of running it in the properly optimized configuration.
So if you are using a medium to high-end Ryzen processor
pretty much any Ryzen processor really,
but especially some of these like higher end ones
and you're running a single stick of RAM
you're losing serious performance.
So here again
we've done a little bit of an extreme comparison.
So we have a 16 GB, high-end 3,600 megahertz stick
of RAM paired with a very low-end 8 GB stick of RAM
for total of 24 gigabytes.
The problem really here is going to be in the speed
when you're running mismatched sticks of RAM
they're always going to default to the lowest speed.
I can't run one, stick of RAM at 36
and the other one at 21.
It doesn't work like that, right.
They're really tied together.
So with this set,
I've actually defaulted to the base 2133 speed
which means that even though I've got my dual channel memory
I'm still only running it 77% of the performance
of running in the optimized configuration
with two matching sticks of RAM.
It's not really recommended from a perspective
of the motherboard manufacturers and whatnot.
Should work, maybe random crash here or there
but probably more importantly, even though
it is better than running in single channel mode.
We're still losing a lot of performance
not by running it at those higher clock speeds.
Than at least some of our RAM is capable of.
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Although don't slide them on actual butter.
That seems like a bad idea.
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So if you're in need of a gaming mouse upgrade
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and Kone Pro Air at the link 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 tutorial
from the year 2012.
They tell you to use your anti-static wrist band and stuff
a little spoiler for ya.
I have never
ever done that.
Well, and they think this is one
of the things that may have changed over time.
I would wager that components are better shielded now
than they were 10-20 years ago. Right?
My big question is this.
When it comes to working on or building a computer.
How worried do you really need to be static electricity?
(panting)
How long do I have to do this
before I have enough of a static shock you think?
Oh, they are, well
I 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.
- [Ken] 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 hairs on my ear standing up.
Okay hang on.
I'm no clown
(giggles)
That's all. That's all I have to say. Yeah.
- [Ken] Oh yeah
- Ready? - Do it. Do it. Do it.
- No, nothing.
(balloon pops)
- So the side of the graphics card is sharp
and I popped the balloon.
That's not really testing a myth.
Balloons will pop if you shove them inside PCs.
Today I learned.
I think we're going to have to go back
to the drawing board
and figure out what kind of electricity
static really is consisted of. Right?
I assume it's going to be very high volts
and very low amps.
But what is that number?
And is there a way that we can replicate it
without socks on carpet and balloons?
This is gonna be a lot harder than I thought.
There were a lot of variables involved
with getting a static shock.
So we're gonna take all that out of the equation
and we're going to get a little more scientific.
So what we're using here is a regulated power supply
going into a Tesla coil, which we have a little bit
of wire running right up to the RAM,
theoretically this will deliver
up to 50,000 volts directly to that memory.
And that would be the equivalent
of a very strong static shock.
Now the system, as you can see is running.
So we've got a Cinebench render 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 Wes
on 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, but that is more electricity
than I would ever have from a static shock.
And we're running that in a pretty consistent look,
it's going straight into the memory
and it is not enough to cause a problem with the system.
Let's do it around some of the VRM maybe?
Ready and activate.
Oh, look at that flowing straight in there.
Do you see that?
I love that sound too.
And the system is absolutely chugging away, no problem.
What? You think are going to be done that fast?
Clearly you should never try this at home, but I mean
if we're going to be a myth-busting duo today
gotta be thorough. Right?
Right?
- [Ken] Sure.
- If 3.8 million volts
is not enough
to 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 system
and 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, static electricity is usually
about 20,000, directly to the 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 case
and the power supply to keep you grounded. Right?
So there could still be an edge case
where a ton of static electricity builds up
and hits just the right part of the component.
It's maybe, maybe possible.
But I find it to be really hard to believe
that a modern system, would sustain serious damage
with something as simple as a static shock.
Stun guns, maybe a little bit more aggressive
but I'm legitimately really impressed.
That is crazy.
- A certain website may or may not have made
a PC tutorial (Austin laughs)
a couple of years ago.
- Oh. Let's do it! - Very infamous.
Uh-huh. Yeah, yeah. - This person
sent a GIF to us.
And he just said use the whole tube
of thermal paste.
(Austin laughs)
- Oh God. Okay.
- You can't ever be too sure
if your surface area is covered or not. Right? I mean..
- Ken are you the kind of guy who wears two condoms?
And then, that just completely negates the whole thing.
- [Matt] 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 myth has a lot to it, right?
Will it work?
There's only one way to find out.
So testing this one should actually be fairly
straightforward. So first we're going to do a control
with the CPU running as it should.
So this is a Ryzen 5 1600X running 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 idling at about 31-32 degrees.
But while we're running the test
it topped out at just under 62 degrees celsius.
Ordinarily, when you're building a PC
you want to put roughly the size
of 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 scenario
where your hand slipped or something
you should immediately wipe that 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 much thermal 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 degree
of the temperature and it's 6423.
So I think it's safe to say that too much thermal paste
while it's certainly not a good idea in terms of cleanliness
and of just making a mess of things.
Now comes the real test.
What happens when we take all that sweet
thermal paste away, and replace it with toothpaste?
This is a terrible idea.
(sniffs)
Ooh, that smells good.
- This is definitely going to make it run cooler
because 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 still warm from our benchmarking.
It's like a little bit of a different aroma.
All right. Here goes nothing.
It's nice knowing you little CPU.
I'm going to put the cooler on now and ask questions later.
And with that, our toothpaste is installed.
I've got to say just like what the thermal paste.
Maybe I didn't use enough.
It's actually not really squirting out.
Let's actually fire up Cinebench and see what happens
with this CPU temperature.
Let's remember that with the optimal conditions, you know,
using thermal paste the way it's intended.
We saw about 62 degrees.
So our final temperature looks
like it's just under 74 degrees.
So we went from 61-62
to about 73-74 degrees.
So say 12 degrees celsius.
But our score exactly the same 6,412.
We lost zero performance going
from thermal paste to toothpaste.
I think long-term, there's no way
this toothpaste doesn't dry out.
There's a way this toothpaste might corrode the metal.
I mean, there's a lot of problems with this
as a long-term solution, right?
I mean, I think we've got to say 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 something that people have, you know
in their morbid curiosity probably thought of.
Can you wash your PC components
in a dishwasher
- No! - and use them
as 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 just
take 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 to Austin's kitchen vlog corner
Where today I'm going to be
expertly washing a motherboard.
You know what you need on YouTube
is a guy in his kitchen trying to tell you
that you should wash components 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 the sort of stronger stuff
on the bottom, but I don't think 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 an hour now and let's see.
What we've got inside.
I mean, I'm sure it's gonna 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 the board has had a day to dry.
We have our motherboards set up
on the test bench
and 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 power supply, we have LEDs.
So at least something's happening.
If there's any signs of life here, I almost
going 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 say
that you should not wash your PC components
in the dishwasher and that
this is a dumb idea.
(upbeat music)