How Hot Should A Gaming Laptop Get? (Prevent Overheating!)

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How Hot Should A Gaming Laptop Get

It is essential you have a reliable gaming laptop that runs cool to guarantee seamless, uninterrupted game-play. But have you ever wondered how hot should a gaming laptop get?

Generally, gaming laptops can handle high temperatures between 80 (176°F) and 90 (194°F) degrees Celsius. This does depend on the hardware, the brand of laptop and how efficient the cooling system is will determine how much heat it can handle before affecting performance.

Whether you’ve just splashed out on the latest and greatest or your old gaming laptop has been a little overused. Here are some solutions for enjoying lower temperatures.

Is It Normal For Gaming Laptops Too Get Hot?

It is normal for gaming laptops to get hot, but not too hot. Laptops designed for gaming tend to generate more heat than regular laptops, mainly because they have more powerful hardware, such as central processing units (CPUs) and dedicated graphics processing units (GPUs).

But, gaming laptops have better fans, vents, heat sinks, and special thermal paste to help with their cooling. That said, if the laptop gets too hot, it can damage the hardware, so So it is imperative you must learn how to keep your gaming laptop cool before it is too late. If it gets too hot it can lead to overheating issues and a shorter lifespan.

The Razer Blade 15 Gaming Laptop
Razer laptops have good cooling systems

How Hot Is Too Hot For A Laptop for Gaming?

It is generally recommended that gaming laptops should not be exposed to temperatures above 100°F (38°C) for lengthy periods. This can cause issues such as overheating.

However, gaming laptops have improved 10-fold, and some are able to keep up with their distant uncles when it comes to performance (gaming PCs). With all this extra power comes additional heat. If the cooling system is unable to dissipate heat efficiently, it can lead to hardware damage.

GPU Laptop Temperature

Mobile graphics cards are designed to operate reliably up to a specified temperature. The maximum temperature varies depending on the graphics card.

The NVidia GeForce RTX 3080 GPU has a max operating temperature of 199.4°F (93°C). This is the absolute maximum temperature the GPU can reach before the drivers start to throttle down.

As a general rule of thumb, you should keep the temperature of the GPU 10°C to 15°C lower than the maximum operating temperature while heavy loads are occurring. It would depend on the graphics card as to what temperature is best for your laptop’s GPU.

CPU Laptop Temperature

AMD and Intel Core mobile processors are able to run a little hotter than graphics cards. But that does not mean it is a wise idea. However, high CPU temperatures are unlikely to cause permanent damage because of the built-in failsafe the manufacturers have added to each processor.

Intel States: Intel processors use two modes of thermal protection: throttling and automatic shutdown. When a core exceeds the set throttle temperature, it will reduce power to maintain a safe temperature level. If the processor is unable to maintain a safe temperature, it will automatically shut down.

Yet, it is best not to allow the CPU to get too hot. Even though the CPU will throttle down, the heat will also put strain on other laptop components like the battery, cooling system, memory, etc.

It is best to try and keep the maximum operating temperature of the CPU down to around 158°F to 185°F (70° to 85°C) while underload, you will get much more life out of your device.

There will be times when, when running heavier workloads like games, the processor will experience temperature spikes. Higher temperatures than the recommended 185 °F (85 °C). But, this is normal due to how processor boost mode works, which you can disable if needed.

What is the Normal Temperature of Laptop While Gaming?

Most gaming laptops should run at around 50-80 degrees Celsius (122°F to 176°F) when gaming, while some can reach up to 90 degrees Celsius (194°F) or above, depending on the specifications.

However, if your laptop is getting too hot (higher then the temperatures above). You may want to adjust some of the settings in the game or the BIOS. Or, use a cooling pad to aide in dissipating the heat.

LAPTOP COMPONENTAVERAGE NORMAL TEMPERATURE
Graphics Processing Unit70°C (158°F)
Central Processing Unit80°C (176°F)
Normal Temperature Gaming Laptop Hardware

What Is The Highest Temperature A Laptop Can Handle?

The highest temperature a laptop can handle will vary depending on how well each laptop can handle heat. It’s generally recommended that you keep your laptop’s temperature below 95 degrees Fahrenheit (35 degrees Celsius) to avoid any potential damage.

However, laptops specifically designed for gaming are able to handle much higher temperatures. Gaming laptops can handle temperatures a lot higher than 95°F (35°C).

Some gaming laptops can run as high as 194°F (90°C) without experiencing issues. But eventually high temperatures will weaken the hardware and reduce the lifespan of your gaming laptop.

LAPTOP COMPONENTHIGHEST TEMPERATURERECOMMENDED TEMPERATURE
Graphics Processing Unit93°C (199°F)75°C (167°F)
Central Processing Unit105°C (221°F)85°C (185°F)
Highest Temperature Gaming Laptop Can Handle

What Affects the Temperature of a Gaming Laptop?

There are many factors that can have an effect on the temperature of a gaming laptop. These include the type and power of the graphics processing unit and CPU.

Other factors include its design and materials used in the build, and type of RAM. The software you use can also have severe consequences for your laptop. If the software is not kept up to date, it could lead to heat problems.

Moreover, the types of games you play and other strenuous tasks like video editing can affect how much heat is generated. As some games and applications require more processing power than others.

Helpful Content: Some gaming laptops run cooler than others. Highlighted in the best laptops with the best cooling system article.

Finally, the power settings used, the ambient temperature of the room and how well you maintain your gaming laptop can impact how much heat is generated.

And why, an effective cooling system is critical so you can keep your laptop’s temperature under control. If the thermal system can not dissipate the heat, the gaming laptop may overheat and then shut down.

