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Troubleshooting
Difficulty: Easy to Moderate
Laptop thermal throttling is when your CPU or GPU automatically lowers its speed after reaching its maximum safe temperature, to prevent heat damage. It’s why an overheating laptop stutters and slows down under heavy loads. To stop it, clean the vents and fans, use the laptop on a hard, raised surface, and pick the right power mode.
- Intel says its processors lower their clock speed once they pass TjMax, their maximum junction temperature. Many recent Intel laptop chips list that limit at 100°C (212°F). (Manufacturer Spec / Third-Party Published)
- Many AMD Ryzen laptop chips list a 90 to 95°C limit, and NVIDIA says its GeForce GPUs shut the system down if temperatures keep climbing despite throttling. (Third-Party Published / Manufacturer Spec)
- Evetech reports that factory thermal paste often dries out after 18 to 36 months, and that repasting a 2 to 3 year old laptop typically lowers temperatures by 8 to 15°C. (Third-Party Published)
- A 15 to 30 minute HWiNFO64 test tells thermal throttling (temperatures pinned at the limit) apart from power-limit throttling (power flat at a ceiling while temperatures stay lower). (Third-Party Published)
- Intel’s December 2019 Plundervolt fix (INTEL-SA-00289) led laptop makers to lock CPU voltage through BIOS updates, so many Intel laptops can no longer be undervolted. (Manufacturer Spec / Third-Party Published)
You fire up a game, start a 4K export, or join a two-hour video call. For the first few minutes, your laptop feels quick. Then the fans roar, the keyboard gets warm, and everything starts to drag.
Frame rates dip. The export bar crawls. Nothing is broken, but something is clearly holding your laptop back.
In most cases, your laptop is overheating, and its processor is protecting itself by slowing down. It will keep doing that every time it hits its temperature limit.
The good news is that many of the causes are cheap or free to fix. This guide explains what thermal throttling is, how to confirm it’s really happening (and not a power limit or a software problem), and which fixes are worth your time, ranked from free to pro.
This guide is based on manufacturer documentation from Intel, NVIDIA, Apple, and Microsoft, plus published third-party testing and guides. We did not lab-test laptops for this article. Every temperature limit and test result is linked to its source, and all sources are listed at the end.
Try These Quick Fixes First
- Move the laptop off the bed or couch and onto a hard desk.
- Raise the back about an inch with a stand or a thin book.
- Plug into the original charger and check your Windows power mode.
- Blow the dust out of the intake and exhaust vents.
- Close background apps and cap your game’s frame rate to your screen’s refresh rate.
What Is Laptop Thermal Throttling?
Thermal throttling is a built-in safety feature. When your laptop’s processor (CPU) or graphics chip (GPU) gets close to its maximum safe temperature, it cuts its own speed and voltage so it produces less heat.
Every modern laptop does it. The trade-off is simple: your laptop stays safe, but it runs slower until it cools down.
How Does Thermal Throttling Work?
Every chip has a temperature ceiling. According to Intel’s support documentation, its processors lower their clock speed once the temperature passes TjMax. Intel says this protects the chip and also signals that the system has an overheating problem worth watching. (Manufacturer Spec)
Clock speed is how many cycles the chip runs per second, measured in gigahertz (GHz). Lower clocks plus lower voltage means less heat. Once temperatures drop, the chip speeds back up, which is why throttling often feels like a cycle of fast, slow, fast.
On laptops, Intel adds that the laptop manufacturer sets the power and current limits. So how hard a laptop throttles depends heavily on how that specific model was designed, not just on which chip is inside it.
Once the chip reaches its temperature limit, it trades speed for safety and holds a lower clock to stay at that limit.
What’s the Difference Between CPU and GPU Throttling?
Both chips can throttle. In most gaming laptops, they also share one cooling system, meaning the same heat pipes and fans. So when one chip runs hot, the other often pays for it too.
