Performance drops when the system is under stress
Performance drops when the system is under stress
I'm experiencing problems with the FX8350. Under heavy CPU load it drops from its normal 4GHz to 1.4GHz and the voltage decreases to 0.85V. The maximum temperature I observed in the HW Monitor was 69°C. I've tried several fixes: turning off Cool & Quiet, disabling all thermal throttling, enabling overclocking (which seems to also disable Cool & Quiet), setting manual CPU voltage to 1.375, and adjusting power settings to keep processor at 100% in both Power Options.
VRM performance matters more than CPU throttling in many setups. Poor VRMs can severely impact power delivery, especially with high-end FX8 CPUs. Place a 120mm fan near the VRM heatsink on the left side of your CPU. If feasible, add another fan targeting the chipset heatsink beneath it. After installation and under heavy load, monitor performance drops. Some builds using FX8 chips on boards like the NOT990FX or certain 970 models throttle CPU speeds to around 1.4GHz because of VRM limitations—particularly on 700/800 series boards that received a BIOS update but weren’t designed for those CPUs. Even with stable CPU temperatures, VRM limits can reach 60-65°C on some boards.
The motherboard appears in a single image, though it seems to be an OCZ 970 Pro3 r2.0 with a PSU of around 600-700W. For exact details, disassembling the PC would be necessary.
They said it was VRM throttling, but why would you get a board without heatsinks?!
I don't really feel that way. I spent about four years playing Minecraft, usually 2-3 hours each day. Now I'm into League of Legends and Valorant, which seems less intense. Still, I might need to get some fans. Can I purchase heatsinks and figure out how to install them?
There is usually thermal paste underneath those chipset heatsinks..(under the CPU socket, not specifically the main VRMs) They also dry up over time, worth checking those when installing fans,..if your keen to re-enhance longterm performance.. Airflow may infact do it alone,.. but the high ceiling temps (brought down by the fans) could also be lowered with fresh thermal paste under the Chipset heatsink (the ones UNDER the CPU socket) But its likely a fan aimed at the heated thermals will do the job.