How to Keep Your Laptop Cool While Gaming

Those who are heavy gamers or live streamers will end up overheating or crashing laptops. If you are having a difficult time deciphering why then you have come to the right place! It is important to keep your laptop cool because overheating can harm your device’s performance and lifespan. Throughout this guide, we will cover the important things you should watch for when it comes to keeping your gaming device cool.

Does Your Laptop Really Get Too Hot?

Your laptop is more likely to overheat if it is powerful and busy. Nevertheless, there are a number of clear signs that you are actually overheating your computer:

• Even when you are just surfing the web or watching a video, your laptop will begin to get hotter and the fans will start to work faster than usual.
• A significant slowdown in computation-intensive applications and games is another indication. This is a bad sign as well if you frequently encounter hangs or FPS drops. As a result, the CPU or GPU reduces its processing speed when the temperature rises beyond its protection threshold.
• As hot hardware draws more power, increased power consumption may also indicate excessive temperatures.

Several tools are available for checking the temperature of individual hardware sensors, including HWiNFO and HWMonitor. But what temperature does a laptop need to be at? Generally, a CPU should not exceed 130 degrees Fahrenheit (55 degrees Celsius) when it is in normal use. When loaded at full speed, temperatures in excess of 160°F (70°C) are acceptable. Even isolated peaks in moderation do not indicate a problem.

You probably have a gaming laptop with a dedicated graphics card (GPU) rather than another graphics chip integrated into the CPU. Normally, those temperatures should be below 110 F (45 C), but they may reach temperatures as high as 175 F (80 C) under load.

Here are some tips for keeping your gaming laptop cool

tips for keeping your gaming laptop cool

For those of you whose gaming laptops get too hot, I have compiled some tips and tricks that you can use to play your favorite games without worries. Various methods exist to combat overheating, both at the hardware and software levels. There are some that are very simple and others that require more technical know-how. The goal ought to be that everyone can lower the temperature of their gaming devices.

Tips 1: Use a Surface That Is Appropriate For Gaming

Your laptop shouldn’t be used on a bed or other difficult surfaces. Use a solid surface to keep your computer, especially if you’re using high-performance applications. A blanket, pillow, or even your legs can prevent ventilation and thereby drastically reduce cooling.

On hard surfaces, such as tabletops, the rubber feet lift the laptop far enough to let adequate airflow through the ventilation slots. You should conduct the temperature tests on a suitable surface before you get worried.

Tips 2: Buy a cooling pad for a gaming laptop

Cooling pads are an inexpensive and effective way to keep your laptop cool. The external fans on these pads keep your gaming laptop cool during intense use. You usually connect your laptop via USB to the pad and place it on the pad.

Some laptops blow warm air from the bottom instead of sucking in cold air from the bottom. The heat from your gaming device builds up and obstructs both devices if the air is blown from the bottom. Make sure you check your laptop’s airflow first.

Tips 3: Check the laptop’s fans

Checking the fans should always be your first step if your computer is overheating. Modern gaming systems have multiple fans for their cooling and airflow, which provide efficient cooling and airflow.

In the event of one of these fans failing, cooling performance will be compromised. If your fans work, you can use the tools discussed above to check whether they still are. In addition to showing the fan speeds (RPM), these also show the current temperature.

If your fans are not working properly when you are under load, there are two additional signs. Be on the lookout for these two things:

Rattling – A malfunctioning fan makes various rattling or grinding sounds before it fails completely. You might have faulty fans if these noises are coming from them.

Silence – A laptop that is overheating or under load obviously does not have a fan idling. While your laptop is under heavy load, if you do not hear any sound from a fan, it is most likely broken and must be replaced.

Tip 4: Clean your laptop fan and case

Cleaning is a must if all fans are operating normally! Often, aging laptops accumulate thick layers of dust that hinder the cooling performance. As a result of covering coolant fins and ventilation grilles, the temperature suffers very greatly.

You can remove and clean the dust filters that are installed in ventilation slots on some laptops. The majority of the time, this is not the case. The laptop cannot usually be avoided being unscrewed.

You may need to research your laptop specifics if you are uncertain about how this works. In the event that dust gets inside the laptop, carefully remove it with cotton swabs, a thin attachment on your vacuum cleaner, or, if possible, using compressed air. To learn how to clean your laptop from dust, click here.
You cannot prevent your gaming laptop from accumulating dust. As a result, you should wipe your laptop down regularly, preferably once or twice a year.

