One of the main reasons for your computer slowing down or shutting down unexpectedly is overheating. To prevent your PC from freezing or slowing down from time to time, you need to maintain its optimal thermal range. For this, you will need to check the CPU temperature on your PC from time to time. Here, we’ll tell you how to check your computer’s CPU temperature to prevent it from overheating, which should not only lead to faster performance but also increase its lifespan.
Check the CPU temperature on your PC for optimal performance
You can check the CPU temperature in your computer’s BIOS/UEFI or through third-party software, as Windows does not offer a built-in tool for this. High CPU temperatures affect both laptops and desktops, and the methods we’ll describe below apply equally to both. So, without further ado, let’s see how you can check CPU temperature on your laptop or desktop for optimal performance.
1. Check CPU temperature in BIOS
To enter the BIOS, you will need to turn on your PC and repeatedly press a designated key before it boots. The key varies from vendor to vendor, so you’ll need to do a web search to determine the correct key for your PC make and model. Usually it’s ‘F2’ or ‘DEL’ (Delete). You’ll find the temperature in a BIOS menu usually called “Hardware Monitor”, “PC Status” or something similar.
2. Check CPU temperature with Core Temp
If the BIOS check seems too complicated, you can download and install a Windows application called “Core Temp” which does exactly what it says on the box. It is a compact, simple, reliable, small but powerful program to monitor CPU temperature and other vital information on your PC. Once the software is running, you will immediately see your PC’s CPU temperature on the app’s home screen.
Download Core Temp: (To free)
What is a good CPU temperature?
There is no universal “good CPU temperature” because the ideal temperature for the CPU/GPU/RAM differs depending on the chips and how they are stored. This includes their TDP as well as their input Vcore, since the amount of heat generated by a semiconductor chip is directly related to the amount of voltage it draws.
However, in most cases, temperatures around 40 degrees Celsius are ideal, but anything up to 60 degrees is acceptable. Unless it’s for small periods of time, temperatures around 70 degrees or higher should be cause for concern. Anything over 80 degrees can damage your PC, so it’s best to turn it off and let it cool down before turning it back on.
Reasons for High CPU Temperature in Desktop
One of the main causes of overheating in PCs is the buildup of dust and cobwebs on fans and other components inside your case. This can inhibit airflow, which is essential for the effective cooling of any semiconductor chip, including your PC’s CPU, GPU, and RAM.
If your PC keeps registering high temperatures without playing demanding games or running resource-intensive software, you should check for possible malware infestation. Crypto-mining scripts and other data-gathering software running in the background tend to increase resource usage on computers, increasing core times and reducing system performance.
Reasons for High CPU Temperature in Laptops
CPU temperature should be monitored and controlled on both desktops and laptops. All the precautions detailed above also apply to laptop computers. Dust, grime, and cobwebs are not your friends, whether you’re using a desktop computer or a laptop. That said, there are a few more things you need to worry about if you want to fix laptop and gaming laptop overheating issues.
This is because laptops, no matter how powerful, lack the massive heatsinks and fans used in desktop computers due to an obvious lack of space. High-end gaming desktops also often have water cooling solutions to control temperatures, which is MIA in gaming laptops, although many such machines these days, like Acer Nitro , Asus ROG, HP Omen, Lenovo Legion, Alienware and others come with desktop graphics cards that require high power cooling solutions.
While many high-end gaming laptops now feature case fans in addition to standard CPU heatsinks for heat dissipation, solving laptop overheating issues and ensuring their optional thermal performance remains a challenge. greater challenge. This is especially true for gaming-oriented machines that come with higher clocked processors and discrete graphics. However, using the methods detailed above, you can easily monitor CPU temperature on your laptops and reduce CPU temperature in your gaming laptops.
How to Reduce CPU Temperature on Laptops and Desktops
To lower the temperature of your desktop computer, open the case and use compressed air and a rag to clean it, paying particular attention to the CPU cooling fan and case fans. With a laptop, you’ll need to use a little more elbow grease to get inside. Once there, use the same procedure to clean the device. This should reduce the CPU temperature in most cases.
If that doesn’t help, scan your PC for possible malware. To do this, you should check out our list of the best antivirus programs on Windows. Also uninstall programs that you no longer use, as some of them can use too many system resources in the background and cause the processor to overload, increase its temperature and reduce its lifespan.
To check which processes are consuming too many resources, open Task Manager by pressing Ctrl+Shift+Esc simultaneously. Then look for errant processes that are hogging your CPU or consuming too much power. In all likelihood, they are the ones responsible for your PC overheating problem. Uninstall them if they are not used much or look for an alternative if you need to use a similar program.
Frequently Asked Questions
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How do I check my CPU fan speed in Windows 10 and Windows 7?
The CPU fan is often controlled by system resources based on usage. However, you can override this using third-party utilities on desktop computers. The one we recommend is SpeedFan (free), which is one of the best programs to control fan speed on Windows 10 and Windows 7 machines. Note that you can only control fan speed using third-party utilities on desktop computers , but not on laptops. However, you can still use FanSpeed to monitor your laptop fans.
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Is 85 degrees too hot for my processor?
As mentioned earlier, different CPUs have different levels of heat tolerance, depending on the manufacturing process and how they are stored. A temperature of 85°C (185°F), while highly undesirable, can be tolerated by some processors, but may cause thermal throttling in others. In fact, most mainstream laptop and consumer desktop processors could be seriously damaged by these temperatures, so it’s best to turn off your computer and let it cool down before using it again.
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Does my system need liquid cooling?
It depends on what you are doing with your computer. If you use it extensively for spreadsheets, word processing, email and Netflix, then no, it doesn’t need liquid cooling. In fact, for most of these systems you don’t even need to invest in a spare HSF (heatsink and fan). However, if you are a hardcore gamer who plays graphics-intensive games, this is definitely an option. Especially if you like modding and overclocking. For most regular users, however, you don’t have to worry about that. Just keep your PC physically clean and don’t install junk.
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What happens if your CPU gets too hot?
Most modern computers, whether laptop or desktop, have a built-in mechanism to detect overheating. So when your CPU starts to heat up, the BIOS can detect it and increase the fan speed to fix this problem. However, if the temperatures continue to rise, the self-defense mechanism kicks in stronger and you experience what is known as “thermal throttling”. That is, the processor starts working at a lower speed to radiate less heat. This slows down your computer and leads to frequent freezes and slowdowns. Eventually, most computers will automatically shut down to protect themselves from destruction.
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How do I know if my processor is overheating?
You can follow the methods in this article to check the CPU temperature of your laptop or desktop. At idle, you shouldn’t get temperatures too much above 40 degrees Celsius, although anything under 60 degrees is generally considered acceptable under stress.
Easily check the CPU temperature on your computer
Persistently high CPU temperatures are a surefire way to damage your computer. So take a look at the above methods to easily check CPU temperature on your PC and deal with it according to the steps given above. If you follow a T’s guide, you will hopefully avoid the untimely death of your beloved computer and even improve its performance. So, at what temperature does your computer operate? Let us know in the comments below.
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