What could cause a brief CPU temp spike when opening a game launcher?

[Eleanor.L]

I just finished a new build and my CPU temps seem to idle fine, but they spike really high for a second whenever I open a program or a game launcher. I'm using a decent air cooler and my paste application looked okay, so I'm not sure if this is normal behavior or if I should be worried about these quick jumps.

[LunaR]

That happened to me after a new build too. Idle temps looked fine, but as soon as a launcher started loading something, the CPU would spike for a split second and then settle back down. Felt dramatic, but the cooler kept it from getting worse and it wasn’t persistent.

[AmeliaVJ]

I saw a short blip of a few degrees when loading a game launcher, then it dropped again. It only happened on startup and disappeared once the program finished initializing. I figured it’s just the CPU boosting for a moment and nothing to worry about.

[Alexander89]

I started wondering if maybe it was airflow or the way the case fans are arranged. I messed with the fan curve a bit and kept an eye on temps, but the spike still came when launching apps. I’m not sure if that means something is off or if that’s just how it loads.

[EvelynTJ]

Do you think the issue is the spike itself or the sensor update rate? I’m leaning toward normal behavior, but I’m not convinced.