ok... i'll answer your question with a little explanation thrown in.
FIRST: you should know piledriver cpus don't actually have a temp thermometer on them. They use an algorithm to "guesstimate" their core temp. Your motherboard DOES have a thermometer on it. so lets start with that knowledge firmly placed in our heads.
On the FX lineup of piledriver cpus typically speaking the "core" temp reported is known to be rather inacurate... and usually far too "cold" to be a legit core temp. even when reporting it's temp's correctly, the piledriver cpu will report a "core" temp that is probably much closer to a "surface" temp then anything else. As a result, most people simply assuming the "actual" core temp is probably a little warmer then the "socket" temp the motherboard is reporting.
this is where it gets interesting though... see AMD knows the core temp reported by the cpu is "wrong" and as a result they built several max temps into the 990fx, 990x and 970fx chipset;
1) core temp of 75C - if your cpu ever reports a core temp of 75C which the motherboard judges to be a "real" temp your cpu will be temp throttled by your motherboard
2) motherboard SOCKET temp of 72C - if your motherboard ever reports a socket temp of 72C the motherboard will ASSUME your cpu is overheating and throttle the cpu back
SO - if your motherboard is reporting 72C on the socket it is definitely going to throttling the cpu back REGARDLESS of the temps reported by the cpu itself. I would also assume that your cpu isn't reporting it's temps accurately, as typically the standard piledriver behavior is for the reported CPU temp to be about 10C cooler then socket. So typically people don't see cpu throttling until the cpu core temp hits 62C + or so and the socket is hitting 72C...
NOW: there are some things you can do to cool your socket/cpu down, as those are hot chips that need more then just a closed loop water cooler to keep everything from temp throttling.
1) put a small fan over the VRM heatsinks (between the cpu and Io panel on the motherboard)
2) put a small fan BEHIND the motherboard blowing on the back of the socket
if you do both you'll see a significant drop in temps across the board, heck one might be enough.