I’ve noticed that when I game on Linux Mint, my CPU temperatures soar between 90-95°C. In contrast, the same game on Windows only makes the CPU reach 70-80°C. I’m using an i5-12450H with 16 GB RAM and an NVIDIA RTX 4050. What’s causing this temperature difference, and how can I address it?
3 Answers
Since you’re on a laptop, it’s worth checking if the cooling fans are working as efficiently on Linux as they do on Windows. Sometimes manufacturers optimize fan controls for Windows. You can monitor CPU power usage using ‘turbostat’ to see if there’s a big difference in power consumption between the two operating systems. For NVIDIA, run ‘watch nvidia-smi’ in a terminal for GPU power stats. Look up the relevant package names for your system. Mentioning that you’re on a laptop would help others give better advice too!
It could be a few things, like different temperature profiles from the drivers or even how the sensors report the temps. There are cases where the reported temperatures can vary significantly between OSes due to these differences. It might be helpful to search for articles discussing this. One tip is to increase the fan speed; it could help drop those temperatures a bit.
Honestly, it sounds like a typical Mint issue here. I rarely see temps above 78°C on my 5090 with Fedora! This temp difference on Linux seems excessive. If you’re seeing higher numbers, consider checking your cooling setup.