The ASUS ROG team notes that both types are common in gaming laptops and can show up as FPS drops, stuttering, and slower load times. (Third-Party Published)
- CPU throttling hurts tasks like video exports, code compiling, big spreadsheets, and running many apps at once. (If you’re unsure how much CPU muscle your work needs, see how many CPU cores you need in a laptop.)
- GPU throttling hits games, 3D rendering, and local AI image or video tools the hardest.
Thin designs feel it most. In MSI’s published guide, the author reports that a slim RTX 40-series laptop flagged all three GPU throttling reasons within a few minutes of testing. MSI calls laptop GPU throttling a major performance limiter in thin-and-light models. (Third-Party Published)
Thermal Throttling vs. Power-Limit Throttling
Not every laptop slowdown is thermal throttling, so make sure heat is actually the problem before you start fixing it.
Laptops also slow down when they hit a power limit. That’s a cap on how much electricity, measured in watts, the chip is allowed to draw. The laptop maker sets it, usually to match the size of the cooling system and the power adapter.
As Digital Citizen’s PL1 and PL2 explainer notes, a thin laptop may ship with a low PL1 and a short burst window, while a gaming laptop may allow more of both. (Third-Party Published)
Here’s the simple test. According to Digital Citizen’s throttling guide, if power hits its ceiling well before the temperature reaches the throttle point, you’re dealing with a power limit, not heat. (Third-Party Published)
A small dip right after the first burst of speed is often normal, too. Prenew’s guide points out that running below a brief peak clock isn’t automatically harmful throttling. The real concern is a sustained drop that noticeably cuts performance. (Third-Party Published)
| Type | What Triggers It | What You’ll See in a Monitoring Tool | Is It a Problem? | What Helps |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Normal boost drop | The short burst window ends | Clocks ease down, power settles at the long-term limit, temperatures stay below the max | No, it’s working as designed | Nothing needed |
| Power-limit throttling | The chip hits the wattage cap set by the laptop maker | Package power sits flat at a ceiling, temperatures stay below the max, power-limit flags appear | Sometimes, but it’s often a design choice | Performance mode in Windows or your laptop’s control app; some caps can’t be changed |
| Thermal throttling | The chip reaches its maximum safe temperature | Temperatures pinned near the max, clocks falling, “Thermal Throttling” or “PROCHOT” flags switch to Yes | Yes, if it happens often or under light loads | Cleaning, better airflow, a cooling pad, undervolting, or new thermal paste |
Cleaning your fans won’t raise a power limit, and switching power modes won’t clear a dust-clogged heatsink. Knowing which one you have saves you time and money.
Why Does My Laptop Slow Down Only on Battery?
If your laptop runs fine plugged in but drags on battery, power management is the more likely cause. Windows’ own Power Throttling feature weighs whether you’re plugged in, your battery level, and your power mode setting, according to TechRepublic. (Third-Party Published)
Microsoft’s developer documentation explains that its most efficient setting, called EcoQoS, can lower CPU frequency or shift work to more efficient cores to save battery and cut heat and fan noise. (Manufacturer Spec) That’s why heat tests should always be run plugged into the laptop’s original charger. For the battery side of the story, see our guide to laptop battery life.
At What Temperature Does a Laptop Throttle?
Once you know throttling is about heat, the next question is obvious: how hot is too hot? The honest answer is that it depends on the chip, and on how your laptop maker tuned it.
Each chip maker publishes its own limit. The table below shows what Intel, AMD, NVIDIA, and Apple actually state, and where to look up your exact model.
