# Laptop Overheating: reasons, detection, and solutions
Laptops overheat when the Laptop's cooling system cannot cool the cpu and/or gpu quickly enough after those components create excessive heat. Once the processor overheats, it may force the processor to run at a low speed or even shut down immediately. These issues are generally easy to diagnose and solve without having to replace the Laptop.
## how laptops use heat transfer to regulate temperature and why it is more difficult than desktop systems
A Laptop uses a heat pipe or vapor chamber to carry heat generated by the cpu and gpu from the processor die to a finned heatsink. Fans then blow air through the fins to be expelled out of an exhaust port. Intake ports are located on the bottom or side of the Laptop.
There are several reasons why Laptop cooling is inherently more difficult than desktop cooling:
Firstly, due to space limitations, Laptop fans and heatsinks do not allow for large fans and multiple heatsink towers such as found in desktop systems. Secondly, the majority of gaming and performance laptops include shared cooling systems for their cpu and gpu. As both chips tend to “boost” simultaneously during gaming or rendering, each competing for limited heat pipe area and limited power budgets (wattage ceilings) originally established by the manufacturer for dissipation within the chassis.
## what are considered high temperatures? Establishing normal operating temperatures for new hardware
Manufacturers today develop processors and graphics cards to operate much higher than previous generations. Each product family has different limits (TjMax):
* **ultra-h series and 12th–14th generation of intel’s mobile core series CPUs**: the TjMax is approximately 100°c. Temporarily reaching 100–105°c during periods of gaming or other extreme workloads is acceptable.
* **AMD’s mobile Ryzen 7000 / 9000 hx series CPUs**: TjMax is approximately 95°c. Reaching 92–95°c under continuous gaming or heavy load is expected.
* **mobile graphics cards:** usually begin to throttle slightly earlier than cpu's (typically upper-mid to upper-high seventies to eighties).
The key takeaway here is that running a Laptop cpu at temperatures of 90-95°c while gaming or performing resource-intensive workloads does not indicate a malfunction in itself. However, you should investigate further if your temperatures continue increasing with decreasing workloads (indicative of decreased cooling ability), your computer slows down with minimal workload applied, or it repeatedly shuts down unexpectedly.
## differences between thermal and Power Throttling
While both result in lower clock speeds, they occur for distinct reasons and require distinct remedies:
* **thermal throttling** occurs when the cpu reaches its TjMax and the firmware lowers the clock speed until the cpu temperature decreases. This represents a cooling issue.
* **Power Throttling** occurs when the Laptop's firmware constrains the cpu/gpu power levels below what is possible for the given chip, because the total system power limit is being reached. This is a design limitation and/or a configuration issue with power management.
You'll know which is occurring based upon clock speed, temperature, and power consumption readings. Lower clock speeds, temperatures close to TjMax, and low-to-the-max power draw indicate thermal throttling. Low clock speeds, but still maxing out at a rounded power level below the chip's rated max, and not at TjMax represent Power Throttling.
An oscillating sawtooth pattern of clock speed is indicative of one of these types of throttling cycles; specifically when throttling engages/disengages continually, and is likely responsible for sustained performance reductions regardless of whether you see acceptable benchmark results at maximum.
## real Causes of Overheating
### Dust buildup in vents and heatsink fins
This is probably the single most common reason for Overheating. The accumulation of just a few millimeters of Dust in a vent or heatsink can decrease heat transfer efficiency. Complete clogging of a heatsink can severely impede airflow.
### deteriorated thermal paste
Check fan operation. The paste that exists between the cpu/gpu die and the base of the heatsink facilitates heat transfer between the two surfaces; however, over time it can dry out, crack or lose its conductive properties. Virtually all laptops will need to have this paste replaced at least once (every couple of years) to restore cooling capability to that which existed at factory default conditions; more frequently in laptops that run hot continuously.
### blocking airflow
When you place a Laptop on a soft surface such as your bed or couch, etc., you put pressure on one or more of the bottom intake vents thereby restricting airflow entering into those vents.
