Gigabyte GA 990x sli gaming VRM overheating and throttling issues
Gigabyte GA 990x sli gaming VRM overheating and throttling issues
I began to increase the clock speed of my FX 8350. At 4.3ghz and a voltage near 1.38v, after about 30 to 40 seconds it began to overheat, reaching a 7.0x boost. At that point I assumed the issue was due to CPU temperature or the hardware monitor not displaying accurate readings (showing a max of 55°C). However, it wasn’t that simple. I considered the power supply unit; it didn’t seem to be the problem either. Then I opened the case and almost burned myself on the motherboard, as indicated by the label on the board. The temperature was also high, but not as much. In another discussion someone suggested reverting the overclock and sticking to stock settings, while also undervolting the voltage. I tried that at 4.0ghz and 1.29V. The issue still exists, but after longer periods of p95 operation, it has stabilized for about 10 to 15 minutes. What should I do? Is my cooler (EVGA Venti) functioning properly now compared to the stock one, since I read that some people don’t encounter this problem at higher speeds with standard coolers? What are the consequences if I decide to use water cooling? It might cause damage.
Setup:
Motherboard: GB GA-990X SLI gaming
CPU: AMD FX8350 Black Edition
Power Supply: Deep Cool DA-600M
Case: Zalman Z1 Neo
RAM: HyperX Fury 8GB at 1866MHz
GPU: EVGA 1060 SC 3GB
SSD: Samsung Evo 240GB
I also face a similar issue with that board, just like you expect to go for an LC solution, so I searched everywhere. The only way seems to be purchasing universal blocks for NB, SB and MOSFETs. I ordered them from Alphacool, they are available for shipping. I plan to include them in the loop and make sure to get a good pump with a nice overhead pressure like the D5 pumps have. Otherwise, you might not really gain anything. MOSFETs tend to rust hot chip too, so it’s a good idea to add a bit of heat dissipation if you choose 280 MM or 360 MM ratings. If you opt for push/pull configuration with fans, I’d probably add another 240 mm just to help cool everything down. Besides that, for all the fans, you might want some noise blockers or silent SP options from the side. Unfortunately, my friend there has no other solution – it’s kind of a hassle. But the 990x chip has a lot of potential, and this board is 11 phase, so it really could be powerful if properly cooled.
my current setup was adding another fan (around 80mm) from a large machine, but it behaved like a jet turbine. It performed well initially, but I realized the heat (~85°C according to my laser thermometer) was directly reaching the motherboard. So I changed the original configuration and now use stock settings with the fan set to 7.5V to avoid any noise issues. I'm considering reversing the fan direction so it draws air from the heatsink, but I don't have much hope for improvement. I'll update later when I have time.