Voltage and clock speeds decrease when the CPU is under heavy load.
Voltage and clock speeds decrease when the CPU is under heavy load.
In the picture provided, I'm using Prime95 and my CPU frequency drops to about 1.4GHz every ten seconds or so when [Temperature #2] appears on Open Hardware Monitor at over 100 degrees. The VCore also falls to 0.9 volts. Could this be related to a VRM issue, and are there any solutions without replacing the motherboard? I've reset my BIOS, installed an aftermarket cooler, and noticed the problem began around the same time as my CPU stopped reacting to changes in Power Options in the Control Panel.
TheAppleKid2011 :
JordanMihailov :
That seems odd. Did you really overclock or change BIOS settings?
No overclocks, just using the default BIOS. I'm now running on 4 cores to save power, and the speeds are normal enough. Power Saver brings it down to 1.3GHz and High Performance stays around 3.5GHz. It's strange.
I remember saying before, a 4-phase CPU power isn't enough for anything beyond an Athlon 880k, let alone an FX 4300. Without overclocking, it's clear the 4 cores are sufficient for basic operation.
If a motherboard can't deliver enough power to the CPU and other components, the symptoms are quite telling.
JordanMihailov:
Try adjusting the power settings once more?
Yes, I have done so. However, the CPU clock speeds remain constant even when the CPU power limit is set to 0%.
Holy BCLK! 200?! That puts a lot of stress on the motherboard... The best I achieved with my MSI 990FX gaming and ASUS M5A99X was 151 and 137, respectively.
The board in question, at least from what I can see, lacks any heat sink or cooling for the power delivery parts, and only has a 4-pin CPU power connector. This suggests your CPU might not be getting enough power, the PSU could be struggling, and the motherboard's VRM is throttling under pressure. Does your case provide enough airflow?
You can find choke and mosfet-sized copper heat sinks with thermal pads on Amazon—they seem effective for graphics cards, so they should work well here too. A substantial heat pipe or multiple heat pipes would definitely help, though a simple copper stick-on would also make a difference.
But clearly, the 4-pin design wasn’t built for high-power FX chips running at full capacity.
TL;DR My instinct is that your motherboard VRM is overheating and reducing performance.
Amtsseung :
Whoa there! That’s a huge strain on the motherboard... The highest I’ve seen my MSI 990FX and ASUS M5A99X reached was 151 and 137, respectively.
The board in question, at least from what I can see, lacks any heat sink or cooling on the power delivery parts, and only has a 4-pin CPU power connector. This suggests your CPU might be underpowered, the PSU could be overloaded, and the motherboard’s VRM is throttling when under stress. Does your case provide enough airflow?
You can find suitable copper heat sinks with thermal pads on Amazon—they seem effective for graphics cards, so they should work well here too. While big heat pipes are ideal, a simple copper stick-on would definitely help.
To be honest, the 4-pin design clearly wasn’t built for high-power FX chips running at full capacity.
TL;DR My instinct is that your motherboard VRM is overheating and slowing down.
That’s what I suspected as well.
I have solid airflow and an 80+ gold PSU, but I notice dark spots on the MOSFETs on the VRM (see image link).
(And also some heat damage above that?)
Should I consider replacing the motherboard?
Also, when you mentioned 200, are you talking about the bus speed? It seems to default to 200 by default.
If it's at 200 by default, sorry about that. All the 970 and 990fx chipset motherboards I’ve had had a default setting of 100. Could it be 960? I’m not familiar with them before.
They don’t seem to have burn marks directly, but there’s discoloration. That’s not ideal. I’d be cautious about a complete failure or an electrical disaster if the MOSFET casings fail.
Since your motherboard uses a 4+1 power phase design, it likely can only support an FX4300. In my experience, burning out a board to overclock an FX8320 requires at least 6 phases for any CPU with more than 4 cores or two modules. An 8-phase setup is good, and 10 is necessary for overclocking an octacore like mine, plus it’s needed for the FX9590. The more evenly distributed the load, the better performance it runs. Adding phat heatsinks and heat pipes also helps. The +1 or +2 numbers refer to memory phases—more is still advantageous, particularly with higher clocked RAM, though it’s not as crucial.
And there’s a lot of dust in there.
😉
amtseung :
If it's at 200 by default, oops, my bad. All of the 970 and 990fx chipset motherboard I had all had a default of 100. Maybe 960 is different? I've never dealt with one before.
They don't look like burn marks per se, but I'm seeing discoloration. That's not a good sign. I'd be wary of a blowout or a full on electrical fire if the mosfet casings do give out.
The fact that your motherboard has a 4+1 power phase design means it can probably handle nothing more than an FX4300. In my book, having lit a motherboard on fire trying to overclock an FX8320, minimum 6phase cpu power for anything more than 4 cores or two modules. 8phase is nice, 10 is required for overclocking an octacore idiotically like me, and required to run an FX9590. The more distributed the load is, the smoother it all runs. Having phat heatsinks and heat pipes helps too. The +1 or +2 part is the number of phases for memory. Here, more is still better, especially if you have higher clocked memory, although it isn't anywhere near as critical.
And you've got a lot of dust bunnies chillin in there.
😉
Aside from just disabling cores & cleaning it is there any way I can work around this to keep it from overheating or should I just get a new motherboard?
TheAppleKid2011 asked JordanMihailov to adjust the power settings and investigate why CPU clock speeds remain unchanged despite setting the power limit to zero. They expressed confusion about whether overclocking or BIOS changes were involved.
JordanMihailov asked about adjusting power settings and encountered an issue where CPU clocks remain unchanged despite setting the power limit to zero. He questioned whether overclocking or BIOS changes were involved, clarifying that he hasn't done any overclocking but is using default BIOS settings. He mentioned running on 4 cores for lower power consumption and noted the clock speeds seem normal, though the Power Saver mode reduces them to 1.3GHz and High Performance to around 3.5GHz.