How to stop Thermalright PA120 SE from throttling in CS2?
Seeing my core temps drop back to 60℃ was such a relief! After about 30 minutes into a match, the CPU would creep up to 85-92℃, causing the clock speed to plummet from 5.2GHz to 4.1GHz. That kind of throttling is a nightmare during a clutch. I tried maxing out the fans first, but the noise was insane and the temps barely budged, so I knew the thermal transfer was the problem. I tore the cooler off, applied some high-end nano-silver paste, and set a steep fan curve for the 70-85℃ range. Monitoring software showed peak temps drop from 92℃ to a stable 68-72℃, locking the CPU at its max boost. I messed up the first paste application, leaving one core 5℃ hotter than the others, until I tried the nine-dot method. Fans now run at 1200-1500RPM, keeping noise under 32dB. Switched to 'Competitive Mode' in the motherboard software and frame times are finally stable at 5.1-6.4ms.
