I was going to suggest decreasing the graphics settings a bit.
A lot of computer will get a bit noisy if its fans are at 100%. My laptop gets a bit noisy in that case, the R9 290X desktop graphics card I bought and returned a few years ago sounded like a helicopter taking off when its fans hit max (that's why I returned it). The Task Manager screenshot shows that according to Windows your GPU was near 100% utilization; it was working hard. The temperature isn't that high but they can cool off rapidly once they stop working hard. Software such as HWMonitor or HWInfo can show the maximum temperature it's reaching.
I think I have Old World set at Medium, at 1920x1200 60 FPS, on my RX 6600, because that keeps it in the middle of the fan profile of my laptop. I might also have it at the same settings on my half-as-powerful RX 480 on my desktop, but that card has larger fans that spin slower and thus make more noise; I intentionally bought the brand of RX 480 that has the best (quietest) fans after my RX 290X experience. Generally, third-party (Sapphire, MSI, EVGA, Asus, etc.) GPUs have better cooling than "reference" versions that don't have a partner but are just branded AMD or nVIDIA, although nVIDIA's Founder Edition cards have a good reputation (and a price tag to match).
It makes a lot of sense that it's cooler at 60 FPS than 144 FPS. You can divide 144 by 60 to find out that the graphics card is working 2.4 times as hard at 144 Hz. It's kind of like if you drive your car at 144 mph instead of 60 mph, you're going to burn a lot more fuel and have a lot more engine and wind resistance noise. For a game like Old World where reaction time doesn't matter, I see no benefit to running at more than 60 fps, but the noise is a noticeable drawback.
I'll also note that there are other factors that could be at play:
- An actual performance regression in Old World. Or maybe it got smarter about detecting 144 Hz screens in a recent patch and thus the GPU was working harder.
- A GPU driver update (which is installed automatically in Windows 10+) may have tweaked the fan settings, and the GPU may be more aggressively trying to keep its temperature down, thus increasing fan noise. This would be noticeable in other games that are right at the same place in terms of GPU load (identifying which games those are is of course not simple).
- The thermal paste between the GPU and its heatsink may be drying out and becoming less effective. This is natural over time, and how quickly it happens depends on the quality of the thermal paste used by the GPU or laptop manufacturer. In practice it's usually longer than the average lifespan of a desktop GPU, but for some laptops that skimp on quality of cooling it can be noticeable within the average lifetime.
I have been curious if it's possible to revert back to older Old World versions, in my case because I'd like to finish an old game from last summer on a version with laws like they were then, but it could also help in cases like this where you could do a more apples-to-apples comparison. Maybe it's available via the Steam Betas tab if you bought it on Steam? That could resolve the, "game change or driver update?" question which are the two most likely causes, IMO, but which one it is, is hard to say.
