Is my CPU overheating?

[Supertoaster77]

My CPU keeps throttling back in order to drop temperatures. Is 53 degrees centigrade considered overheating for an AMD FX-8150?

 

[FreezeRay]

That's well within safe temps, especially on an AMD, but throttling back to some degree is normal. How bad is it doing it?

 

[Supertoaster77]

That's well within safe temps, especially on an AMD, but throttling back to some degree is normal. How bad is it doing it?

Like, terribly. The only example I have is in gaming. Getting above sixty frames in Battlefield 4, they suddenly drop to around twelve. The CPU temp drops to around thirty and then jumps back up.

 

[FreezeRay]

Oh wow, that's bad throttling. Install CPU-Z on your computer and keep it running and monitor what it's at when idle and see if the clock multiplier or voltages on the CPU change when you open BF4. What kind of motherboard do you have?

 

[Jacob Bowerman]

yes, install cpu-z the computer might be cutting down the clock severely to cool it down and thats what might be causing something like it, alternatively that could also be your GPU. is your thermal paste due for renewing or new heatsink? is there a lot of dust in the computer etc...

 

[ShadyHamster]

What motherboard are you using? the VRM's on the board might be causing the throttling.

 

[Supertoaster77]

What motherboard are you using? the VRM's on the board might be causing the throttling.

I'm using a gigabyte 970A-UD3. It can't be the motherboard, because my last board, a 970A-D3 had the same problems. Here is a bit of data. http://s972.photobucket.com/user/digitalreagent/media/mmmthrottle_zps8bec1428.png.html

 

[Supertoaster77]

yes, install cpu-z the computer might be cutting down the clock severely to cool it down and thats what might be causing something like it, alternatively that could also be your GPU. is your thermal paste due for renewing or new heatsink? is there a lot of dust in the computer etc...

No dust. The max temp i've seen it go up to is 53 degrees. Thermal paste was renewed quite recently, around four months ago.

 

[Supertoaster77]

Oh wow, that's bad throttling. Install CPU-Z on your computer and keep it running and monitor what it's at when idle and see if the clock multiplier or voltages on the CPU change when you open BF4. What kind of motherboard do you have?

See above pls.

 

[Supertoaster77]

By the way, what kind of temps should I see on my motherboard?

 

[FreezeRay]

Anything below 55 C is generally normal, but anything above 65 or 70 is cause for concern.

 

[Supertoaster77]

Anything below 55 C is generally normal, but anything above 65 or 70 is cause for concern.

So I'm good on that. I'm totally stumped.

 

[FreezeRay]

Do you have any eco-power or power saver modes or anything like that enabled in your BIOS? They like to screw with voltages.

 

[Supertoaster77]

Do you have any eco-power or power saver modes or anything like that enabled in your BIOS? They like to screw with voltages.

Yeah, but I've turned them off and it didn't change anything.

 

[FreezeRay]

Do you have any eco-power or power saver modes or anything like that enabled in your BIOS? They like to screw with voltages.

Yeah, but I've turned them off and it didn't change anything.

Oh boy. That's the cause of throttling in a lot of cases, if the temperature isn't the problem. I must say I am stumped sadly. 🙁

 

[ShadyHamster]

The motherboard thermal sensor that gets detected in programs such as AIDA64 or HWmonitor is usually located towards the bottom of the board, well away from any heat effected areas.

You'll want to use something like a temp probe that plugs into a fan controller so you can place it on the vrm heatsink to get a more accurate reading.
Failing that get yourself a infrared thermometer, you can find them cheap on ebay for around $20-30.

I had the same problem with my FX8320 and an Asrock 970 Extreme4 board, cpu temp would get to around 57 degrees where as the VRM's would get to a toasty 78 degrees, that's when the throttling kicked in for me.