Thermal Throttling

Thermal throttling is a mechanism that automatically reduces the performance of a computing component when it reaches a high temperature. It is designed to limit the thermal load and prevent operation outside the permissible temperature range.

In mining, throttling may manifest as a reduction in operating frequency, voltage, or other parameters that determine performance. As a result, actual hashrate decreases.

Causes of Thermal Throttling

• high chip temperature;
• insufficient cooling system performance;
• high ambient temperature;
• contamination or restricted airflow;
• excessive power and computational load;
• incorrect equipment settings.

Throttling is not itself a malfunction: it is a protective mechanism. However, continuous operation in this mode may indicate a mismatch between the thermal load and the cooling system's capabilities or overly aggressive equipment settings.

How to Detect Throttling

Temperature, frequency, and actual hashrate are usually analyzed together. If frequency automatically decreases as temperature increases and performance falls, this may indicate that a thermal limit has been activated.

To address the cause, the cooling system capacity, airflow, inlet air temperature, and power limit settings should be checked.