Is the PCcooler RT500 TC ARGB failing under Ultra settings?
With Ultra textures on, the CPU heat was just overwhelming for a single-tower cooler. The RT500 TC ARGB fans didn't even start ramping up until 70℃, so the core would spike past 90℃ instantly, triggering a hard throttle down to 3.0GHz. I tried capping the CPU state to 99% in Windows, which dropped temps by 10℃ but killed my FPS by 15%—too safe and too slow for my liking. I ended up ripping off the cooler and replacing the stock paste with high-conductivity liquid metal, then shortened the fan response time from 2 seconds to 0.5 seconds. In stress tests, the peak temp stayed between 72-78℃ and clocks stayed above 4.5GHz. I actually messed up the first application and had some liquid metal leak over the edges, but a bit of cleaning with a swab fixed it. Now it runs at 60-68℃ with fans at 1400-1600 RPM. Cinebench R23 confirmed zero performance loss, and frame times are pinned at 5.1-6.4ms.
