[SOLVED] CPU Throttling at 60ºC

[Infernic]

Hello, the past few weeks I started noticing a decline on performance on games I've never had a problem before, so I decided to clean the dust off and do a clean install of windows, however, the problem persisted. After looking through task manager and coretemp, I noticed that the cpu clock speed started dropping once it hit 100% usage and got to 60ºC. I've done everything I can think of, but nothing seems to help, replaced the thermal paste, reseated the cooler (stock one), unplugged and replugged all the power supply cables, overclocked the processor, tried to undervolt but the BIOS didn't let me, nothing worked. I'm losing my mind, please help.

Specs:
CPU: AMD Athlon x4 860k
Motherboard: Gigabyte F2A78M-HD2
RAM: 8GB
GPU: AMD Radeon R7 260x
PSU: 430W Thermaltake

Screenshots:

https://imgur.com/a/G1PfnXN

View: https://imgur.com/a/G1PfnXN

 

[kerberos_20]

hi, go to bios and disable virtualisation there, windows will ninja some CPU performance when its enabled on your old CPU (as it has to emulate some missing hardware security features when virtualisation is enabled)

as for CPU downclocking when it shouldnt...VRM is overheating, your mainboard doesnt have any VRM heatsinks on it

tho you dont have space for noral vrm cooling pads either, so you might need small IC heatsinks
like this raspberry cooling kit
https://www.amazon.com/Heatsink-Cooling-Stepper-Regulators-Raspberry/dp/B07V9XDJNF

youll also need double sided thermal adhesive pads (if you dont want to glue it)
https://www.amazon.com/Alphacool-Double-Sided-Adhesive-120x20x0-5mm-12099/dp/B0051C3NHY

 

[Infernic]

as for CPU downclocking when it shouldnt...VRM is overheating, your mainboard doesnt have any VRM heatsinks on it

Hello, thank you for your response. I disabled virtualization and it seemed to have helped a bit.
After some more googling, I also came to the VRM conclusion as well, however I have 2 problems when it comes to that.
First, the computer was completely fine then suddenly started giving problems seemingly at random, is that normal? Do VRMs randomly stop working? And second, I live in a third world country so buying those things isn't exactly going to be easy, so if you know another solution to this, I would appreciate it. Granted, if there really is no other way, I'll find a way to get those products. Thank you again for your time.

 

[drea.drechsler]

...
Screenshots:

https://imgur.com/a/G1PfnXN

View: https://imgur.com/a/G1PfnXN

When using TaskManager keep in mind it's really an OS monitoring utility and not a proper hardware monitoring utility. As such it's reporting on processor utilization by the OS and an effective clock speed which accounts for CPU power management as the OS puts cores into low power states during less active periods.

Use a proper hardware monitoring utility, e.g., HWinfo64 or HWMonitor, to see actual CPU clocks and, as well, effective clocks.

 

[Infernic]

Use a proper hardware monitoring utility, e.g., HWinfo64 or HWMonitor, to see actual CPU clocks and, as well, effective clocks.

I logged the hwinfo sensors while playing and it shows much of the same, dropping clock speeds to 3300 mhz and even 2700 mhz.

 

[drea.drechsler]

I logged the hwinfo sensors while playing and it shows much of the same, dropping clock speeds to 3300 mhz and even 2700 mhz.

That's could be normal and not throttling.

With HWInfo, click on a CPU temp sensor and show a graph on the desktop, also click on the core clocks and show a graph. If temps aren't going really high at the period the CPU is lowering clocks to 2700-3300 then it might be just normal clock speed lowering when it can. The system does that for energy saving.

If your motherboard reveals one, click on a VRM temp sensor and show it's graph too...graphically comparing those three side by side tells you the story of whether your overheating and throttling. If your motherboard doesn't have a VRM temp sensor I'd suggest buying a cheap IR temp sensor gun (point it at something, pull trigger, it shows you temp for the area around the LED dot). Don't need an expensive one.

 

[Infernic]

With HWInfo, click on a CPU temp sensor and show a graph on the desktop, also click on the core clocks and show a graph. If temps aren't going really high at the period the CPU is lowering clocks to 2700-3300 then it might be just normal clock speed lowering when it can. The system does that for energy saving.