| Chip Maker | Published Limit | What Happens at the Limit | Where to Check Your Chip | Source Tier |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Intel (CPU) | Varies by model. Many recent laptop chips list 100°C (212°F), such as the Core i5-12450H (per iTechGuides) | The chip lowers its clock speed once it passes TjMax (Intel) | Intel’s product spec site, listed as “TJUNCTION” | Manufacturer Spec (throttle behavior); Third-Party Published (example figure) |
| AMD Ryzen (CPU) | Varies by model, usually 90 to 95°C (194 to 203°F) (per Box) | The chip scales back boost speed as it nears the limit | AMD’s product page, listed as “Max. Operating Temperature (Tjmax)” | Third-Party Published |
| NVIDIA GeForce (GPU) | Varies by GPU, generally around 105°C (221°F) | The driver throttles performance. If temperature keeps rising, the system shuts down to prevent damage (NVIDIA) | NVIDIA’s product page or your laptop maker’s spec sheet | Manufacturer Spec |
| Apple Silicon (MacBook) | No chip limit published. Apple recommends using Mac laptops in 50 to 95°F (10 to 35°C) room temperatures | Built-in sensors track heat, and fans (on models that have them) turn on automatically (Apple) | Apple Support | Manufacturer Spec |
Running hot isn’t automatically a problem, either. According to Evetech’s testing guide, if a laptop holds its documented sustained power and stable clocks near a temperature target, the cooling system may simply be working as designed. (Third-Party Published)
Temperature apps measure the inside of your laptop, not the case, and Apple notes the case runs much cooler. So a scary-looking number in an app doesn’t mean your laptop is too hot to touch, and a hot-feeling case doesn’t prove the chip is throttling. (Manufacturer Spec)
Is 90°C Too Hot for a Laptop CPU?
Under a heavy load, usually not. Many recent Intel laptop chips list 100°C as their limit and many AMD Ryzen chips list 90 to 95°C, so 90°C during a game or export sits close to, but generally below, the throttle point.
The pattern matters more than the number. Steady clocks near a temperature target can mean the cooling is doing its job, as Evetech’s guide notes. (Third-Party Published) Clock speeds that keep falling while temperatures sit at the limit are the warning sign. And 90°C during light browsing is worth investigating, because the chip shouldn’t be working that hard.
Signs Your Laptop Is Throttling
You don’t need to memorize temperature limits to spot throttling. Your laptop usually tells you something is wrong long before you open a monitoring app.
Watch for these patterns, especially when they show up a few minutes into a heavy task rather than right away:
- Performance drops after a strong start. A game runs smoothly at first, then frame rates sink and stay low.
- Stutter and lag in games, timeline scrubbing, or 3D apps, even though nothing else changed.
- Slower loads and exports than you got when the laptop was new.
- Fans running at full speed for long stretches during normal work.
- A fast, slow, fast rhythm where performance keeps dipping and recovering.
The ASUS ROG guide lists FPS drops, stuttering, and slower load times as the common signs of both CPU and GPU throttling. (Third-Party Published)
A hot keyboard and loud fans don’t prove throttling on their own. As Evetech explains, gaming laptops are built to use their cooling hard under load. Throttling is a measured drop in clock speed or power caused by a thermal limit. (Third-Party Published)
So treat these signs as a reason to check, not as proof. The check itself takes about 20 minutes, and we’ll walk through it two sections from now.
What Causes Thermal Throttling?
Throttling almost always comes down to one thing: heat is building up faster than the cooling system can move it out. Here’s what usually tips that balance.
