How much do thermals matter?

Destroya1221

One of the main aspects of any laptop is how well it can handle heat. Laptops have much higher temperatures compared to desktop computers, of course, since they have less space for airflow and the parts are basically cramped in a small space when compared to a desktop PC. The other day, I saw someone post a photo of his PC CPU temperature go up to 68 Celsius on a Facebook PC Gamers group. He was saying something along the lines of "My CPU's temp got up to 68 C while playing GTA V. Is that normal? Should I change my thermal paste? What should I do?" and when I saw the comments which I expected to be things like "Yeah fam it's alright that ain't too hot" and "You shouldn't worry that much with these temps," I actually found people saying "You using stock fans or what?" and "Ah that's hot. That's hot." I was absolutely stunned. How are desktop users having such low temps when compared to laptops' and worrying about it while Laptop users, like myself, barely stay below 82 C and praying it won't spike to the mid 90's? I then thought that maybe Laptop CPUs are engineered to sustain more heat than desktops', but it didn't take me 10 seconds to realize that simply isn't possible because PC CPU's are superior in every way. Bigger, Better, Faster, Stronger, Cooler, and more durable. Not necessarily, of course, but logically speaking, it is. I then remembered a fellow member post something in the Acer forums saying "These laptops are engineered to sustain up to 95C in temps. If it goes much higher, the system will auto-turn off in order to prevent any damage to the internal parts." or something like that. Then I thought, parts that are better cooled are more efficient and are much more durable, so I better sacrifice portability and head for a Desktop Gaming PC instead of waiting for the new Helios 300 since it's going to eventually wear out due to its lack of thermal management since it's a laptop anyway. Right? Right...? I want to know exactly how much thermals matter. Does more heat and higher temps always degrade the lifespan and durability of PC parts? Or is it okay as long as they do not cause throttling, but if that was the case, thermal management would've been neglected as a major aspect of a PC. In short, I just wanna know how much thermal management matter.

JackE

Desktops should generally be able to manage heat better than laptops. But this may not relate to longevity because there are too many desktop and laptop construction variables to consider. Jack E/NJ