All computer parts produce heat some more than others. The more complex your computer works the more heat it will have. When your cooling systems can’t keep up with the amount of heat that your computer is making it can cause thermal throttling which can also decrease performance.
To fix this issue you need to understand what thermal throttling is and how to fix it.
So, what is thermal throttling?
Thermal throttling is implemented in your GPU and CPU to prevent the hardware from overheating. When your GPU or CPU reaches a certain temperature the clock speeds slow down producing less heat. This causes a performance loss but prevents your hardware from being damaged.
Why Does Your Computer Need Thermal Throttling?
Modern computer parts use thermal throttling as a safety system. Without it, you might actually be damaging your computer without even knowing.
Under a significant load, your CPU could heat up very fast causing your CPU to overheat, which can cause permanent damage to your CPU.
Even with an adequate cooling system, such as an aftermarket CPU cooler. It is still possible for your CPU to reach these dangerously high temperatures.
Thermal throttling helps save your computer hardware lifespan as much as it can and prevents it from overheating.
It does this by slowing down the clock speeds of your CPU or GPU, making it slower, but cooling it down.
The faster your computer is working the hotter it will get.
Relate this to someone who is always running. Why do they always end up hot and sweaty? The reason is that the faster their body moves the more heat they produce. The same is with computer parts.
How To Prevent Thermal Throttling?
To prevent your CPU or GPU from thermal throttling you need to make sure you have adequate cooling in your system.
- You can do this by making sure you have enough cooling fans on your PC.
- You can upgrade your CPU cooling to an aftermarket cooler.
- If fans aren’t enough consider Liquid Cooling.
- replace your thermal paste.
Another thing to consider is how good your hardware actually is. If you are running on an old graphics card and see your performance falling every time you play a game it could be because it is unable to keep up and as a result, it’s heating up to fast causing it to thermal throttle.
Consider turning your graphics down or upgrading to a new GPU.
Thermal throttling is caused by your computer overheating. The most common component in your computer to overheat is your CPU.
If you want a more in-depth guide on how to prevent your CPU from overheating you should read: “Why Managing Your CPU Heat Matters.”
