Over the past two months, my PC has started running noticeably warmer in games I play regularly. It used to stay around the mid-to-high 50s or low 60s, but now those same games often reach the 60s and sometimes the low 70s. I have not intentionally changed anything, and the system has an Intel i7-13700K, an RTX 4080, 64 GB of RAM, a Lian Li AIO cooler, and ten fans. I live on the East Coast and have air conditioning, so I'm wondering whether this is normal seasonal variation or whether I should check for dust, fan settings, cooling issues, or something else.
4 Answers
It may also be worth checking whether a game update, graphics-driver update, or changed settings is making the GPU work harder. Compare GPU usage, CPU usage, clock speeds, and frame rate in the same game. If performance is unchanged and the temperatures are only about 10°C higher, warmer ambient conditions or a different workload are more likely than a failing component.
Your listed temperatures are not concerning. An i7-13700K and RTX 4080 can easily reach the 60s or low 70s during demanding games, and even temperatures around 90°C can still be within normal operating limits depending on the component. What matters more is whether temperatures keep climbing, performance starts throttling, fans suddenly run at full speed, or the system becomes unstable.
The first thing to compare is the room temperature. Even with air conditioning, a few degrees warmer ambient temperature will usually show up directly in CPU and GPU temperatures. Low 70s under gaming load are completely safe for both, so this is not an emergency. Check your temperatures at idle and under the same game load, and compare the actual room temperature if possible.
Dust buildup or a changed fan curve could explain the difference. Clean the filters, radiator, heatsinks, and fans, then verify that the AIO pump is running and that your fan curves were not reset by a BIOS or software update. Since the CPU was repasted only about a month ago, I would check mounting and pump behavior before immediately repasting again.
I repasted the CPU about a month ago, so I’ll check the pump speed, radiator, and fan settings first.