How does this wizard detect throttling without temperature sensors?

Browsers cannot read CPU temperature directly. Instead the wizard runs the same CPU benchmark twice back-to-back. A healthy laptop with adequate cooling will score within a few percent on both runs. A throttling laptop will visibly slow down on the second run as the silicon hits its thermal limit and the CPU drops its clock speed to compensate.

What temperature is too hot for a laptop CPU?

Under load, most modern laptop CPUs sit between 70 and 85°C. Sustained operation above 90°C accelerates degradation. The wizard cannot read actual temperature, but a >15% drop between cold and hot runs almost always corresponds to sustained temps above 90°C.

Why is my laptop fan so loud?

Loud fans usually mean one of three things: dust-clogged heat-sink, worn bearing (sounds rattly), or a runaway background process. The manual follow-ups separate the cases.

Will a cooling pad fix an overheating laptop?

A cooling pad helps a healthy laptop run slightly cooler but it cannot fix a broken cooling system. If your laptop throttles while idle, the heat-sink, paste, or fan are the problem.

When should I get the thermal paste repasted?

If the laptop is over two years old, vents are clean, and the wizard reports a 15%+ drop between cold and hot — repaste. £30-50 at a repair shop, drops temps 10-20°C.

Wizard / W01

My laptop is overheating.

Press start. We benchmark the CPU twice in a row and detect whether heat is throttling the chip — automatically, in under 30 seconds.

Notes

Browsers cannot read CPU temperature directly. We use back-to-back benchmarks as a thermal-headroom proxy.

Auto-run

0 / 0 complete

Manual follow-ups browser cannot measure

Vent dust check

Inspect every vent grille with a torch. Dust clogs the heat-sink fins and is the #1 cause of overheating on laptops more than 18 months old. Compressed air at the intake usually clears it — never spin the fan with the air stream.
Background process scan

Open Task Manager (Ctrl+Shift+Esc on Windows) or Activity Monitor (macOS). Sort by CPU. Look for a process pinning a core at 100% — Windows Search, antivirus scans, browser tabs, sync clients are common.
Air-flow check

Soft surfaces (bed, sofa, lap, carpet) block intake vents. Move to a hard surface. A cooling pad with active fans typically drops sustained CPU temps 5-10°C.

Report