Solving Thermalright PA120 SE fan response issues in Metro
Walking through those creepy underground tunnels, the fans suddenly scream as they try to catch up with a temperature spike, which is super distracting in a quiet room. The default PWM curve on the Thermalright PA120 SE has a huge jump between 60-70℃, causing the CPU to spike by 10-15℃ during load shifts. I tried 'Silent Mode' in the BIOS first, but the temps just rocketed to 90℃, which was a risky move that solved nothing. I eventually went into the motherboard fan control and switched to a linear smooth curve, setting it to hit 1200 RPM exactly at 65℃. HWMonitor showed the CPU temps stabilize from a wild 75-88℃ range down to a steady 68-74℃. I did hit a bit of resonance noise at low loads, but dropping the minimum RPM by 100 solved it. The cooling efficiency is way better now, and stress tests show peaks are well below the threshold, with memory at 58-63℃.
