Why is my DeepCool AK500 overheating during UE5 rendering?
When rendering complex material details, the viewport would have these periodic micro-stutters that were incredibly distracting in a tech demo. I kept a close eye on the temps and saw the cores fluctuating between 92℃ - 96℃, which caused some nasty frequency swings. I tried lowering the render resolution first, but the stutters didn't change at all, which proved this was a physical cooling failure. I re-checked the AK500 fan installation and realized the airflow was fighting the case exhaust, creating a heat pocket. After flipping the fan direction and applying a -0.05V voltage offset, the core temps plummeted to 66℃ - 72℃ and the stutters vanished. I was honestly paranoid about stability and moved incredibly slowly with the voltage tweaks, but after two hours of flawless rendering, I'm confident. Temps are now stable at 70℃ - 76℃ with an even load. Cinebench loops confirm zero performance loss, and the thermal check is complete.