Inconsistent Temperature reports for AMD FX-8320

[Rangan Das]

I am running a 4 year old PC with an AMD FX-8320 (stock settings, No OC) on a ASUS M5A97 R2.0 board.


The CPU Core temperature, during idle varies from 20 degC to 35 degC depending on the Windows power plan. When loaded with AMD Overdrive, Prime95 small FFT or AIDA64, it does not cross 60degG at all.

However, when I am playing Ghost Recon Wildlands, the temp goes up to 69-70degC. According to AMD Overdrive, I am hitting my thermal margin. According to CoreTemp, I am still safe as TjMax is reported to be 90 deg C. According to AMD website, my CPU should be burnt toast as the safe temp is 61 degC.

Who do I really trust here?

I do not notice any throttling or FPS drops in the game. I have never noticed any throttling/overheating ever, till date. I use an Antec A40 Pro cooler (92mm, 4x heat pipes) with 2 Arctic F9 fans running at ~1900 RPM. My Corsair Carbide 100R case has a total of 5 120mm case fans, 4 sucking in air, and one exhaust right behind the CPU.

While playing the game, the CPU usage also does not cross 50%. The GPU usage often hits 100%. I am using a Radeon RX480 8GB OC from Sapphire. The graphics card goes up to 75 degC on a regular basis while gaming, but I think that is safe for the GPU.

But when it comes to temperatures, is my PC in the unsafe territory?

P.S. Ambient temperatures are around 30 degC.

 

[CountMike]

There are two distinct temperature measuring points in FX processors, "Core" and "Package". AMD lists them as 62c and 90c respectively. Different programs may read one or the other but usually not both. AOD shows margins to Core temp to a point when it's supposed to throttle down to reduce temps. (62c).
HWInfo https://www.hwinfo.com/download.php should show both. As for ambient temps, you can expect that they ad at least 10 - 20c to your CPU readings and CPU (and other) components can't be any lower than ambient temps.

 

[Rangan Das]

There are two distinct temperature measuring points in FX processors, "Core" and "Package". AMD lists them as 62c and 90c respectively. Different programs may read one or the other but usually not both. AOD shows margins to Core temp to a point when it's supposed to throttle down to reduce temps. (62c).
HWInfo https://www.hwinfo.com/download.php should show both. As for ambient temps, you can expect that they ad at least 10 - 20c to your CPU readings and CPU (and other) components can't be any lower than ambient temps.

Well, in that case, the CPU should throttle once it goes beyond 62 degC, right? But it doesn't. Moreover, AMD Overdrive shows that the thermal margin is 70 (thermal margin reading in AOD + temp in Coretemp). Also, is max package temp same as TjMax? I don't think so.

I have AIDA64 installed and it shows CPU temperature, which varies from 38 (idle) to 72 (under synthetic load). This hits 80 when I am gaming. The CPU Core temp, on the other hand varies from 20 (idle) to 75 (gaming).

 

[CountMike]

Your programs are still mixing Core and Package temps, those 62c and 90c are AMD parameters but wouldn't be first time some sensor or BIOS goes nuts and shows wrong temps.

 

[Rangan Das]

So, not overheating as long as I am not throttling?

 

[CountMike]

Right. shutdown temps are much higher.