Why is my Thermalright PA140 struggling with RDR2 4K MODs?
While strolling through Saint Denis, I hit these periodic stutters that were absolutely killing the immersion. Checking HWMonitor, my CPU temps were swinging wildly between 82°C - 88°C, causing the clock speed to tank from 4.8GHz down to 3.2GHz because the default PA140 fan profile was way too sluggish. I tried slamming the fans to 100% in the BIOS, which dropped temps to 72°C, but the 42dB whine was a total nightmare. I ended up building a five-stage stepped curve: 60% speed for 65°C - 75°C, and a hard ramp to 95% once it hits 80°C. After diving back into the 4K MOD scenes, cores stayed steady at 76°C - 81°C, and frame times tightened from 18-35ms down to a rock steady 12-16ms. I actually hit a weird resonance hum around 70°C during the first few tweaks, but shifting the threshold by 200 RPM killed it. Exhaust temps stayed around 45°C - 52°C. Thermal throttling is finally gone, and the settings are saved.
