Heatwave: why your gaming PC is overheating (and the solutions that really work)

24°C outside, then 35°C. And everything changes. The fans go wild, the noise increases, the performance drops, and sometimes the computer restarts on its own right in the middle of a game. Many then think of a failing graphics card, a tired power supply, or a defective processor. In reality, the PC is suffering from heat. Just like you.

Modern components are powerful: a high-end processor with a recent graphics card can consume between 600 and 800 watts at full load. All this energy is expelled as heat. In winter, it’s barely noticeable. In a heatwave, it quickly becomes unbearable.

The problem goes both ways. The air that enters the case is already warm, so cooling becomes less effective. And the heat expelled warms the room, which in turn warms the PC. The more the PC heats the room, the more the room heats the PC.

Fortunately, solutions exist. Some are free, others require just a few minutes of adjustments, and several can even reduce power consumption without losing a single FPS.

Why a PC cools less effectively at 35°C

A heatsink or water cooling does not produce cold. It transfers heat from the components to the surrounding air, nothing more.

Simple example: in winter, the office is at 21°C and the processor runs at 70°C. The gap of 50°C facilitates heat dissipation.

In a heatwave, the room rises to 31 or 32°C. The processor stays at 70°C, but the gap drops to 38°C. The radiators become less effective, the fans speed up to compensate, up to their maximum speed.

When that is no longer enough, the processor and the graphics card automatically protect themselves.

Throttling, the mechanism that deliberately slows down your PC

AMD and Intel processors, as well as NVIDIA and AMD graphics cards, have several integrated protection systems. Beyond a certain temperature, they automatically drop their clock speed: this is thermal throttling. It’s normal, and it prevents damage to the components. But the performance drops sharply.

In a game: FPS drop, stuttering, micro-freezes. In video editing: longer exports. In 3D rendering or AI calculations: performance is erratic.

If the temperature continues to rise despite everything, the computer cuts power to protect the hardware.

Why your office becomes a sauna

A detail that is often forgotten: the energy consumed by a PC does not disappear; it ends up as heat.

A recent setup with an RTX 5090 (around 575 W) and a Core Ultra 9 or Ryzen 9 under full load easily exceeds 700 W during gaming sessions. Your computer heats up almost as much as a small electric radiator.

Some reference points:

A small closed room can gain several degrees in one hour of gaming. And the hotter it gets, the more the PC heats up in turn.

The components that suffer the most

The processor is not the only one affected. The graphics card often takes more heat: powerful models regularly exceed 80°C under load, and their video memory climbs even higher.

NVMe SSDs automatically reduce their speed towards 70°C to protect their electronics. The RAM runs hotter during overclocking. The VRMs of the motherboard heat up significantly during long sessions. Even the power supply contributes: the hotter it gets, the less efficient it is, and the more heat it expels into the case.

Symptoms to watch for

Fans running at full speed constantly. Increasing noise. Irregular performance. FPS dropping for no reason. Graphics driver resetting. Black screen for a few seconds. Sudden reboot. In the worst cases, blue screen, or the machine refusing to restart until it has cooled down enough.

These symptoms do not necessarily mean that a component is broken: in a heatwave, it’s almost always just overheating.

How to know your PC’s actual temperature

Relying on the BIOS or the manufacturer’s software is not enough. Tools like HWiNFO64, MSI Afterburner, GPU-Z, or Open Hardware Monitor monitor the CPU, GPU, SSDs, VRMs, and RAM simultaneously, and keep track of peaks reached after a long session.

A recent processor can momentarily reach 90-95°C without immediate danger. But staying there for several hours a day compromises acoustic comfort and, in the long run, the hardware.

Common mistakes

Removing the side panel of the case seems logical, but on many recent models it disrupts the airflow planned by the manufacturer: the fans pull air in all directions instead of creating a clear flow.

Pushing the case against a wall prevents the warm air expelled from the back from escaping. Dust accumulated on a radiator (even just a few millimeters) can raise the temperature by several degrees. And playing in the afternoon in a south-facing room is probably the worst scenario.

What really works

No need to change hardware in most cases.

Cleaning filters and radiators already improves the situation a lot.

Optimizing the airflow in the case is also important: fresh air at the front, rapid evacuation at the back and above.

Undervolting is probably the most effective trick: by slightly lowering the voltage of the CPU or GPU, it is often possible to gain 5 to 15°C, with virtually imperceptible performance loss.

Limiting the FPS also helps: on a 144 Hz screen, producing 280 frames per second only serves to unnecessarily heat the graphics card. Activating DLSS, FSR, or XeSS significantly reduces GPU load. And reducing the Power Limit to 90% often leads to a noticeable decrease in consumption for only a few percent of performance lost.

Water cooling is not magic

An AIO does not solve everything. The liquid transfers heat better than a traditional heatsink, but after a few tens of minutes, the water in the circuit eventually reaches room temperature.

If the office is at 32°C, the radiator of the water cooling will never cool the liquid to 22°C. It improves peaks but remains dependent on ambient temperature.

NVMe SSDs, discreet victims of the heatwave

PCIe Gen4 and Gen5 SSDs are fast but heat up a lot. Around 70°C, they automatically reduce their performance – without crashing, so the problem often goes unnoticed. File copying slows down, as do game load times. A heatsink or better airflow around the SSD usually resolves the issue.

Laptops, even more exposed

Less space to dissipate heat, smaller fans and radiators. In a heatwave, a few gestures help: ventilated support, slightly raised back, avoiding bed or sofa, regularly cleaning ventilation grilles. The same problem is also found in mini PCs.

Home automation can also help

Another track, less obvious: acting on the temperature of the room rather than on that of the PC. With Home Assistant, you can close the office shutters before the sun turns the room into a greenhouse, trigger the air conditioning beyond a certain threshold, start a connected fan, or be notified when the outside air allows opening the windows (free cooling).

We detail these scenarios in our guide on managing heatwaves with Home Assistant – enough to keep the office several degrees cooler.

In summary

Heatwaves put PCs to the test just like their users. A gaming PC heats up almost like a small electric radiator, which ultimately harms its own cooling. Cleaning the case, optimizing airflow, limiting the FPS, doing some undervolting, and keeping the office cool are often enough to achieve a quieter and more stable machine. The best cooling system remains a room below 26°C.

And you, what are your tips for staying cool while gaming?