Thermal throttling can be one of the biggest frustrations when using a PC or laptop. In its simplest form, thermal throttling is when a component in your PC or laptop gets too hot, and it dials down the performance so that it can cool down. Once it is cool, it will start to operate optimally again. However, if you have inadequate cooling, it will keep thermal throttling, and you will be running in circles until you find the root cause and fix it.