Do you ask yourself; why does my laptop overheat when I play games? Powerful CPUs and dedicated graphics cards produce a lot of heat which has become quite an issue in modern laptops. This is because of the compact design, the flat and slim cases, which give modern laptops elegant looks and a lightweight build. But it comes at the cost of excess heat. We look into the factors which cause overheating when gaming and we will share some tips which you can use to overcome this problem.
What Causes Overheating?
Before we get to the solutions, it is important to establish what causes overheating and what is too hot for the CPU. The simple answer to it is insufficient cooling. If we go into detail then there are many problems that your laptop could be facing. If your laptop is more than 2-3 years old then the most common problem could be the CPU overheating which you can overcome by applying a thermal paste that will remedy this issue.
How can you fix your overheating Laptop?
There are many ways to fix the overheating issues of your laptop, however, we will only discuss the most effective ways to stop this problem or reduce it to the extent that it is bearable.
Regularly clean your laptop
Laptops these days are very compact and if you don’t regularly clean your laptop, dust will accumulate on your laptop’s fan which will eventually lead to overheating. Before start opening the laptop, make sure to have the right tools to open it as if you try to open the laptop with the wrong tool it will damage its case which isn’t a good thing. Having a manual of the laptop is a plus which will show you how to open the laptop. Also, make sure to properly shut down the device and unplug the power strip before cleaning the laptop. For cleaning the laptop, use the vacuum cleaner or air blower to clean the fan and make sure not to apply any liquid directly to the fan.
The vacuum cleaner is a much effective option because with it you can also clean the ports. If possible also apply the thermal paste on the CPU as it will make the overall performance much better.
Keep the laptop on a hard surface
I know it is much easy to use the laptop on the lap than on a hard surface especially when you are working at home but if your work needs some extensive resources then make sure to use it on a hard surface for better cooling. When you use a laptop on the laptop, your clothes usually block the air vents which makes it difficult for processors to cool themselves while working and if your laptop includes dedicated graphics then things can get worse as it may cause the laptop to crash and restart. If you want to use the laptop on your bed and also want good cooling then you can go to our next option.
Invest in laptop cooling Pad
Laptops are getting thinner and with the thin body, it is almost impossible to provide effective cooling so if you want to use your laptop without heating issues then use the laptop cooling Pad. Laptop cooling pads have proven to be effective over the years because they come with large fans that can suck in air for cooling from the bottom to make the laptop cool. However, some laptops come with air vents on the side and some laptops come with air vents on the back. If your laptop has vents on the sides or on the back, then you can go for a laptop vacuum pump that can fit directly on the side and it is also a very effective solution.
Limit the background Apps
High-end gaming laptops are the real deal these days as they can play a lot of modern games without any problem but they are also expensive and there is no actual need to manage the background Apps. But in the budget and mid-tier laptops, managing resources will make a difference. If your laptop doesn’t have 32GB DDR4 RAM, GTX-1080, Core i7 then needs to follow this step to overcoming the heating issues. Windows OS is very heavy on resources and it constantly manages the apps to ensure the smooth performance of the computer which needs a lot of computational power which results in overheating. So limit the applications which run in the background as it will help you in countering the overheating issue.
Shutdown unnecessary programs
Programs like Web browsers, Microsoft Word, and other heavy programs need a lot of resources for running properly and if you are a person with a lot of plug-ins installed on your browser then make sure to close it when playing the game as it can steal your resources. For smooth performance and no overheating issues, make sure to close all unnecessary programs before start playing the game.
Replace your HDD with SSD
Laptops these days come with a dedicated SSD for effective performance but if your laptop has a Hard drive instead of a Solid State Drive (SSD) then replace it as soon as possible and you will notice the performance bump in your laptop. Conventional Hard Drives having moving parts and they also produce a lot of heat, an SSD doesn’t have moving parts and it can also run cooler than a conventional hard drive.
In conclusion, so why does my laptop overheat when I play games?
Modern Gaming Laptops produce a lot of heat especially if they have the latest powerful GPUs and CPUs. Reducing the dimension of the laptops will result in more heat being trapped inside. However, you can use our methods as listed above, to effectively cool down your laptop which will result in better performance. We hope that you will find our guide useful and please let us know which methods you use to cool down your laptop in the comment section below. Also, visit our other posts for info on the best gaming chairs.
