Extremely high CPU temp on idle laptop

[epistemotard]

Decided to check on my laptop's performance just today. Turns out, my CPU heats up to 80-90 when I'm just in my browser and CPU usage is 2-5%. Any thoughts on why this might be happening?

 

[johnb35]

Probably because you have dust in your exhaust vent or possible all around the fan inside. How old is the laptop?

 

[epistemotard]

Probably because you have dust in your exhaust vent or possible all around the fan inside. How old is the laptop?

1 year old. I'm definitely going to clean it, but can dust really cause SUCH high temp?

 

[johnb35]

Yes, with laptops the heat has no where to go but the exhaust port and if thats blocked guess what happens? If you live with cats or dogs that shed then that can cause a huge problem.

Also need to verify that the temp reading is correct.

 

[beers]

Depends on your power profile. I can put mine on silent and it floats up to 80-85C just keeping noise to a minimum.

That being said the heatsinks are significantly smaller, so if you've never dusted it out then that's your problem. Mine usually needs a good spray every 3-4 months or so and you can definitely tell the difference in throttling headroom. In contrast, my buddy constantly complains about frame dips on his but refuses to dust it out. ¯\_(ツ)_/¯