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submitted 3 days ago* (last edited 3 days ago) by iByteABit@lemmy.ml to c/linux@lemmy.ml

How does one optimize for better system temperatures on Linux while doing heavy tasks (e.g. gaming) during summer heat.

Are there tools for creating 'gaming/balanced/economy' profiles for example that limit the GPU and CPU depending on the requirements?

Should I find a way to customize fan speeds?

I am trying to find everything I should do from the software perspective before I move on to buying better cooling hardware.

I am currently reaching 100+ celsius temps maximum on both the GPU and CPU while gaming, on idle it's like this:


System info:

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[-] somegeek@programming.dev 2 points 1 day ago* (last edited 1 day ago)

If you're on a laptop, a laptop stand with some fans help a lot, If you have a pc, pointing a normal fan at the pc so the hot air gets circulated and cool air is fed to it can really help.

Making your fans work extra hard is good. Find how for your device. Fans are always cheaper than cpu and gpu.

Undervolting a bit also helps. Use cpupower too. There are power profiles and cpu governors in linux, usually the performance governor and profiles heat up your device pretty quick. Usually the balanced profiles give the best performance. Test and see what works best for you

In my experience, if your system is off-the-shelf, it probably doesn't have good thermal paste. Re-apply good thermal paste and that also helps.

this post was submitted on 07 Jun 2026
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Linux is a family of open source Unix-like operating systems based on the Linux kernel, an operating system kernel first released on September 17, 1991 by Linus Torvalds. Linux is typically packaged in a Linux distribution (or distro for short).

Distributions include the Linux kernel and supporting system software and libraries, many of which are provided by the GNU Project. Many Linux distributions use the word "Linux" in their name, but the Free Software Foundation uses the name GNU/Linux to emphasize the importance of GNU software, causing some controversy.

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