FX-6300 high temps/ bad overclocking

[metricman]

So I tried overclocking today and things went worse than I thought... I have a CNPS 8900 quiet CPU cooler with an M5A97 R2.0 motherboard and an fx 6300 (obviously). I thought the CNPS 8900 would let me overclock AT LEAST 4.1-4.3 GHz, but I couldn't even reach 4.1 GHz without core temps of 68°C+ and 4.0 GHz was unstable/ at the limit (64°C core temp). So ,for today, I give up. I reset the CPU clock speed and switched on the motherboard "overclock" which atm gives me about 3.8 GHz and core temp of 57°C and 68°C socket temp. My motherboard temp right now is 30°C.

Did I just buy a shitty CPU cooler or is something else wrong? I've heard of people reaching 4.2 GHz with just the stock cooler, so I'm kinda pissed I spent $30 for nothing...

 

[lowriderflow]

not familiar with that cooler... are you sure it's better than the stock fan?

silly question... did you use thermal paste? lol

 

[Dark Lord of Tech]

The board only has a 4+2 power phase design , so it won't be very good for overclocking.

 

[metricman]

not familiar with that cooler... are you sure it's better than the stock fan?

silly question... did you use thermal paste? lol

Tomshardware did a "top 10" of low-profile CPU coolers a few months ago, this one was the winner. My case is a bit small and I didn't know if a hyper evo 212 would fit in.. so I decided to buy the CNPS instead. And yes, I did use thermal paste, although it was someone else who installed the CPU cooler for me and the application may have not been ideal. If there's no other option I'll buy some more thermal paste and reapply, but getting the CPU cooler onto the motherboard is a bitch and I'd rather not have to do it again.

 

[i7Baby]

Yep: http://www.tomshardware.com/reviews/low-profile-heat-sink-mini-itx,3639-22.html The Zelman was 2nd to the NH-12.

68C doesn't seem a high CORE temp. Or do you mean case temp? What voltage were you using? Have alook at http://youtu.be/T9uXysmgPi8

 

[metricman]

Yep: http://www.tomshardware.com/reviews/low-profile-heat-sink-mini-itx,3639-22.html The Zelman was 2nd to the NH-12.

68C doesn't seem a high CORE temp. Or do you mean case temp? What voltage were you using? Have alook at http://youtu.be/T9uXysmgPi8

The limit for FX series processors is 62 degrees core temp and 72 degrees socket temp. Everywhere I've looked most people recommend to stay at aprox. 55 degrees core temp on load.

That was the video I used to overclock actually... I was expecting results like his but I didn't even get close to 4.3 ghz.

 

[metricman]

The board only has a 4+2 power phase design , so it won't be very good for overclocking.

the M5A97 R2.0 may not be the best at overclocking, but I've seen people get at least 4.3 ghz with it.

 

[Dark Lord of Tech]

But not all CPU's are the same , some are great overclockers others are poor , it's the luck of the draw.

 

[metricman]

But not all CPU's are the same , some are great overclockers others are poor , it's the luck of the draw.

even so.. I feel like if I had a hyper evo 212 I'd be able to at least get 4.2 ghz. I couldn't find any other results for fx 6300 + CNPS 8900 , so I can't compare my temps.

 

[damric]

So I tried overclocking today and things went worse than I thought... I have a CNPS 8900 quiet CPU cooler with an M5A97 R2.0 motherboard and an fx 6300 (obviously). I thought the CNPS 8900 would let me overclock AT LEAST 4.1-4.3 GHz, but I couldn't even reach 4.1 GHz without core temps of 68°C+ and 4.0 GHz was unstable/ at the limit (64°C core temp). So ,for today, I give up. I reset the CPU clock speed and switched on the motherboard "overclock" which atm gives me about 3.8 GHz and core temp of 57°C and 68°C socket temp. My motherboard temp right now is 30°C.

Did I just buy a shitty CPU cooler or is something else wrong? I've heard of people reaching 4.2 GHz with just the stock cooler, so I'm kinda pissed I spent $30 for nothing...

That's a great CPU cooler, but not for overclocking that CPU. You'll need something with some more thermal cooling power to cool that FX-6300. If clearance is an issue then take a look at the Scythe Katana or Cooler Master Gemini style of coolers, or a double thickness AIO liquid cooler like Corsair H80, or Antec 920, ect. Can you return that Zalman? If not you could probably sell it on forums since it would still make a good cooler for a low TDP build. Also as pointed out, you should be careful of your motherboard's VRMs when you push for higher clocks.

 

[metricman]

So I tried overclocking today and things went worse than I thought... I have a CNPS 8900 quiet CPU cooler with an M5A97 R2.0 motherboard and an fx 6300 (obviously). I thought the CNPS 8900 would let me overclock AT LEAST 4.1-4.3 GHz, but I couldn't even reach 4.1 GHz without core temps of 68°C+ and 4.0 GHz was unstable/ at the limit (64°C core temp). So ,for today, I give up. I reset the CPU clock speed and switched on the motherboard "overclock" which atm gives me about 3.8 GHz and core temp of 57°C and 68°C socket temp. My motherboard temp right now is 30°C.

Did I just buy a shitty CPU cooler or is something else wrong? I've heard of people reaching 4.2 GHz with just the stock cooler, so I'm kinda pissed I spent $30 for nothing...

That's a great CPU cooler, but not for overclocking that CPU. You'll need something with some more thermal cooling power to cool that FX-6300. If clearance is an issue then take a look at the Scythe Katana or Cooler Master Gemini style of coolers, or a double thickness AIO liquid cooler like Corsair H80, or Antec 920, ect. Can you return that Zalman? If not you could probably sell it on forums since it would still make a good cooler for a low TDP build. Also as pointed out, you should be careful of your motherboard's VRMs when you push for higher clocks.

I can't return it because I bought it in England and I live in Brazil, but I could probably sell it for a good price here. Here the CNPS8900 quiet costs $80, so I could probably sell it for what I paid for it or more.

As for the VRMs, I think I damaged it already, when I accidentally set the CPU voltage to 1.82v instead of 1.28v (I'm an idiot). The computer didn't start after that, so I reset the motherboard and it started okay, only problem is I think now my CPU temps are a bit higher than before...

 

[damric]

I'm sure you didn't damage the CPU if it was only momentarily unloaded. I've intentionally done way worse things to these CPUs during testing (see the CPU-Z validation in my signature, on with air cooling). To quote an AMD Engineer, you cannot feed these bulldozer/piledriver chips too much voltage. They hit a thermal ceiling way before you can break them with voltage. Your motherboard likely wasn't damaged either since it was only a short time while unloaded.