Situation report : overcooked workstation (Patreon)

Shortest TL;DR : I should be able to work again before the end of this week. A new machine is on sight; old one stays as a heating aid for winter.

I'm trying to take it with a wisp of humor, and a hopeful outlook, but the fact is my current computer has suddenly become unstable since last Thursday, and worsening to the point where is not reliable to work: a few minutes of Photoshop brings it up to around 85ºC and forces an instant shutdown without warning. For a fun anecdote: during the last file-save of Miranda's new page, the cpus spiked to 86ºC for half a second... Much sweat was profusely dropped. The file is okay, thankfully, but it bugs me because I was so close to finish that one.

I've been exploring thermal solutions over the weekend, attempting to fix a possible cooling issue, but the heat generated by the CPU doesn't seem normal, rocketing even at middle usage load. Which is leading me (and other informed opinions) to think is probably a socket or CPU malfunction. Trusty replacement parts on the local market are not easy to find, and time is a precious resource, so I don't think that route is an option.

Things is, I've been postponing an upgrade of my computer for a long while now, waiting for tech-prices on our local economy to stabilize... but it's been a futile wait thus far. So I'm taking this as an opportunity to get a new workstation. Hence the hopeful side! With all of your support thru Patreon, I should be able to get a pretty decent workstation. : )

I'm almost done now picking parts, and I can choose between the store's build-service (for a 2 days wait) or just putting it together myself (faster but... less expert hands, no shame to admit :P ). So I should be back at work soon either way —sooner than the end of this week! Cross fingers with me, ok?

Meanwhile I've borrowed a laptop from my dad, for connectivity, so I'll keep you posted!