Here's the graph I managed to get while playing, temps got up to 60º, in the cpu clock speed it got to a max of 3.9ghz and a min of 2.7ghz. Motherboard wasn't able to show VRM temps in HWinfo, these are the temps it shows:

I got a graph of the first one just in case but it never went over 41º. Should I do it with any other of those?

 

[drea.drechsler]

Here's the graph I managed to get while playing, temps got up to 60º, in the cpu clock speed it got to a max of 3.9ghz and a min of 2.7ghz. Motherboard wasn't able to show VRM temps in HWinfo, these are the temps it shows:

I got a graph of the first one just in case but it never went over 41º. Should I do it with any other of those?

Well...AMD has Tjmax for your CPU at 72C so the CPU(Tctl) line around 60C makes it look like that's safe even though you can see where the CPU is throttling back. But the motherboard CPU sensor shows 77C max, that's strange if it's a sensor in the socket. Graph that too and check how they compare.

I'm also of a mind it's the VRM overheating. @kerberos_20 gave you a link to some heatsinks you could apply to the FET's, but to go with that I'd also put a fan blowing on the area of the heatsinks. A dual-fan tower CPU heatsink with the second fan blowing towards the rear of the case works great for that.

 

[Infernic]

Well...AMD has Tjmax for your CPU at 72C so the CPU(Tctl) line around 60C makes it look like that's safe even though you can see where the CPU is throttling back. But the motherboard CPU sensor shows 77C max, that's strange if it's a sensor in the socket. Graph that too and check how they compare.

2nd graph is the motherboard cpu temp graph, it got to a peak of 78º and right after that it started dropping as the clock speed went down. I'm gonna guess that's a telltale sign of that being the cause. Tctl got to a peak of 64 and started dropping as well.

VRMs seem like the logical choice, I agree. But I have to ask again, is it normal that it just randomly started acting up? I've never had a problem with this even though the computer has moved through various cases, all of this is a new development, so I want to know if they could've gotten damaged all of a sudden.

 

[drea.drechsler]

...
VRMs seem like the logical choice, I agree. But I have to ask again, is it normal that it just randomly started acting up? I've never had a problem with this even though the computer has moved through various cases, all of this is a new development, so I want to know if they could've gotten damaged all of a sudden.

Don't know why the VRM's would suddenly start being a problem....unless one of the phases failed to an open leaving only the remaining ones to carry the whole load. Not that common.

You might also look at a better CPU cooler, in case the one you have isn't up to it. A Hyper 212 is fairly cheap and doubtless way more than needed.

And also reset CMOS so you're running full stock in case a strange setting got in there somehow.

 

[Infernic]

You might also look at a better CPU cooler, in case the one you have isn't up to it. A Hyper 212 is fairly cheap and doubtless way more than needed.

Would the cpu cooler help with the socket temperatures in case its just that and not the VRMs? I bit the bullet and turned off the turbo on the cpu (takes it from 3.7ghz to 4ghz in case it needs more power) and when it runs at full load 3.7ghz it doesn't throttle nor get high cpu temps in the motherboard reading.

I resetted the default bios settings multiple times along these days, don't think that could be a problem now.

 

[drea.drechsler]

Would the cpu cooler help with the socket temperatures in case its just that and not the VRMs? I bit the bullet and turned off the turbo on the cpu (takes it from 3.7ghz to 4ghz in case it needs more power) and when it runs at full load 3.7ghz it doesn't throttle nor get high cpu temps in the motherboard reading.

I resetted the default bios settings multiple times along these days, don't think that could be a problem now.

A cooler with a fan on the output side will help with VRM cooling too. A Hyper 212 with two fans would be ideal for CPU and very good for VRM.

But what helps the VRM most is to get some heatsinks on the FET's; together with the fan it's as good as you're going to get without a new motherboard. That's really not worth it for this older system.

 

[Infernic]

A cooler with a fan on the output side will help with VRM cooling too. A Hyper 212 with two fans would be ideal for CPU and very good for VRM.

But what helps the VRM most is to get some heatsinks on the FET's; together with the fan it's as good as you're going to get without a new motherboard. That's really not worth it for this older system.

All right, thank you for your help I'll look into buying a new cooler and more stuff for VRMs