Common Factors that Affect Temperatures

  • Power of the GPU & CPU
  • Ambient Air Temperature
  • Poor Maintenance
  • Power Settings Used
  • Strenuous Tasks
  • Out Dated Hardware
  • Build Materials, Design

How To Prevent Your Laptop From Getting Too Hot?

In the final section, I will show you what I do to keep my gaming laptop’s temperatures down. With these methods, I enjoy an average GPU temperature of 148°F (64.6°C) and an average laptop CPU temperature of 150.8°F (66°C) while running Call of Duty Warzone on my Razer Blade 15. (See Below)

Razer Blade 15 Temperature Test Playing Warzone With a Cooling Pad
Cooling Performance After Optimizing
Razer Blade 15 Temperature Test Playing Warzone Without a Cooling Pad
Cooling Performance Before Optimizing

Helpful content: The tests were done to help answer the query Do Razer Laptops Overheat? If you want more information, read this article.

Clean Correctly to Keep your Laptop Cool

The best way to help prevent your gaming laptop from getting too hot, is proper maintenance and cleaning correctly. But first, allow your gaming laptop to cool down before attempting to clean it.

If you have to open the back of the laptop, first ground electric static and be careful not to touch the circuitry inside, which can cause irreparable damage to the internal components and yourself.

How to Easily Clean Your Laptop?

  • Turn off your laptop and remove any devices that are connected to it.
  • Lightly wet a lint-free microfiber cloth with an alcohol-based cleaning solution
  • Gently wipe the surface of your laptop to remove all dust particles with the cloth
  • Hold your gaming laptop on its side and use compressed air to blow the dust off the vents
  • Hold your gaming laptop upside down and use compressed air to blow the dust off the keys
  • Clean the screen by using a cleaning solution made specifically for laptop displays
  • Before switching on your gaming laptop, ensure the laptop is dry and clean

Reduce Background Processors

Reducing background processors can prevent your gaming laptop from getting too hot. Also, disabling background processes will free up resources such as RAM and processing power.

This will allow your gaming laptop to run cooler and more efficiently. To do this, use the task manager sheet to close down and disable start-up programmes you do not need.

Task Manager Sheet Processes Tab
Windows Task Manager Sheet

For more information, read this article: How to improve performance on gaming laptop in 19 simple to follow steps.

Lower Graphics Settings

High graphics settings can an impact on the heat generated by your laptop. Because the processor and graphics card would need to work harder.

The harder the hardware has to work the more heat it generates. This can lead to a decrease in gaming performance, also known as thermal throttling.

Lowering the graphics settings will allow you to squeeze that bit of extra performance (fps) out of your new laptop. Yet, your games may not look as good on the screen, but doing this will generate less heat.

Elevate Your Laptop

Elevating your gaming laptop will also help to improve airflow by allowing the hot air to escape easier. You can use a laptop stand or a laptop cooling pad to help raise the laptop off a flat surface, which will help prevent the base from becoming too hot.

Never use your laptop on a soft surface, like the bed. This will attract dust particles and dirt. Therefore affecting the cooling, so keep your gaming laptop on hard surfaces.

Use a Laptop Cooling Pad
MY Razer Blade 15 on the Thermaltake Laptop Cooling Pad

Unblock Vents & Exhausts

Unblocking air intake vents and exhausts can help reduce the internal temperature. If something is blocking the vents, the fans and cooling system must work harder and then heat accumulates. So keep the ventilation clear to allow for better air circulation and cooling.

Buy a Cooling Pad

Laptop cooling pads are an inexpensive accessory every laptop gamer needs. However, I tested a laptop cooler, and they do work. But, they will only reduce the internal temperatures by a few degrees.

This may be enough to prevent your laptop from overheating. I use the Thermaltake 2.0 cooling pad for my Razer Blade 15. This cooler only has one large fan, but it is the best one I have ever used.

Check & Remove Viruses

If your computer is infected with a virus. The virus will use more of your system resources, which can cause your laptop to get hot or even overheat. If your laptop is too hot, try running a virus scanner to remove the infection. This may help cool down your machine. (If you had one)

Check Thermal Paste

Over time the thermal paste applied on the Integrated Heat Spreader (IHS) of the CPU wears thin. The thermal paste is essential to help keep the processor running cooler, and more efficiently.

Before you go ahead and check if you need to replace the thermal paste, you must first check you will not affect the warranty. If you decide to open your laptop and replace the thermal paste.

There’s an excellent article here by Intel on how best to apply the thermal paste.

Thermal Paste on CPU Illustration
How Thermal Paste is between CPU Cooler

Use MSI Afterburner

The final tip on how to help with the cooling is using MSI Afterburner. This is a great tool to stress test the GPU for improved performance. You can also use Afterburner to cool down your gaming laptop as well.

The MSI software is free to use. Once you get the hang of it, it is also pretty easy to master. You can also use MSI Afterburner to check fan speed, voltage, and many other things.

Talking of fans, if you want to check if your laptop’s fans are working how they should. You can use this free tool Speed Fan which is also free to use.

Conclusion

The simple answer, to how hot should a gaming laptop get is anything above 190°F (90°C) is bad news. Eventually it will cause damage, a shorter lifespan and your laptop could end up overheating.

Overheating could happen even if you had a new gaming laptop or one of the best gaming laptops. So try to keep the max temperature down to around 158°F to 185°F (70°to 85°C) and all will be good for years to come.

I hope this article was helpful. If you have any questions or would like more tips, sign up to my newsletter where I send out weekly tips on how to improve your gaming laptop performance and experience.

Thanks for reading, Cya Next Time!

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