Short benchmarks finish before the heat arrives. This one doesn't: it loads every CPU core and the GPU together for minutes on end and charts performance against the first clean seconds — so you can see if your machine slows down, when, and by how much. The classic laptop question, answered with a curve.
Both lines start at 100% — the pace of the first clean seconds, while the machine is cool and boost clocks are active. A well-cooled desktop stays pinned near the top. A thin laptop legitimately steps down to 80–90% as boost expires; that's design, not defect. What you're looking for is worse: a slide under 70%, a sawtooth (overheat → slow → cool → repeat), or a line still falling when the run ends — those point at dust, old thermal paste, blocked vents, or an aggressive power limit, and they're exactly what makes games stutter "after a while".
Run it twice to compare: once on a desk, once on the lap or couch cushion that blocks the vents. The gap between those two curves is usually the whole mystery solved.
A hot chip lowers its clocks to protect itself. Short tests end before heat builds; a soak holds load until the cooling shows its true limit.
Desktops: 95%+ held indefinitely. Thin laptops: 80–90% after boost expires. Under ~70%, or still falling at the end, means a cooling or power-limit problem.
Yes — throttling itself is the protection. Fans will be loud and the chassis warm; plug laptops in.