Does temperature affect gaming on a PC?
Does temperature affect gaming on a PC?
It varies. You can push the processor further, but it won’t improve much on its own. Features like GPU boost 2.0 and Intel turbo boost exist, yet they won’t make a big difference. If cooling is too poor, the system will slow down to protect itself, reducing performance.
It will only matter if the heat goes past the level where the CPU/GPU starts slowing down (likely around 90°C for Intel). If your cooling setup isn’t great, you shouldn’t even try to hit these temps (a regular cooler works fine for not overclocking).
Only when temperatures climb into the higher range and thermal throttling starts.