- Dust and blocked vents choking the heatsink fins
- Soft surfaces like beds and couches covering bottom intakes
- Dried-out thermal paste on laptops 18 months or older
- Hot rooms above Apple’s recommended 95°F
- A thin chassis with limited room for fans and heat pipes
- Sustained workloads like gaming, 4K exports, and local AI models
Dust and Blocked Vents
Fans pull in air, and over time they pull in dust and pet hair too. That buildup clogs the thin metal fins the heat has to pass through. The ASUS ROG guide names dust in the vents as the most common cause of gaming laptop heat problems and throttling. (Third-Party Published)
Soft Surfaces
Many laptops pull cool air in through the bottom panel. Set one on a bed, couch, or pillow and you choke off that intake. Apple’s temperature guidance specifically warns against using a Mac laptop in bed, on a pillow, or under bedding. (Manufacturer Spec)
Dried-Out Thermal Paste
Thermal paste fills the tiny gaps between the chip and its heatsink so heat can flow out. It doesn’t last forever. Evetech reports that factory paste often dries out after 18 to 36 months, and that dried paste is the most common cause it sees in “my laptop got slow” repairs. (Third-Party Published)
Hot Rooms
Your laptop can only cool itself with the air around it. Apple recommends room temperatures between 50 and 95°F and warns that a parked car can get hotter than that. A sunny desk in July makes throttling show up sooner. (Manufacturer Spec)
The Laptop’s Own Design
Sometimes the cause is the chassis itself. A thin laptop simply has less room for fans and heat pipes than a thick one, even when both use the same chip. Evetech’s 2026 breakdown shows how much that changes sustained performance:
| Fanless ultraportable | About 12.5 mm (0.5 in) · 10 to 15 W sustained · Throttles within seconds of boosting |
|---|---|
| Single-fan ultraportable | About 16 mm (0.6 in) · 15 to 25 W sustained · Throttles after 30 to 60 seconds |
| Dual-fan creator laptop | 17 to 19 mm (0.7 in) · 28 to 45 W sustained · Sustains most workloads |
| Gaming laptop | 20 to 23 mm (0.8 to 0.9 in) · 45 to 65 W CPU plus 80 to 150 W GPU · Sustains gaming if kept clean |
| Mobile workstation | 24 mm (0.95 in) and up · 55 W and up · Sustains rendering at full boost |
Evetech notes this is by design: chip makers expect thin laptops to handle short bursts, not hour-long renders. (Third-Party Published)
Heavier Workloads in 2026
It’s not just gamers anymore. As GeekChamp points out, video editors, games, and AI tools can all push laptop chips to their thermal limits, and sustained processor, graphics, and AI-chip workloads are among the most common causes of overheating this year. (Third-Party Published) Running a local AI model or a long 4K export is exactly the kind of sustained load that exposes a weak cooling system.
How to Check If Your Laptop Is Throttling
Guessing can send you after the wrong fix. A short test tells you whether you’re dealing with heat, a power limit, or something else entirely, and it uses free tools.
Step 1: Rule Out Windows Power Throttling in Task Manager
Windows has its own feature called Power Throttling. It isn’t about heat. It’s a power-saving system that runs background tasks more efficiently, and it considers whether you’re plugged in, your battery level, and your power mode setting, according to TechRepublic. (Third-Party Published)
To see it, open Task Manager (Ctrl + Shift + Esc), go to the Processes tab, right-click a column header, choose “Select columns,” and turn on Power Throttling, as TweakTown explains. If your game or editor shows “Enabled,” Windows is slowing it on purpose. Plug in and switch to a higher power mode before testing for heat. (Third-Party Published)
Step 2: Run a Proper Heat Test With HWiNFO64
For a real answer, use the free monitoring app HWiNFO64. Digital Citizen recommends watching the CPU sensor labeled “Thermal Throttling” and the GPU sensor labeled “Performance Cap Thermal.” (Third-Party Published)
Timing matters. Evetech’s testing guide suggests this routine: (Third-Party Published)
Set Up the Laptop
Place the laptop on a hard desk with every vent clear, and plug it in.
Open HWiNFO64
Launch HWiNFO64 in sensors-only mode.
Start a Heavy Task
Start the heavy task you normally do, such as a game, an export, or a benchmark.
Let It Warm Up
Let it run for 15 to 30 minutes so the laptop reaches a steady temperature.
Record the Results
Note CPU package temperature, clock speeds, CPU package power, and any throttling flags.
How Do I Check for Throttling on a Mac?
macOS doesn’t show throttling flags. As one clue, Ableton’s support team suggests opening Activity Monitor and checking whether a process called kernel_task is using a large share of the CPU, since that can point to a heat-limited state. (Third-Party Published) If you’re weighing a switch between platforms, our MacBook vs. Windows laptop comparison covers the bigger picture.
