Expensive Gaming PC from 2014, runs hot. Looking to fix it anyway possible.

[luke.anthony.williams]

First, I read the new build or upgrade advice thread, so if I am doing something wrong, please message me and ill fix it.

My problem: PC runs, but in order to run games I must run my CPU liquid cooler at MAX speed to keep CPU from overheating and system crashing.

Approximate Purchase Date: Brand new Mach 2014

Budget Range: <500$ on possible upgrades if possible.

System Usage from Most to Least Important: Internet, then gaming.

Are you buying a monitor: No

Parts to Upgrade: Possibly any, CPU, Gcard, RAM, mobo, Power Supply

Do you need to buy OS: No?

Preferred Website(s) for Parts: newegg.com and/or any

Location: Upstate NY

Parts Preferences: No preference... well, whatever gives the best performance to cost ratio.

Overclocking: No

SLI or Crossfire: Maybe

Your Monitor Resolution: 1920x1080

Additional Comments: I want a stable system that is hassle and worry free.

And Most Importantly, Why Are You Upgrading:

Alright, here are my system specs as best as I can tell. If you need more info I will get it.

CPU: AMD FX 9590 Eight-core 4.70GHz
Liquid Cooler: Corsair H80i v2
RAM: 16GB DDR3 (i think)
Gcard: MSI AMD Radeon R9 270X Gaming 2GB GDDR5
HDD: 1TB 7200RPM
MOBO: Gigabyte 990FXA-UD3
Bus Clock: 200 megahertz
P/S: 700watt (i think)
OS: Windows 7 Premium Home SP1

So to restate my problem, when running games (Fallout 4 for instance, on high settings) I MUST run my iH80 v2 at max speed (pump and fans) to keep my CPU from overheating and the system stalling or crashing. And even then it runs HOT. I pretty much moved to gaming on PS4 because of it but there are some recent PC games I'd like to play and I know my PC should be able to handle it. I am looking for suggestions on how to remedy the problem. From all accounts, the iH80 should be just fine. The coolers fans are taking suction from outside the case, blowing into the case, and my system fan is blowing out through the top, and is situated directly above the CPU. Any thoughts?

 

[richiestang_78]

I would try and remove the cooler, clean off the old thermal paste and reapply some good new paste and see if that helps.

 

[luke.anthony.williams]

I would try and remove the cooler, clean off the old thermal paste and reapply some good new paste and see if that helps.

Yeah, I will try that. I have ha to clean dust out of the radiator portion of the cooler before. I'll give it a shot.

 

[dudmont]

Agree with first reply. I would add: when you pull the cooler, pull the radiator out and feel it. If it feels light, you might want to replace it. AIOs loose coolant over time and thereby cooling ability. Do a thorough cleaning of dust while you have the system apart(pretty obvious, I know).

 

[MeanMachine41]

Hi Luke

The FX-9590 does run hot even at stock 4.7GHz frequency and a single fan radiator is really insufficient when under load. I have built a number of FX-9590 combos in the past and found that a H100i or equivalent dual fan radiator is a MIN requirement. I recently upgraded to Ryzen 7 after 5 years use as the FX platform is EOL however the FX-9590 is still quite a capable 8 core CPU and I was able to play AAA games maxed out albeit I was running a GTX 980sc GPU.
It is also important to have decent Air flow within your Case so please list your cabinet for better advice.
Also the CPU demands a good quality highly efficient PSU due to the 220TDP draw when under load. List your PSU make and model.?

Many will advise you to sell or upgrade your system to another platform however if you wish to continue using your current system then the above is the way to go.
Maintaining stability on the FX-9590 is a Bios Tweaking issue especially if you want to Overclock and I can help with that.

 

[g-unit1111]

Hi Luke

The FX-9590 does run hot even at stock 4.7GHz frequency and a single fan radiator is really insufficient when under load. I have built a number of FX-9590 combos in the past and found that a H100i or equivalent dual fan radiator is a MIN requirement. I recently upgraded to Ryzen 7 after 5 years use as the FX platform is EOL however the FX-9590 is still quite a capable 8 core CPU and I was able to play AAA games maxed out albeit I was running a GTX 980sc GPU.
It is also important to have decent Air flow within your Case so please list your cabinet for better advice.
Also the CPU demands a good quality highly efficient PSU due to the 220TDP draw when under load. List your PSU make and model.?

