zrossk,
List of possible sources of your problems:
1. CPU fan not plugged into the CPU fan header on the board (or not plugged in correctly).
2. Plastic protective cover on HSF was not removed before installation.
3. Failure to apply thermal compound to heatsink before installation. (brand new boxed heatsinks will normally have thermal compound already on them)
4. Accidental introduction of debris to the surface of the CPU or CPU HSF before installation.
5. incorrect use of software to observe CPU temps (improper support for your hardware, improperly calibrated, or simply reading the wrong temp readout. Socket temp instead of core temps, for example)
6. Insufficient pressure between HSF and CPU from installation error.
rulejunior's input on this thread is riddled with misinformation. Ignore.
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rulejunior :
Morning Zrossk. So this is a bit of an odd one, but I do believe I know what it is. So, the AM3+ Socket had three chipsets which are 970, 990X, and 990FX.
Actually there have been at least 10 different chipsets used on AM3+ socket boards. Including, for example, the 760G, 770, 785g, 880g, 890FX, 890GX in addition to those you have listed. Technologically the AM3+ socket can be supported with BIOS modifications to many older chipsets, which has been done by many board makers.
Your board is using the 970 Chipset which was designed for budget systems that don't use super powerful/power hungry cpus like the FX-8320.
The chipset has nothing to do with the VRM design on the board. There are 970 chipset boards with awesome CPU VRM's, and there are 990FX boards with terrible CPU VRMs.
So, after some digging around I found that the board you have doesn't have Heatsinks across the 4+1 power phase (It does if the board is a rev 1.3/1.4, it should tell you this on the board itself). This lack of heatsinks can and will contribute to a spike in north bridge temps
The lack of VRM heat-sinks contributes to elevated VRM component temps primarily, which can effect the temperature of anything in close physical proximity. I'm not sure why you are singling out the "north bridge" as a component that would suffer from elevated temps. The north bridge on the AM3+ platform is integrated on the CPU. North bridge temperature is not heavily influenced by VRM temps as the north bridge is cooled by the CPU cooler.
which will cause your CPU to heat up since it is on the North Bridge.
The north bridge is integrated on the CPU. The CPU is not "on" the north bridge. You seem to have some confusion over what the north bridge is.
My suggestion is to get an aftermarket cooler for now,
Most aftermarket coolers will actually make things worse for VRM temps, as the OEM cooler provides the best airflow over the VRMs on the motherboard. Making sure the OE heatsink is properly installed and working is a far better solution in this application than an aftermarket heatsink, unless the aftermarket heatsink is a down-blowing variety.
and to eventually replace that board with something from either the 990X or 990FX chipset as they are better suited for running a cpu with a TDP of 125 watts like the Fx-8320.
Again, chipset and VRM quality are not a mutually guaranteed relationship. Yes there are many 990FX boards with great VRMs, but there are also 970 and even 760G boards that can run an FX-8320 at stock speeds without any problems. Some of those 970 boards have fantastic VRM configurations that can overclock these chips pretty well.
Also, you are technically killing off your cpu with the heat, even though it isn't your fault. The one thing about AMD cpu's is that they really aren't designed to go above 60 degrees Celsius for long periods of time, and the higher the temp, the shorter that time.
AMD core temp reporting is actually on a scale that measures "remaining thermal margin," and does not actually produce a real temperature reading. When software is properly calibrated, the inverted remaining thermal margin readout is supposed to align "0 margin remaining" with a temperature reading of 70C, which is the maximum recommended long term operating temp for piledriver. When calibrated to this scale, 90C is the critical shutdown temp.
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Normally I would suggest the Hyper 212 Evo, but with these temps, you are going to need some serious horsepower. Noctua's NH-D15 is a pretty powerful cooler and should take care of it. An All in One Liquid Cooler is a good idea,
There's obviously something wrong with the implementation of the stock cooler in zrossk's build. These CPUs do dissipate a lot of heat, but the stock cooler is more than capable of keeping up when properly implemented. Without first identifying why the stock cooler isn't working, there's absolutely no good reason to go replacing the HSF... The 212 EVO, D15, and AIOCLC's you are throwing out as good cooling solutions are all bad options for the motherboard in question here, as they will all reduce VRM cooling and introduce MORE problems than they will solve. We don't need CPU cooler capable of dissipating 300W here, we need the 140W cooler working correctly.