Can Overheating CPU Cause Lag? Guide 2024

Universal law states that anything that works produces a certain amount of heat dissipation. Just take a look around. Your computers get heated after a while, your TVs, anything from your daily household items to huge machinery and what not, produces heat.

Often, the heat produced tends to slow our work down, primarily because overheating can lead to product damage and much more. The same thing happens with our CPUs. We all must have noticed that when overworked, the CPU will heat up, and most of the time, it does cause a lag in your activities.

Today, the main focus of this article is to provide you with simple and effective ways to keep that CPU temperature cooler for longer and avoid an unnecessary lag in your online and offline activities, as well as how to maintain that. So, stay tuned.

Can an overheated CPU cause lag?

The answer is yes. It can. When you are streaming videos online or offline, playing games, designing 3D designs on your gadget, and doing other forms of heavy work on your PC, you need your CPU and GPU at maximum clock speed.

Heavy loads on your computer can cause a lot of heat production. When there is a constant increase in temperature, the frames between the CPU and GPU get delayed due to frames either skipping or lagging.

There are multiple reasons why your CPU gets overheated. Here are some of the most common reasons:

1. Simultaneous procedures and applications are running.
2. Concurrent use of too many browser tabs.
3. Air circulation is compromised.
4. Blocked air vents.
5. outdated operating system.
6. Excessive dust builds up on PC fans and vents.
7. Malware software.
8. Viruses.
9. An overclocking CPU

You can be dealing with either one or many of these problems at the same time. But don’t worry. Read this article till the end, and you can tackle this issue once and for all.

How to Check Your CPU’s Overheating Status?

To increase your CPU performance, you must keep the temperature at an optimal level. When your CPU gets overheated, it will cause a lag; this time, you don’t have much of an idea of how much your CPU temperature is. In a situation like this, knowing your current CPU temperature is crucial. This will help you manage your system in a better manner.

When your CPU overheats, you will notice some basic signs and symptoms, just like humans do when we get sick. They are:

1. Loud fan sound.
2. Increasing unsustainable temperature when your computer is doing nothing.
3. Random shutting down or restarting.

To check your CPU overheating status, follow these simple steps:

1. Access the Windows start menu.
2. Search System information.
3. A popup window will appear with details of your hardware.

Apart from this, you can also use various applications like MSI Afterburner to know your CPU temperature. Here is how you can do that:

1. Go to MSI Afterburner and HwiNFO.
2. Click to download and install.
3. Then, press the Windows key.
4. Search for MSI Afterburner.
5. A pop-up window will appear.
6. Click on Settings, MSI Afterburner properties.
7. Scroll down to the CPU temperature.
8. Click on the Active hardware monitoring graphs.
9. Ensure that dll or HwiNFO.dill is clicked.
10. Then click OK.
11. Hit “Apply” and “Okay.”
12. Next, press the Windows key.
13. Search HwiNFO.
14. Open HNinFO settings.
15. Enable features
16. Click OK. HWiNFO window will appear to click on the sensor only. The press run
17. Look for the HwiNFO app in your toolbar and open the app.
18. Go to MSI Afterburner again and then press K to launch MSI Kombustor.
19. Run the stress test button and check your CPU’s temperature.

How to Fix an Overheating CPU Issue?

It is relatively easy to overcome this issue. Cleaning your PC, replacing the thermal paste, closing applications not in use, and other steps can ensure that your PC runs at an optimal temperature.

To manually fix your overheating issue, follow these steps:

1. Remove the components from your PC.
2. First, clean the cooling fan and get all the dirt off.
3. Change the thermal paste and apply a new one.
4. Invest in an external cooling system.
5. Sit in a cold room.
6. Use more exhaust fans if possible.
7. Close programs that consume a lot of power.
8. Get a semi-or fully modular power supply unit.

Besides this, you can also fix this overheating issue by using the default motherboard BIOS settings. Here is how you can do that:

1. Press either the Del or Esc key and then enter your BIOS settings.
2. Easy Mode will appear on your screen.
3. Enter your fan control center and press smart fans.
4. Then, set the CPU fan speed to Manual. Adjust it to how you like it.
5. Hit Esc and click save and exit.

FAQs

What happens if the CPU gets too hot?

If your CPU gets too hot, it can cause significant damage to your hardware. You will also face lag. Your device will shut down and restart automatically. Your device can also malfunction or break down.

Can an overheated CPU damage your motherboard?

Yes, it can. It can also damage your computer and its hardware and significantly reduce its lifetime.

Does overheating the CPU affect your performance?

Yes, it will. When your CPU gets overheated, your system will lag. It can also shut down or restart by itself. It can also damage your hardware and software.

Does an Overheated CPU Affect FPS?

Yes. It most certainly does. For games to run smoothly, your CPU and GPU must run at their maximum clock speed. If the frequency of your processor is reduced, it will fail to provide the graphics card with frames at the same rate. Most games out there are optimized for high clock speeds, so overheating will cause your game to lag and malfunction.

Related:
Why Is My CPU Cooler So Loud?
Base Clock Speed vs Boost Clock Speed on CPU and GPU
GPU Not Being Fully Used in Games
Do More Cores Mean Better Performance?