Use this flowchart after your 15 to 30 minute test to see which kind of slowdown you have.
Once you’ve confirmed it’s heat, you can stop guessing and start fixing, beginning with the free options.
How to Stop Thermal Throttling: 10 Fixes Ranked by Cost and Impact
Work from the cheapest, safest fixes up, and re-run your heat test after each one. That way you can stop as soon as the results look healthy.
| Cost Tier | Fixes | Effort | Risk | Reported Impact |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Free | Hard surface and raised back, power mode, fan curve, fewer background apps, frame rate cap | Easy | None (louder fans with a custom curve) | Raising the laptop: 3 to 5°C lower CPU temps (Evetech) |
| Free (advanced) | Undervolting | Moderate | Low to medium (crashes if pushed too far) | 5 to 15°C lower (Evetech) |
| Under $30 | Duster for vents and fans, laptop stand | Easy | Low | Biggest gains on dusty laptops |
| $30 to $100 | Cooling pad, repaste or PTM7950 pad (DIY or repair shop) | Easy (pad) to hard (repaste) | Low (pad) to medium (repaste) | Pad: 2 to 4°C extra; repaste on a 2 to 3 year old laptop: 8 to 15°C (Evetech) |
| $100 and up | A laptop with a stronger cooling system | High | None | Solves chassis-limited throttling |
Temperature figures are reported by Evetech’s May 2026 guide and its service bench, not measured by us. Results vary by laptop. (Third-Party Published)
Start in the green corner: cheap, quick fixes that often solve the problem on their own.
1. Clean the Vents and Fans
Dust is the most common cause, so start here. A can of compressed air or an electric air duster clears the intake and exhaust vents in minutes. Hold the fan still while you blow so it doesn’t overspin.
Digital Citizen notes that systems that throttled consistently sometimes stop entirely after dust removal alone. (Third-Party Published)
2. Use a Hard Surface and Raise the Back
Get the laptop off the bed and onto a desk. Then lift the back about an inch with a ventilated laptop stand or even a thin book.
According to Evetech, a laptop sitting flat can block 30 to 50% of its bottom air intake, and raising it 2 to 3 cm commonly drops CPU temperatures by 3 to 5°C. (Third-Party Published)
3. Check Your Power Mode, Control App, and BIOS
In Windows 11, go to Settings > System > Power & battery > Power mode. If heat is the issue, try “Balanced” instead of “Best performance.” It tells Windows to favor efficiency over peak speed, which can mean less heat and fan noise.
Gaming laptops add their own modes on top. Look in Armoury Crate (ASUS), Lenovo Vantage, OMEN Gaming Hub (HP), MSI Center, or Razer Synapse, which are the apps Evetech lists for performance and fan settings. (Third-Party Published)
While you’re there, check your laptop maker’s support page for BIOS and control-app updates, since these can change how the laptop manages power. Read the release notes first: BIOS updates are also how many makers locked undervolting (see Fix #8).
4. Tune the Fan Curve
A custom fan curve makes the fans ramp up earlier, before the chip gets close to its limit. Evetech suggests about 60 to 70% fan speed at 70°C and 100% at 85°C, noting the trade-off is a noticeably louder laptop. (Third-Party Published)
Save two fan profiles in your laptop’s control app: a loud one for gaming and rendering, and a quiet one for office work. Switch between them instead of running fans at full speed all day.
5. Close Background Apps
Browser tabs, sync tools, and launchers all add heat. HP’s OMEN team notes that shutting down unnecessary apps reduces CPU and GPU load and helps the laptop stay cooler. (Third-Party Published)
6. Cap Your Frame Rate
If a game runs at 140 FPS on a 60 Hz screen, the GPU is doing extra work you can’t see. Setting a frame rate cap that matches your display, in the game’s settings or your graphics driver, cuts that wasted effort and the heat that comes with it.
