Is the Thermalright PA120 SE failing in Frostpunk 2?
As soon as my population crossed 10,000, my CPU temps spiked to 95℃ and my FPS plummeted from 80 to 30 in a heartbeat. This thermal throttling made the game borderline unplayable. The Thermalright PA120 SE has the bulk to handle it, but the default fan curve was way too conservative below 80℃, letting heat soak the fins. I tried capping the maximum processor state to 99% in Windows, which dropped temps by 5 degrees but killed my overall performance by about 15%—a compromise that just felt wrong. I ended up going into the BIOS and setting up a stepped fan curve, forcing the fans to 85% once it hits 75℃, and I repasted the CPU with some high-end thermal compound. HWiNFO showed my peak temps drop from 96℃ to a manageable 78-82℃, and my FPS stabilized between 72-78. At first, the fans sounded like a jet engine taking off, but I tweaked the 90℃+ threshold to 90% to find a balance. VRM temps are now 60-65℃. After two hours of stress testing, no more throttling. This setup is finally dialed in.
