AMD FX-8350 overheating and crashing when playing games

[richjohnwalk22]

Hi everyone.

I'm having a serious problem with my gaming PC that is overheating (I'm assuming it's at 80-90 at the moment) so much to the point where the PC turns itself off. When idle or browsing online, it's temperature is at 10-20.

Provided below are my specifications:

CPU: AMD FX-8350 / Vishera 32mm Technology

RAM: 16.0GB Dual-Channel DDR3 @ 936MHz (10-11-10-30)

Motherboard: ASUSTeK COMPUTER INC. Crosshair V Formula (Socket 942)

Graphics: Generic PnP Monitor (1920x1080@60Hz)
2047MB NVIDIA GeForce GTX 960 (Gigabyte)

Storage: 238GB TOSHIBA THNSNJ256GCSU (SSD)
465GB Seagate ST3500641AS (SATA)

I suspect that the reason why the PC is not cooling down even with 5 working fans, is because I currently do not have 4-pins Cooling Fans attached. But I am not 100% sure, as there could be other factors that causes the PC to overheat from 10-20 to around 80-90 in a short amount of time (around 20 minutes), and then finally turning itself off.

If anyone could help pinpoint where I'm going wrong and how to address this issue, I will be grateful.

Thank you.

 

[Dark Lord of Tech]

Do you have a good cooler?

 

[richjohnwalk22]

It's not temperature controlled, it's only a 3-Pin Cooling Fan.

So no, I don't really have a good cooler.

 

[Dark Lord of Tech]

Even on that great board you need a decent CPU cooler.

What case?

 

[richjohnwalk22]

I think my case is an Antec 100.

 

[achilles174]

A temp of 10-20C (50F - 68F) while idle is surprising because it means your house is uncomfortably cold, especially if it's below 15C. If your house isn't that cold then these readings are suspicious.

The 8350 generates a lot of heat. You need a good cooler, but do NOT think that 3 pin fan = BAD and 4 pin fan = GOOD. All a 4 pin fan means is that there's a way for the motherboard to determine when to spin the fan faster to combat heat more aggressively. If you had a 3 pin fan and it ran at that speed the entire time it would be just as good. Before 4 pin fans, it was common to see 3 pin fans with adjustable rheostats (dials/knobs) to control the fan speed - and fan speed controllers still exist for manual control.

IMO, a 4 pin fan doesn't mean it cools better it just means it's quieter at idle.

The quality of a cooler has more to do with its contact material, surface area, and fin density.

Also, the 8350 is old so I don't suspect this is a new build. If it used to be fine you probably have dust caught in the fins so there's no airflow and no heat dissipation to air because it's just heating up the dust. A can of compressed air could solve your problem in this case. And it's worth looking into getting a replacement fan that has the ability to push more air through your heatsink. Again, that's only if this problem is new and your machine is old.

If it's a new build, you need a bigger heatsink or water cooler because the 8350 uses a lot of power.

 

[Dark Lord of Tech]

PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant

CPU Cooler: CRYORIG - H7 49.0 CFM CPU Cooler (£34.99 @ Overclockers.co.uk)
Total: £34.99
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available
Generated by PCPartPicker 2017-11-05 17:04 GMT+0000

 

[redgarl]

Either two or three things...

1. Your CPU is reporting the wrong values and make your system crash... update your bios to the latest version
2. Your fan is dead or your heatsink is improperly seated (this is the most plausible problem)
3. Your CPU is on its last straw

 

[redgarl]

@ Blackbird, I would just go with a simple Cooler Master Hyper 212 family. It's the cheapest cooler for the performances, but even there, we don't even know if that is the issue.

 

[richjohnwalk22]

I've had my 3-Pin Cooling Fan replaced with a 4-Pin (a spare that was used on another computer), and the difference seems phenomenal. The temperature has gone from 80-90 and crashing to about 40-50 while playing for some time with no sudden shut down.

My room is definitely cold considering that my radiator is no good, I have an attic above my room, and I can feel a draft from my closed window due to faulty sealing or fitting. Could explain why the temperature was shown to be 15.

I also did a stress test, and it levels at 60-65, whereas before swapping from 3-Pin Cooling Fan to the 4-Pin it was 80 and still climbing.

Still, it's too early to start celebrating so I will continue to do some tests in case another problem arrives. Nevertheless, thank you for the quick support.