AMD A10-6800k overheats at 44C idle and 88-90C under load

[1critic]

Hello,

GPU-z tells me my AMD A10-6800k is running at 44C idle and 88-90C under load (AC Brotherhood and ACIII at full resolution and Farmville 2). I’ve had no actual hiccups so far even when using ACIII, but casual research is telling me I should be panicking.

Please advise on what I can do to pull my temps down. I’ve had someone tell me I should buy a Sapphire R7 250 to pull the load from the APU, but I’m not sure.

My rig is: AMD A10-6800k 4.1 Ghz Black Edition, on an MSI A55M E33 motherboard using two 4G RAM (Kingston Hyper X and Corsair Value Select). Windows 8.1 is inside a 120G Kingston SSD while the rest are on a 1T Seagate Barracuda.

Cooling consists of a generic 80mm computer fan and a Zalman CNPS80F Universal Heatsink Fan using the stock thermal paste. The whole thing is inside this casing, using power from a generic 600W PSU connected to a UPS.

I am currently using a 40-inch LED TV for a monitor, with a VGA connection.

Any advice will be appreciated as I am largely ignorant of the nuances of computer hardware.

Thank you.

 

[m3ch]

those temperatures don't seem excessive. what are the symptoms of overheating? is it crashing?

 

[1critic]

those temperatures don't seem excessive. what are the symptoms of overheating? is it crashing?

Hello!

It has never crashed. But I'm scared it might start if I keep playing. I've read that the normal operating temp for my APU is 60C under load. The friend who helped pick out the parts also told me he starts worrying at around 70C. I'm hitting close to 90C after only 15 mins of ACIII, and 73C during Farmville 2.

The CPU itself has plenty of breathing space in front of my TV/monitor.

I replaced the stock fan with the Zalman to see if that will work. It had very little effect. I tried opening the left panel and using a high-powered stand fan to blow a lot more air into the chassis. That didn't work either.

The only time the PC is used during the week is at night, when I write and surf a lot. But I do marathon these games (and Mass Effect 3) during the weekends.

Thank you.

 

[LucoTF]

those temperatures don't seem excessive. what are the symptoms of overheating? is it crashing?

Hello!

It has never crashed. But I'm scared it might start if I keep playing. I've read that the normal operating temp for my APU is 60C under load. The friend who helped pick out the parts also told me he starts worrying at around 70C. I'm hitting close to 90C after only 15 mins of ACIII, and 73C during Farmville 2.

The CPU itself has plenty of breathing space in front of my TV/monitor.

I replaced the stock fan with the Zalman to see if that will work. It had very little effect. I tried opening the left panel and using a high-powered stand fan to blow a lot more air into the chassis. That didn't work either.

The only time the PC is used during the week is at night, when I write and surf a lot. But I do marathon these games (and Mass Effect 3) during the weekends.

Thank you.

What are your temperatures in BIOS and what is your thermal margin as reported by AMD overdrive?

 

[1critic]

What are your temperatures in BIOS and what is your thermal margin as reported by AMD overdrive?

Hello!

Sorry for the long reply. I had to research how to go to BIOS and download AMD Overdrive from Techspot (it seems to be missing from the AMD website).

My temps are:
BIOS: CPU: 61C; PC: 41
AMD Overdrive: 50-61C when surfing, 40-45C under load (Farmville 2), and up to 11C when Uplay is open.

 

[LucoTF]

What are your temperatures in BIOS and what is your thermal margin as reported by AMD overdrive?

Hello!

Sorry for the long reply. I had to research how to go to BIOS and download AMD Overdrive from Techspot (it seems to be missing from the AMD website).

My temps are:
BIOS: CPU: 61C; PC: 41
AMD Overdrive: 50-61C when surfing, 40-45C under load (Farmville 2), and up to 11C when Uplay is open.

This is within spec for your APU. The fact that you've had no actual hiccups while gaming confirms it for me.

As I said your temps are ok but if you want to bring them down there's two ways I can see to reduce temperature:
1 / get a better cooler (height dependant). The zalman cooler isn't going to be much better than stock btw, how much clearance (height) do you have above your CPU socket?
2/ get a discrete card. I think with any half decent cooler this step wouldn't be needed, but if you have the budget for a discrete GPU it would be a big performance increase.

 

[1critic]

This is within spec for your APU. The fact that you've had no actual hiccups while gaming confirms it for me.

As I said your temps are ok but if you want to bring them down there's two ways I can see to reduce temperature:
1 / get a better cooler (height dependant). The zalman cooler isn't going to be much better than stock btw, how much clearance (height) do you have above your CPU socket?
2/ get a discrete card. I think with any half decent cooler this step wouldn't be needed, but if you have the budget for a discrete GPU it would be a big performance increase.

Hello!

I checked and there's about 130mm from the PCI slot to the very edge of the casing. I'm now thinking I might have to spring for a larger casing, one that can accommodate a 120mm fan, and possibly a liquid cooler.

Thank you very much for your and m3ch's replies! You guys gave me back my peace of mind, more than anything. I'll continue to monitor the temps through AMD Overdrive.

 

[LucoTF]

I don't think water cooling is necessary, a new case with a cooler master 212 EVO would be a more budget friendly option.

I mean for the cost of a new case and water cooling you could probably just buy a discrete card, which would also reduce temps because almost half of the die area would no longer be in use.

 

[1critic]

I don't think water cooling is necessary, a new case with a cooler master 212 EVO would be a more budget friendly option.

I mean for the cost of a new case and water cooling you could probably just buy a discrete card, which would also reduce temps because almost half of the die area would no longer be in use.

Hello!

I've decided on this case and will be heading over to the Graphics and Displays forum for that discrete card instead of a water cooler.

Thank you again.