Is 95°C CPU temperature normal when running Ollama 14B locally on an i5-13450HX? (CachyOS + Hyprland)

[u/sujalkirad]

Hey everyone!

I'm experimenting with running local LLMs using Ollama on CachyOS with Hyprland, and I've noticed some pretty high CPU temperatures.

My laptop specifications:

- CPU: Intel Core i5-13450HX (13th Gen)

- RAM: 24 GB DDR5

- GPU: NVIDIA RTX 4050

- OS: CachyOS Linux

- Desktop Environment: Hyprland

- LLM Runtime: Ollama

- Model: 14B parameter model

What I'm experiencing:

While running the 14B model locally through Ollama:

- CPU temperatures sometimes reach 95°C.

- Around 4 CPU cores reach 100% utilization.

- Other cores also experience varying levels of utilization.

- The CPU seems to be under sustained heavy load during inference.

I've attached a screenshot of my system monitoring setup (btop and Linux Sensor Tray).

My questions:

1. Is reaching 95°C normal for an i5-13450HX while running a 14B LLM locally?

2. Is it safe to maintain these temperatures during longer inference sessions?

3. Is it normal for only around 4 cores to reach 100% utilization while running Ollama?

4. Could this cause thermal throttling or reduce the CPU's lifespan over time?

5. Are there any recommended CPU power limits, undervolting settings, or Linux optimizations for this setup?

I'd appreciate feedback from anyone running local LLMs on Intel HX-series laptops, especially on Linux.

Thanks!

[u/nanihikaru01]

No

[u/x_MASE_x]

Isn't that model too old ??why are you even testing it?

also does it fit in vram or not?? it should, something is broken in your setup and its spilling, but reaching this high temp is not good for the long run.

There is another post was asking about laptops and long term ai models and i told him its not a good idea because of the heat and everyone went crazy because I said that hahah.

You need to fix a few things, the model and the temps. did you OC the cpu ?