Tip 5: Replace Thermal Paste

Your laptop’s thermal grease might look bad, so you may want to consider replacing it. In general, you should only perform this step if you have easy access to the CPU. Older systems may lose thermal paste effectiveness over time as the paste dries out. The CPU cooler can be unscrewed if your CPU is easily accessible, and the paste can be replaced, or the cooler can simply be replaced.

There is a technical skill involved in this process, but it will reduce the temperature by a few degrees. As well as the CPU, the GPU can also be replaced with thermal grease, though this process is often more difficult.

Tips 6: Upgrade your laptop’s hardware

Your laptop’s temperature can be lowered by installing an SSD. Your laptop’s temperature will rise as it becomes busier. Modern gaming laptops can drastically lower their temperature with newer hardware.

In particular, laptops have limited hardware upgrade options, but at least RAM and hard drives can often be upgraded.

The less often files are moved from RAM to hard drive, the less CPU and hard drive load is incurred. SSD drives are generally cooler than mechanical HDDs, and your system will perform better if you use one instead of a mechanical HDD.

Tip 7: Quit running too many programs

Temperature is directly related to load, which is why programs that run frequently should be shut down rather than put in the background. You should quit all programs you are no longer using before starting high-performance applications like games.

The classic browsers like “Chrome” or “Mozilla Firefox” hog system resources. You can use the Windows task manager to determine which programs are the most problematic on your system.

You should also regularly download malware like Bitcoin miners, as these can consume a lot of your system’s resources.

Tip 8: Reduce game graphics settings.

It is sometimes better to keep things simple. When you play games, you can also reduce the load placed on your system. This can be accomplished by reducing the quality of performance-enhancing elements like anti-aliasing and shadow calculation.

Especially with older games that go over the 60 FPS requirement, it makes sense to set a frame limit. For games that don’t have a direct method of achieving this, you may also use V-Sync, since the game’s frame rate is constrained by the frame rate of the screen.

You can save power this way, and the temperature is also greatly reduced. The option below can provide you with a steady and fluid feel through constant frame rates if you are plagued by regular frame drops due to downclocking due to temperature.

A graphics card external to your computer is also an option. At the same time, you can greatly reduce the amount of internal heat, while having desktop-grade graphics power.

Tip 9: Undervoltage

If you are not certain that you are doing it correctly, don’t use the processor voltage! You may be able to “undervolt” your laptop depending on the type. Reduced voltage is a way of describing how the processor is energized. When under load, the voltage is lower, and the temperature is lower, as well. You should only try this option if you’ve tried everything else and you’re sure what you’re doing otherwise you could harm yourself further.

When the voltage is reduced too much, the system stability will suffer and the laptop can crash and freeze frequently. For those of you who are still interested, you merely have to access the BIOS on your laptop.

A CPU core voltage entry or something similar is usually called “CPU Core Voltage” if free voltage regulation is available. The value of the offset value should be –0.01V if the “Auto” mode has been selected. During startup, test if your system is still functioning, for example with Cinebench. As Prime95 uses synthetic load, it is not suitable for gaming laptops, as the cooling is unlikely to keep up.

You can go back to your BIOS and decrease the value approximately by 2, if you are able to survive two or three Cinebench runs without crashing. 2.02 volts. If the system is still unstable, repeat this process.

You need to increase the voltage slowly in small steps until the laptop is stable again after reaching this point. Then you can push a few degrees further under load since you have to know your “sweet spot.”

When you set or manipulate other values incorrectly and without knowing the consequences, you might severely harm your system. In other words, this should be your last option and you should only consider it if you are really knowledgeable.

Conclusion

Laptops are harder to fix than desktop PCs, so tinkering with them makes sense. Rather than trying to fix your expensive gaming laptop yourself, it is best to get it repaired by a professional.

If your laptop gets too hot, some of the tips we’ve provided will help you cool it down. You should seek the assistance of an expert or a friend if you are not a technical person.
The warranty of a laptop will be voided if the screws are unscrewed.

Nevertheless, if none of the above solutions help, you may have a defect in your hardware. A warranty on a newer laptop doesn’t hurt. If your laptop has a warranty, you should contact the manufacturer. You can get additional tips specific to your device from the manufacturers if you describe your problem, as they are likely to be familiar with the issue.

You may also browse forums that pertain to your laptop to gain valuable insight. The hardware may also be unsuited for handling the current load of games or programs if the laptop is older. If you don’t want to be without the newest games, you can only benefit from a new purchase.