AMD FX8350 Not increasing it's core voltage under load

[Jeremy1818]

Something is wrong with my PC. The CPU is not getting enough voltage when it requires it. Idle core voltage is 0.920V. Idle cpu usage is 2%. Idle cpu clock speed is 1.32ghz. When running Prime95, core voltage stays at 0.920V, cpu usage rises to 32%(meant to be 100% right?) and cpu clock speed stays at 1.32ghz.
Specs:
AMD FX8350 @4Ghz not overclocked
MSI 960 4G GPU
MSI 970 GAMING MB
2X4GB Kingston HyperX Fury RAM
SSD (windows) and hard drive (games)
Corsair CX750M (old one) PSU

The same thing happens in games. When the low core voltage, fps is around 20 depending on games. Still wayy lower than it should be. It sometimes jumps to all the correct settings and clock speeds and voltages which increases fps but only for a matter of seconds.

Any help is greatly appreciated
Thanks

 

[Supernova1138]

Some MSI boards come with a switch that activates different modes to facilitate extreme overclocking, apparently a lot of their boards ship with that switch defaulted to the "Slow" mode. Consult the manual to see if you have that switch and make sure it is set properly for normal operation.

 

[Jeremy1818]

Thanks for the reply.
Slow mode was already disabled in my motherboard.

 

[Supernova1138]

Alright, next check your Windows power profile, make sure it isn't set to "Power Saver", as that also can prevent your CPU from increasing clockspeed.

 

[Jeremy1818]

Already tried that, it was set to High Performence.

 

[Jeremy1818]

https://drive.google.com/file/d/0B7CKnQor5Z96cENycENERjlVSFE/view?usp=drivesdk
Screenshot of task manager. Explains my issue better.

 

[Supernova1138]

You might want to check your CPU temperatures with AMD Overdrive, thermal throttling might be why your CPU is not increasing in clockspeed.

 

[Jeremy1818]

Temps are a fine 25C/30C idle. When under load it gets up to 60C.

 

[Supernova1138]

60 is getting on the hot side for an AMD processor, especially when considering your CPU isn't going up to full clocks and is seeing low usage. Make sure to use AMD Overdrive and check your thermal margin, if its at zero or lower, you have a problem. Other monitoring software tends not to get accurate reading on AMD CPUs due to the dumb way they designed their CPU's temperature monitoring.

 

[Jeremy1818]

Thermal margin when idle is 57.5C. When under load in Prime95 it's 33C.
It seems when running something somewhat cpu intensive the cpu decides what clock speed it runs at. Like when running Prime95 it should be at 4ghz because Prime95 is maxing out the CPU, but it's running at 1.32ghz instead. Causing lower temperature and performence. Also, cpu utilization should be at 100% when running Prime95 but it's at 34% instead. When cpu voltage jumps up so does the clock speed, temperature and utilization.

 

[maxwellmelon]

unplug then replug your cpu 8 pin power plug in on the motherboard (make sure unplug it first of course). make sure it is down and locked in. also double check the PSU side of that same power cable mabe even swap it to the other port for cpu power on it. if one of these connections is not made very well your cpu might not get the current it needs to run in full power mode.

 

[Jeremy1818]

I've replugged the CPU power cable on both ends and no improvement. Still often drops the VCORE voltage when it needs it.

 

[maxwellmelon]

ok normally I wouldn't recommend the following but some people sware by it to increase stability so worth a try.

go into bios.

find and

disable cool n quiet
disable c6 state, (can also disable c1,c3 states if option is there)
set vcore as you did earlier to 1.375 volts.

all this should do is tell the cpu to run ignore lower cpu power states and run in full power mode.

 

[Jeremy1818]

I set the voltage to +0.33 and turned off the settings you mentioned. The voltage was now correct but at idle on the desktop the CPU was running at 80C and in BIOS at 40C. I managed to start Prime95 and noticed CPU utilization was 55%. Still should be 100%. Also clock speed was maxed at 3ghz; lots of coil whine when voltages changed and fps in games still wasn't what it's meant to be- at least when the voltage is auto and it sets itself to the correct voltage. Then the system crashed. Set voltage back to auto and kept the settings you mentioned disabled.

 

[maxwellmelon]

I almost want to point to the motherboard honestly if your getting coil wine from it. but the other odd part is for that little of a voltage increase you should not see that large of a temp change on your cpu at idle which makes me wonder if its really in good contact with the heat sink.

but I still go back to mabe the motherboard not providing the cpu with the voltage it thinks it is......anyone else agree/disagree or comments??

 

[Jeremy1818]

About a week ago I replaced the thermal paste and cleaned the cooler with a can of compressed air. I'm pretty sure it makes good contact with the CPU- i hope. It's brand new cooler master thermal paste.

 

[maxwellmelon]

just as a question was system running fine before you changed the cooler?

fyi look at tomshardware main page at the cpu cooler they just reviewed...looks like they got a defective air cooler for one of the two they got. it can happen

 

[Jeremy1818]

I didn't replace the whole cooler. Just put new thermal paste in and cleaned dust out with a can of compressed air. The system was not working fine before i did this. I did it because i thought i might give it a try make it will fix things- it didn't.