A gas analyzer and related methods are for measuring a concentration of a component of a gas mixture. The gas analyzer includes a gas cell defining an overall volume for housing the gas mixture, a gas inlet and a gas outlet, a light source that emits a light beam into the gas cell, and a light detector that detects a portion of the light of the light beam that has propagated through the gas mixture, the concentration of the component of the gas mixture being determined based on the portion of the light beam detected by the light detector. The gas cell defines an optical volume for travel of the light beam within the gas cell, and the optical volume comprises at least a portion of the overall volume and is configured to suppress turbulent flow of the gas mixture within the optical volume to reduce optical noise generated by the gas mixture.