How to stop CPU throttling on ASRock H310CM-ITX/ac?
Watching my frame rate bounce between 45 and 20 FPS like a heart monitor during a boss fight was pure anxiety. The ASRock H310CM-ITX has basically no heatsinks on the VRMs, so they were hitting 90-105℃, forcing the CPU to throttle hard. I first tried the 'High Performance' power plan in Windows, but the CPU just spiked to 100℃ and the whole system rebooted—a wake-up call that software fixes aren't enough. I headed into the BIOS and nudged the PL1 power limit from 65W up to 80W, and slapped a 12cm exhaust fan at the top of the case. HWInfo showed the clock speeds stabilizing at 3.2-3.5GHz instead of the previous 2.4-3.6GHz roller coaster. The VRMs actually hit 110℃ for a moment until I applied thermal pads to the chokes, bringing them down to 85-90℃. CPU temps stayed at 78-84℃. It's playable now, but this board is clearly out of its depth with modern titles.