### worn fan bearings
As bearings in a fan wear out over time they produce increasingly loud noises - whining, grinding/rattling or constant high-speed operation without effectively reducing temperatures. A fan bearing that produces none or very little airflow represents a complete loss of cooling system functionality.
### ambient environment
Another factor contributing to Overheating is ambient environment. A Laptop's cooling system assumes room temperature as the baseline inlet air temperature. Running a Laptop in direct sunlight, inside a vehicle in warm weather or outside without ac in warmer climates degrades the delta-t (the difference between ambient temperature and internal component temperatures) on which the cooling system relies. The fans therefore must work harder to achieve temperatures that could be obtained in a cooler environment.
## thermal vs. Power Throttling
Although both display themselves through a reduction in clock speed, they arise from separate Causes and require differing solutions:
* **thermal throttling**: occurs when the chip reaches TjMax, and the firmware cuts the clock speed to try and cool it again. This is a problem with cooling.
* **Power Throttling**: occurs when firmware caps the amount of cpu or gpu power allowed to exceed that of the total system power budget. This is a design constraint/configuration issue - not necessarily an issue with cooling.
Determine which one you're experiencing by watching clock speed, temperature, and power draw simultaneously. If clock speed drops while temperature remains at or near TjMax, then this is clearly thermal throttling. If clock speed drops while power draw sits right at a perfectly divisible value less than the chip's rated max (e.g. 45W for a chip rated at 65w) and temp isn't anywhere near TjMax, then you've got Power Throttling.
A repeating sawtooth pattern of clock speed is characteristic of either form of throttling; specifically when throttling cycles on/off continually, thus preventing sustained performance regardless of how high your peak benchmark scores are.
## determining which of the above issues you have experienced
Use this checklist sequentially as it moves from lowest-cost checks to highest cost:
2. Check fan behavior. 1. Try moving your Laptop onto a solid flat surface above ground level. If your temperatures drop substantially, there is significant Dust blocking airflow.
2. Listen for grinding/rattling sounds or check fan rpm (if available). Any grinding/rattling sounds or fans that seem like they never spin-up at high temps indicate fan problems not Dust/paste degradation.
3. 2. Check fan behavior.3. Run a monitoring program during normal operation. Monitor fan behavior along with temperature/clock speed/power draw metrics with an application such as hwinfo64 (or others). Look for peaks/spikes in temperature that correlate with spikes in workload or consistently high temps when idle/light workload.
4. **run a prolonged stress test.*2. Check fan behavior. A long-term stress test (10 minutes +) will reveal your existing cooling system's steady state temperature ceiling. This allows you determine if your Laptop performs better/worse than what would be expected under full-load conditions.
5. **look at historical data regarding age/history.** if you have been able to use your Laptop for many years without noticeable heating issues and now it has become noticeably hotter/louder over time - that suggests you are seeing the effects of accumulated Dust/paste degradation. A brand-new Laptop that has been hot from day one - that suggests your manufacturer developed an under-powered cooling solution for this Laptop.
## remediation strategies - by effort
### change surface/elevate rear edge
Free, instantaneous, directly addresses vent obstruction/blockage.
Elevating the rear edge provides additional airflow to bottom mounted intake vents.
### clean external vents with compressed air
Shut off Laptop. Short pulses of compressed air into visible vents should loosen surface Dust - addresses external obstructions but not internal obstructed heatsinks.
### open case & clean internal components directly (if comfortable doing so)
Most airflow restrictions reside in laptops older than 2+ years.
### adjust system performance settings/powers plans
Switching to a balanced power plan instead of max performance plan(s) reduces total sustained power consumption/heat production. On chips that support it, applying undervolt (reducing voltage while maintaining same clock frequency) via third-party software (such as Intel XTU on windows or AMD's equivalent utility on windows/mac/linux) can provide measurable reductions in both total system power consumption and total system heat without any adverse impacts on performance -- although some newer locked-down firmwares may prevent users from accessing sufficient undervolt headroom.
### reduce background loads
Close all unnecessary browser windows/background applications and turn off any unnecessary startup items.
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