Why is one core hitting 100°C in The Witcher 3 Next Gen with an AK500, causing massive frame drops in cities?

The experience was brutal—frames dropped from 90 FPS to 30 FPS the second I entered Novigrad. It turned out the base of the DeepCool AK500 had uneven mounting pressure, leaving one core hovering between 95°C - 100°C while others sat at 60°C, triggering an immediate protective downclock. I tried enabling Power Saving mode in Windows, but that just killed 25% of my overall performance and made the stuttering even worse. I realized I had to fix the physical contact. I stripped the cooler, reapplied high-conductivity thermal paste, and used the diagonal tightening method to ensure even pressure. Checking HWInfo, the core delta shrank from 35°C to a tight 8°C - 12°C, and frames finally locked around 85 FPS. I actually managed to snap a plastic clip during the second attempt, which was a total pain until I swapped it for a spare. Now, full load temps stay between 72°C - 78°C with fans at 1500 RPM. After a three-hour marathon, no more throttling, and RAM temps are chilling at 58°C - 63°C.