How To Lower CPU Temperature?

Cleaning your PC and making certain optimum airflow are the best methods to decrease the CPU and total system temperature.

If the loud followers are nonetheless bothering you, take into consideration whether or not you want to substitute the thermal paste. Disabling any CPU overclock and choosing undervolting may even be very efficient.

Some CPUs might even overheat to the purpose of thermal throttling. In such excessive circumstances, it is best to think about upgrading the PC’s cooling.

Let’s take a deep dive into all such methods to decrease the CPU temperature.

Lower/Limit CPU Usage

Unresponsive applications or malware could cause most CPU utilization, which ends up in excessive temps. In such circumstances, terminate this system by way of the Task Manager and scan your PC for malware. This ought to assist decrease the CPU utilization.

Sometimes, the excessive CPU utilization is because of a real CPU-intensive program. Or, on laptops, excessive CPU utilization might result in concerningly scorching temps. In such circumstances, you possibly can set a tough restrict on CPU utilization.

1. Press Win + R and enter powercfg.cpl.
2. Click on Change plan settings > Change superior energy settings.
3. Expand Processor Power Management.
4. Set the Maximum Processor State to 99% and press Apply.

99% will disable turbo/enhance mode in your CPU. For instance, my Ryzen 5600 shall be restricted to the three.5GHz base clock as an alternative of reaching the 4.4GHz enhance clock.

This ends in a major drop in temperature (10-15°C), nevertheless it comes at the price of decrease efficiency too.

There would possibly solely be a 1-2 FPS distinction in some video games, whereas different applications is perhaps considerably affected. Ultimately, you’ll want to do this to know whether or not it’s the appropriate resolution for you.

Remove Overclock / Undervolt CPU

Overclocking facilitates larger clock speeds by way of larger voltages (which ends up in larger temps). If you’ve overclocked your CPU, begin by dialing down or eradicating the overclock.

If the temps stay excessive regardless of disabling the overclock, think about undervolting your CPU. You’ll attempt to discover the bottom steady voltage in your CPU with out lowering efficiency.

I performed round with AMD’s PBO and curve optimizer to undervolt my very own CPU, and the outcomes have been implausible. 

The peak CPU temperature throughout Prime95 torture checks and intensive gaming dropped from 85°C to underneath 70°C. The better part is that this large temperature drop got here with no detriment to the CPU efficiency. 

So, undervolting, 10/10, would advocate!

Optimize the Airflow

Airflow impacts the general PC temperature, which in flip impacts the CPU temperature. Airflow on laptops is easy.

• Don’t place it on dust-prone surfaces like beds or pillows.
• Ideally, use a laptop computer cooling pad.
• And, sometimes clear the vents to make sure they aren’t clogged.

Desktops require a bit more effort.

1. Ensure the case isn’t positioned in an enclosed area the place airflow is considerably impacted.
2. Ensure you have got sufficient case followers based on the case’s type issue. For instance, ATX circumstances ought to have 3-6 followers.
3. Ensure the case followers are positioned correctly. They ought to consumption cool air from the entrance/backside and exhaust the new air from the back/prime.
4. Generally, opening the case’s facet cowl may even decrease the temps. But this isn’t all the time sensible resulting from elements like mud build-up and room temperature.
5. Cable administration issues to some extent. If the cables are messy to the purpose of obstructing airflow, take a while to tidy them up.

Clean the CPU & Replace Thermal Paste

When the thermal paste dries out, microscopic air pockets type between the cooler’s heatsink and the CPU’s IHS. This severely reduces the quantity of warmth that may be dissipated. This is additional exacerbated in soiled CPU coolers (the collected mud layer ends in an insulation impact).

Due to those causes, cleansing the CPU and cooler and changing the thermal paste can present an enormous enchancment to the CPU temperature. To summarize,

1. For air coolers, you unlock the cooler from the motherboard. Then, you detach the fan from the heatsink and clear them individually.
2. For customized loops, you possibly can clear most elements together with the loop, radiator, and water block.
3. AIO coolers usually shouldn’t be opened. So, you’ll probably solely have the ability to clear the radiator and followers.
4. In all circumstances, clear the outdated thermal paste off the CPU and reapply a brand new layer.

The similar recommendation applies to laptops. Cleaning the followers and reapplying the thermal paste in acceptable intervals will decrease the CPU temperature.

Tip: Refer to the linked tutorials for step-by-step directions that information you thru the complete course of.

Upgrade the Cooler / Fans

If the GPU and motherboard sensors are additionally reporting excessive temps, putting in more case followers or upgrading the present ones is a viable strategy.

But when you’re overclocking or have a higher-end CPU, the CPU could possibly be the one overheating element. In that case, it might be higher to improve the CPU cooler as inventory coolers are sometimes the weak hyperlink.

• Budget aftermarket air coolers present the very best worth when it comes to price-to-performance. 
• If you’ve obtained some money to spare, high-end air coolers or mid-range AIOs present wonderful cooling capabilities.
• If you need to splurge, customized loops will present the very best cooling in your CPU in addition to different parts just like the CPU.