7. Add a Cooling Pad
A cooling pad is a stand with built-in fans. Evetech reports an extra 2 to 4°C on top of what elevation alone gives, and recommends a model whose fans line up with your laptop’s intake vents. (Third-Party Published) Treat it as a helper, not a cure.
8. Try Undervolting (If Your Laptop Allows It)
Undervolting lowers the voltage your chip uses at each speed, so it makes less heat without slowing down. Evetech reports typical drops of 5 to 15°C using ThrottleStop, Intel XTU, or AMD’s Ryzen Master. (Third-Party Published)
There’s a catch. In December 2019, Intel released a fix for a security flaw called “Plundervolt” (advisory INTEL-SA-00289). (Manufacturer Spec) PCWorld reported that the fix, delivered through laptop makers’ BIOS updates, locks CPU voltage to default settings. (Third-Party Published) As a result, many Intel laptops no longer allow undervolting unless the maker unlocks it.
Some brands go further. SageTweaks reports that ASUS ROG models after 2021 block ThrottleStop and Intel XTU at the BIOS level. (Third-Party Published)
9. Replace the Thermal Paste
If your laptop is two to three years old and still throttles after cleaning, the paste has probably dried out. Evetech reports 8 to 15°C lower temperatures after replacing dried factory paste with PTM7950, a Honeywell phase-change pad that doesn’t thin out with heat cycles the way paste can. (Third-Party Published)
10. Know When It’s the Laptop Itself
Some laptops simply pair a powerful chip with a cooling system that’s too small for it. Evetech lists the warning signs: the CPU still hits 95°C within a minute after a fresh repaste, undervolting only delays throttling, and fans at 100% can’t keep it below 90°C. (Third-Party Published)
If that’s you, no pad or paste will fully fix it. Use the laptop for shorter bursts of heavy work, or plan your next purchase around cooling. Our 2026 buying checklist below shows what to look for.
Still Throttling After Every Fix?
If your laptop is under warranty, contact the manufacturer’s support team and describe your HWiNFO64 results: the temperatures, the clock speeds, and when the “Thermal Throttling” flag switched on. A failing fan or a poorly seated heatsink is a warranty repair. If the warranty has expired, a local repair shop can inspect the fans and heat pipes.
Is Thermal Throttling Bad? Myths vs. Reality
Even after the fixes, you might wonder whether all that heat is hurting your laptop. Here’s what the chip makers and laptop brands actually say.
slower sustained performance vs. the same chip in a well-cooled laptop (Evetech)
reported drop after repasting a 2 to 3 year old laptop (Evetech)
of bottom air intake a flat laptop can block (Evetech)
Myth: Throttling means your laptop is broken or badly designed.
Reality: It’s a standard safety feature. HP’s OMEN team points out that every gaming laptop, regardless of brand, uses throttling to protect its hardware. (Third-Party Published)
Myth: Throttling damages your processor.
Reality: Throttling is what prevents damage. Evetech explains that the chip is fine; what suffers is your speed, with sustained workloads running 20 to 40% slower than the same chip in a well-cooled laptop. (Third-Party Published)
Myth: Occasional throttling is nothing to watch.
Reality: Brief throttling during a heavy game is normal. Throttling during light tasks is a warning sign. Intel describes throttling as a signal that the system has an overheating problem worth monitoring. (Manufacturer Spec)
Myth: You can just turn throttling off.
Reality: Don’t try. It’s the last line of defense. NVIDIA states that if a GPU keeps heating up despite throttling, the system shuts down to prevent damage. (Manufacturer Spec)
Buying a Laptop That Won’t Throttle: 2026 Checklist
If your current laptop turns out to be limited by its own design, the fix is choosing your next one with cooling in mind. Two laptops with the same chip can perform very differently, because, as Intel notes, each laptop maker sets its own power limits. (Manufacturer Spec)
Our step-by-step guide on how to choose a laptop in 2026 covers the rest of the spec sheet, and our gaming laptop coverage is the place to start if you play for long sessions.
