In accordance with embodiments of the present disclosure, a system may include a temperature sensor configured to sense an inlet ambient temperature associated with an information handling system, a cooling subsystem comprising at least one cooling fan configured to generate a cooling airflow in the information handling system, and a thermal manager communicatively coupled to the temperature sensor and the cooling subsystem and configured to, based on the inlet ambient temperature, a maximum power consumption level of the information handling system, a maximum airflow rate capable of being generated by the at least one cooling fan, and a hardware configuration of the information handling system, calculate a lowest possible maximum exhaust temperature for the information handling system.