Consider whether increasing the temperature further is safe and beneficial for your system.
Consider whether increasing the temperature further is safe and beneficial for your system.
I have an AMD FX-8350 with the Cryorig H7 cooler, which I recently purchased. I ran PRIME95 and Core Temp tests, and it appears the temperature stays below 79 degrees.
I wonder if this is too high for the CPU with this cooler—should I reapply thermal paste?
My second concern is whether I can overclock it to exceed 80°C without causing damage. After some research, I couldn’t find clear guidance on pushing beyond that limit safely. Should I wait and consider buying a water cooler instead?
It seems like there should be sufficient airflow through the case. The PSU getting warm is normal, so blowing air out of the case makes sense. Better fans probably won't help much; it might just be spending more money without solving the issue.
I'm not sure if anyone discussed this, but have you checked your fan controls on the chip? They're often set to 70% to cut noise. You could try increasing them if possible.
Regarding your main question, I wouldn't replace the chip unless necessary. Since you're already at thermal limits, sticking with stock should be fine. Just keep in mind you might need to buy a new one later.
What tools are you using to track temperatures? If accurate, you're already well past safe levels and likely throttling at those temperatures. AMD suggests keeping CPU core temps under 62°C for extended periods; it will start throttling soon after that. That's an extremely high temperature for that cooler—I previously ran an FX 8320 at 4.7GHz with a 1.35V Vcore, and it stayed near 62°C in Prime95, never going above 70°C. If those readings are right, the cooler might not be installed correctly or you didn't apply enough thermal paste. Don't overclock until these temperatures are stabilized; the Cryo H7 can handle much better.
You might already be operating at high temperatures if the actual readings match. Although reported AMD CPU temperatures aren't perfectly precise, they're still close enough to pose a risk. The difficulty in getting a clear answer comes from differences between chips—your specific processor matters more than the brand or model. Overclocking outcomes vary by chip, so it's best to focus on systems like AMD Ryzen or Intel if you're serious about performance.
Overclocking is completely safe when you take your time reading the right guides and do it correctly. Doing it improperly can cause damage. My 8320 has consistently run at 4.7ghz during heavy use for four years, and it still functions just as well today as when I first purchased it. I wouldn’t suggest the original OC version until their temperatures stabilize, but once they do, why not? It’s an FX chip with relatively low single-core speeds—it tends to bottleneck any modern GPU in newer games. An overclock can help reduce that bottleneck, and most FX chips can overclock significantly without needing much cooling.
Thank you for your responses. I plan to reinstall the heatsink since it seems unusual that it doesn't cool the CPU effectively. I applied sufficient thermal paste recently; possibly some escaped from the CPU, which might actually help cooling. Would this affect its performance?
Jimmy__ :
Dunlop0078 :
I try Core Temp but maybe it's off.
P.S. I'm not sure how to quote someone else's message. :/
For accuracy with FX CPU's, I'd use AMD overdive and check the thermal margins. HWmonitor or HWinfo also works, and the temperature you're looking for is usually called CPU package temp. I haven't used Core Temp with FX CPUs before.
Jimmy__ :
I tested it and the cores hit -7,6 margin temperature at full load. Not sure what that number means. I looked for the corresponding temperature but didn’t find anything. I think the maximum TJ is 0, which is when it begins to throttle. You should aim to maintain a thermal margin above 0, ideally around 10 under full load.