Is my PA120 SE too slow to react to CPU spikes?
Forget virtual memory; the real issue was my CPU hitting 95,0C and the frame rate getting sliced in half. It's an absolute nightmare. The default fan curve on the PA120 SE has a 3,0 - 5,0 second delay when loads jump, leaving my cores swinging between 85,0 - 98,0C. I tried adding two extra intake fans to the case, but that only dropped temps by 2,0C—a total waste of time that just left me more anxious. I eventually dove into the BIOS and custom-mapped the PWM curve: 60% speed at 60,0C and a hard 100% at 80,0C. Monitoring with HWInfo, the peaks are now capped at 78,0 - 82,0C, and my FPS stabilized from a wild 40,0 - 90,0 range to a consistent 75,0 - 85,0. When I first maxed the fans, it sounded like a jet engine taking off in my room, so I had to dial the idle speed back to 40% to keep my sanity. Fans now hover around 1200,0 - 1600,0 RPM. Four hours of heavy load and it's rock solid.
