X3470 thermal throttling issues
X3470 thermal throttling issues
I own a Xeon X3470 on an Asus P7H55-m LX board. My strong 165w cooler keeps it stable at about 37°C. During stress tests, it drops to around 65°C and throttles briefly—clocks jump from 3.2GHz to 1.2GHz for a short time before bouncing back. Might this be a motherboard problem? I've updated the BIOS and tried an older version, but the issue persists on both.
The TJMax is the highest temperature the processor will reduce performance at, which is 72°C. 65°C is quite close to that value.
TJ Max isn't 72°C. You're mixing up the TCase temperature with TJ Max. They differ. Is XTU displaying thermal throttling? This typically indicates an issue from XTU. Consider using ThrottleStop and turning off BD PROCHOT to stop the throttling signal from an external source, allowing your CPU to operate at maximum capacity. Share some screenshots if you need guidance on setup or interpretation. Also, upload a photo of the main screen when your CPU is running.
Top-notch thermal shielding available. Works well when maintained at lower temperatures. Using a 75°C setting with a 95W unit indicates a potential issue—what cooling solution are you employing?
The motherboard lacks heatsinks on the VRM and appears to use a basic VRM design. This could lead to overheating, causing the BIOS to throttle the CPU to lower power usage and reduce heat generation. If you use a cooler that doesn’t direct airflow toward the board (like one with heatpipes and a rear-facing fan), it might worsen the situation.
Consider your options carefully before deciding on a new motherboard or CPU.