I think my laptop is thermal throttling

[StyvyStiefel]

I believe my laptop is thermal throttling as whenever I play a video, or open half a tab of google chrome, the fan speeds ramp up to 'take off' speeds. 

The laptop is a Dell Inspiron 735 2 with an intel i7-5500u. I attached a screenshot of the min and max temps from within the hour. 

The laptop is about 5 years old I believe and I think the thermal paste has worn out. To replace it, I ordered a graphite thermal pad to replace it: 

[https://smile.amazon.com/gp/product/B07CKVW18G/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_asin_title_o00_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1]

What other issues might be causing the cpu to overheat that others have experienced?

[KENBAL420]

@StyvyStiefel Well you can just give the laptop a good dust off maybe and clean the fan and so on.

[Statik]

I much prefer the numbers from HWiNFO64, but the throttle temp for your CPU should be 105C, not 100. Regardless, what's the airflow like? You're using it on a hard flat surface? The fans aren't clogged, etc?

[zeusthemoose]

Do you know if the cpu currently has thermal pads or paste on it? Correct me if I’m wrong, but shouldn’t you replace paste with paste and pads with pads. 
 

As for anything else you could do, definitely take the time to clean up the system and make sure all the dust is cleared. When I recently cleaned up a decade old laptop, I put on some cheap Corsair thermal paste from amazon and got dust out wherever I saw it (even opened up the fan casing to get better access). That laptop now works better than ever.

[King_Arthur]

2 hours ago, StyvyStiefel said:

I believe my laptop is thermal throttling as whenever I play a video, or open half a tab of google chrome, the fan speeds ramp up to 'take off' speeds. 

The laptop is a Dell Inspiron 735 2 with an intel i7-5500u. I attached a screenshot of the min and max temps from within the hour. 

The laptop is about 5 years old I believe and I think the thermal paste has worn out. To replace it, I ordered a graphite thermal pad to replace it: 

[https://smile.amazon.com/gp/product/B07CKVW18G/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_asin_title_o00_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1]

What other issues might be causing the cpu to overheat that others have experienced?

I don't recommend a graphite thermal pad because they can't shape themselfs into an even layer and you could get a partial coverage thermal grizzly kryonaut or arctic mx-4 are the best you can put in the laptop and they can last for a long period.

another reason could be a malware or a virus

[StyvyStiefel]

@KENBAL420To clean it, I removed the back plate and used compressed air with a vacuum hose so it should be clean enough.

 

@Statik Laptop is always on a flat surface, and as of recently, put on two posts to ensure there's plenty of space below the laptop.

 

@zeusthemoose I believe what you're think of is thermal pads used for chips on graphic cards  What I'm talking about is a graphite thermal pad intended for placement on a cpu in replace of thermal paste. 

 

@King_Arthur My liege, I was considering artic for a thermal compound, but I wanted this to be a one time placement and then be there for the end of time. For antiware, I'm running malware bytes and I run scans once a week.

 

[StyvyStiefel]

I replaced the paste with the pad and now my temps are better, for anyone wondering. When I removed the heating pipes to the cpu, the paste was in fact dry! 

EDIT* Just to be clear, King Arthur's solution would yield better temperatures, but I wanted this to be a place and forget forever situation.