Thermal Throttling and GPU/CPU Temperature Management

Thermal throttling occurs when your GPU or CPU overheats and automatically reduces clock speed to cool down. This causes significant FPS loss: a throttling GPU might drop FPS 20-30%. Your computer is protecting itself from heat damage, but the performance cost is high. Managing temperatures prevents throttling.

Temperatures to watch: GPU below 75°C is ideal, 75-85°C is acceptable, above 85°C causes throttling risk. CPU below 80°C is ideal, 80-90°C acceptable, above 90°C causes throttling. Use monitoring software (GPU-Z, HWiNFO) to check real-time temperatures while gaming. High temperatures indicate thermal management issues.

Solutions to high temperatures: improve case airflow (open case sides if safe, add fans), clean dust buildup in heatsinks and fans (major culprit), ensure fans are spinning, improve room ventilation, decrease graphics settings (reduces GPU heat), or lower refresh rate (reduces GPU heat). Dust buildup often causes 10-20°C temperature increases alone.

Thermal paste between GPU/CPU and heatsink degrades over time. If temperatures are consistently high despite dust cleaning and adequate airflow, replacing thermal paste (difficult, requires disassembly) might help. For most players, dust cleaning provides dramatic improvement.