Many will advise you to sell or upgrade your system to another platform however if you wish to continue using your current system then the above is the way to go.
Maintaining stability on the FX-9590 is a Bios Tweaking issue especially if you want to Overclock and I can help with that.

Yeah the bad thing about the FX-9590 is that it does run hot and it does require a monster cooler and a monster PSU in order to run stable. Some people could advise you to downclock the FX-9590 to run at 8350 levels and that is usually advised. But in order to get the CPU to run stably if you plan on doing nothing to alter it, is that you will need a much better CPU and a much better cooler.

 

[luke.anthony.williams]

Thanks for the answers so far. I will take a look at my PSU in the morning and report back. I'll also look at the H100i in the meantime as well. (As well as clean my H80i)

 

[luke.anthony.williams]

I have cleaned my H80i and computer internals. it was filthy of course.
My PSU is an OCZ 700W Power supply, model OCZ700MXSP.

 

[g-unit1111]

I have cleaned my H80i and computer internals. it was filthy of course.
My PSU is an OCZ 700W Power supply, model OCZ700MXSP.

If you're going to run that 9590 at 9590 speeds you should definitely look at upgrading that PSU - it should be at least an 850W Seasonic, or even higher - around the 1KW+ range.

 

[luke.anthony.williams]

Some interesting updates:

I had been talking to MeanMachine in messages but I thought I should share with the group.

So i went ahead and and did the bios tweaks you mentioned (disabled Cool and Quiet, Sleep state C6, Turbo mode, and set LLC to High current capability to 120%). It didnt turn out so hot. After making the changes I saved and exited the bios, then my PC went to a black screen and never booted. I tried the power button and reset buttons - nothing. I turned it off in the back at the PSU switch. Turned it back on and got same results, never got to bios. Turned it off, unplugged it and popped bios battery. Put it back together, turned it on and nothing. But I noticed two things 1) my H80i fans turned on, then turned off, system fans were running, and my power light was blinking 3 times really fast. I let it sit a good minute and my H80i fans came back on, but at a slower RPM cause I can normally hear them (loud). I let it sit another minute and the high temp light on my cooler came on. Weird. I held the power button and this time it turned off. So at this point I took the bios battery out again and went to take a shower. Came back 10 mins later and tried it all over again. Same results. Lastly I tried moving my RAM around, and tried each one individually in different spots. Nothing. So I was going to give up, reinstalled RAM into their original spots, and gave it one more shot. This time I heard my H80i fans come on at full speed, saw my bios bios screen, but it was blank, like not fully loaded... i held my breath and then, the PC restarted on its own! damn! but wait... the bios screen came back this time and a menu popped up "Load optimized defaults and reboot?" I clicked YES!!!! PC rebooted. I am currently using it.. everything seems fine thus far. Sooooo....I dunno.

Here's something else to chew on. I checked out my system to see if everything was still the same, and I noticed in my System Information that I had 16GB of installed memory (2x8gb sticks) and only 8gb was usable. I am pretty sure I swapped stick 1 and 2's position in the ram slots. I looked in my mobo manual and noticed it recommended using DDR3_1 and DDR3_2 ram slots when using dual channel mode and my ram was installed in DDR3_3 and DDR3-4 slots from the factory. I went ahead and moved them over to slots 1 and 2. No change, still detecting 16gb and only 8gb usable. Then I went ahead and swapped positions of stick 1 and 2, and left them in the 'preferred' positions of DDR3_1 and DDR3_2. This seems to have worked, system just says 16gb installed, does not say anything about usable amount. I checked in Belarc Adviser and it also confirmed 16gb was installed and made no mention of usable amount. The 2 ram chips are identical, why would it make a difference which one is installed where? As long as I have the ram installed in the correct slots for dual channel mode, it shouldnt matter which ram stick is installed first should it?

 

[MeanMachine41]

Until you conduct the stress tests as asked, It will be guesswork as I need to know your Rail Voltages and temperatures under load conditions.