How to quiet down a PA120 SE in Final Fantasy VII?

There's nothing worse than being immersed in a massive boss fight and having your CPU cooler sound like a vacuum cleaner. The PA120 SE was pushing 1800 RPM to keep my core temps around 85-90℃, and the high-pitched whine was driving me crazy. I tried capping the fans at 1200 RPM, but the CPU immediately hit 98℃ and throttled, tanking my FPS from 90 down to 50. Not an option. I ended up redesigning my case airflow—setting the front fans to high intake and the rear exhaust to a steady 1200 RPM. I then set a custom curve that locks the fans at 1100 RPM until the CPU hits 75℃. Now temps stay in the 82-86℃ range, but the noise dropped from a loud 42dB to a whispery 30dB. I actually plugged a fan in backward during the process, so it was fighting the airflow for an hour before I noticed. Now it's perfect, and the noise is finally gone.
Category:Hardware Peripherals Last Updated:2026-05-10 18:40:51