Who Should Care About Laptop Cooling?
Not everyone needs to shop this carefully. Here’s a quick way to tell where you land:
Cooling Is Critical
Modern games load the CPU and GPU together for hours, which is exactly when a weak cooling system throttles.
Cooling Is Critical
Long exports, renders, and large compiles are sustained loads that expose thin designs.
Cooling Matters
Running AI image, video, or chat models on your laptop keeps the chips busy for long stretches.
Mostly Skip This
Browsing, documents, streaming, and video calls rarely load the processor long enough to throttle.
For that last group, Refurbo’s thermals guide notes that throttling is rarely noticeable during browsing, streaming, document editing, or video calls, because the processor isn’t heavily loaded for long stretches. (Third-Party Published) A thin, quiet laptop is a perfectly good choice there, and our ARM vs. x86 laptop processor guide explains why many efficient thin laptops run cool.
For more laptop buying advice and reviews, browse our Laptops section.
Key Takeaways
- Throttling is a safety feature. The cost is lost speed, not hardware damage.
- Confirm the cause with a 15 to 30 minute HWiNFO64 test before you buy anything.
- Cleaning the vents and raising the laptop are the cheapest first fixes.
- Repaste a laptop that’s two or more years old if cleaning doesn’t help.
- If a thin laptop still throttles after every fix, the chassis itself is the limit.
The Bottom Line on Laptop Thermal Throttling
Should You Worry About Laptop Thermal Throttling?
Thermal throttling isn’t a defect. It’s your laptop protecting itself. But when it happens often, it takes away performance you paid for, and in most cases you can win that performance back without spending much.
Follow this order and stop as soon as your laptop behaves:
- Confirm it first. Run a 15 to 30 minute test with HWiNFO64 to make sure you’re dealing with heat, not a power limit or a Windows setting.
- Do the free and cheap fixes. Clean the vents, get the laptop on a hard surface, raise the back, and set a sensible power mode and fan curve.
- Go deeper only if needed. Undervolt if your laptop allows it, and repaste if it’s two or more years old.
If a thin laptop still throttles after all of that, its cooling simply can’t keep up with its chip. Use it for shorter bursts of heavy work, and make sustained cooling the first thing you check when you buy your next one.
Frequently Asked Questions
What is thermal throttling in simple terms?
Why is my laptop overheating and slowing down?
At what temperature does a laptop CPU throttle?
Is thermal throttling bad for my laptop?
How do I know if my laptop is thermal throttling?
Do laptop cooling pads actually work?
Will undervolting fix thermal throttling?
Can I disable thermal throttling?
Does repasting my laptop void the warranty?
Do MacBooks thermal throttle?
References
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1
Intel
What Is Throttling and How Can It Be Resolved?
Last reviewed May 25, 2023
-
2
NVIDIA
NVIDIA GPU Maximum Operating Temperature and Overheating
n.d.
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3
Apple
Keep Your Mac Laptop Within Acceptable Operating Temperatures
n.d.
-
4
Intel
INTEL-SA-00289: Intel Processors Voltage Settings Modification Advisory
December 10, 2019
-
5
ASUS Republic of Gamers
What Is Thermal Throttling and How to Prevent It on Your Gaming Laptop
September 2026
-
6
Evetech
Laptop Thermal Throttling: What It Is and How to Fix It
Updated May 2026
-
7
U.S. Federal Trade Commission
FTC Warns Companies to Stop Warranty Practices That Harm Consumers’ Right to Repair
July 2024
Shamim Sarker is the Founder and Lead Tech Reviewer at ShamimTechReview.com. With over 8 years of hands-on experience in consumer electronics, he specializes in unbiased reviews of smartphones, laptops, cameras, AI tools, and smart gadgets.
Shamim personally tests every product through rigorous real-world usage and data-driven benchmarks, maintaining complete transparency with no paid promotions. His mission is to help readers cut through marketing hype and make confident, informed buying decisions.
