Overheating Motherboard: ASUS M5A97 R2.0

Nov 30, 2018
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So I just got an Asus Geforce GTX 1060 6GB Phoenix for my PC but after 30-40 mins of gaming. It just shuts down and the blue block like things (which I think are the heat sinks for the Motherboard chips) on the north-bridge area next to my processor are way too hot to even touch afterwards. My cooling fan for the processor isn't that warm either. When I check the temps on my temp monitor, everything seems to be fine. CPU runs around mid 60s, GPU is around mid 30s, and the graphics card runs around 40.

The only thing that I can feel is just smoldering hot are those parts on the motherboard. Also keep in mind that I have one of the panels of my PC case off cause I had an overheating issue when I first got my processor and after taking the panel off, it ran fine with the old graphics card which was a 560 series then.

Here's what I have currently:
Processor: AMD FX 8350 4.0 GHz
Motherboard:ASUS M5A97 R2.0
Graphics Card: Asus Geforce GTX 1060 6GB Phoenix
Cooling Fan: Asetek LCLC 120mm Liquid Cooling CPU System
Case: Cooler Master Elite 431 Plus

My guess is that the motherboard needs to be cooled, but I don't really know what action to take for that. I most likely need a better CPU cooling system or some fans or something because that's really the only cooling fan that's in there at the moment (other than the graphics card fan). Unless there is some other problem that anyone else sees that's causing it to crash?

I'd really appreciate if someone could help me out!
 
What case do you have?

How many case fans do you have?

In what direction (Orientation) is each case fan moving air? (In (intake) or out (exhaust))

Also, that CPU cooler is not only not sufficient for that CPU, it's not even recommended on that configuration unless you have VERY good case cooling, as when you use liquid cooling you take away all of the residual airflow that would normally pass over the VRM heatsinks to help cool them, away.

Those heatsinks will usually always be hot though, whether cooled well or not. That's why they are there.

What is the EXACT model number of your power supply? What graphics card did you have BEFORE getting the 1060?
 
Nov 30, 2018
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This is the case that I have: Cooler Master Elite 431 Plus
But I did take off the panel from the case opposite to the motherboard for more airflow for now.

I don't have any case fans which is why I feel that might be a problem at the moment.
Plus you're saying that this CPU cooler isn't recommended for this setup. I did feel that it wasn't good enough for it as well. I had received this PC from a friend and the only upgrades I've made to it are the Graphics card and Processor at the moment.

I have the EVGA 500W power supply and I think this is the model number? 100-W1-0500-KR

I had a Geforce GTX 550ti before this was definitely an upgrade.
 
Ok, let's be clear on this. Running without case fans is not allowed. Ever. At all. Especially on a system like this. Maybe on a totally passive system that has very low power thermal design and a very good passive heatsink for the CPU, but not on any desktop system unless you know exactly what you are doing, and why.

Even leaving the case panel off is not as good as having good airflow through the case, because then you are relying on the fact that the heatsinks on the VRMs will just dissipate the heat away themselves, and they will, to a degree, but you will still stack up heat in the top of that case even though there are vent up there, it's not going to be the same.

I'm not sure why you would NOT have ANY fans, since that case comes with at least one fan. You need at least four fans on that case.

The 550ti only needed a 400w powers supply. The GTX 1060 should be used with a good 450w unit, at least. A 550w unit that is reliable and of good quality, not some cheap, generic or poor quality unit, would be a lot better.

You W1 has plenty of capacity, but that is not a very good quality unit and if it has been in use for more than year along with a gaming card of any kind, it is probably already degraded to the point where it can probably no longer sustain that 500w rating.

Maybe not, but it's highly likely.

I would get a new power supply and I would get four fans into that case, first. And get a better CPU cooler second.

Since you have that cooler, where is it mounted and in what direction is airflow through the cooler, in or out of the case? That cooler, for now, should take up one of the fan locations so if it's in the rear exhaust location, then I'd add a top rear 120mm fan as exhaust. I'd also add two front 120mm fans as intake. If that cooler is mounted in the front, then I'd add another 120mm fan as intake up front and add two other 120mm fans, one in the back as an exhaust and one up top as an exhaust.

You could do that fairly cheap, but I'd need to know what motherboard you have to know how it needs to be done. Fan headers that are available on the motherboard could be a factor and you might need a fan hub if you only have one or two case fan headers on your board.

Actually, that board has 3 x4 pin chassis fan headers, so that works fine. No hub needed.

Get three of these, minimum.

PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant

Case Fan: Rosewill - RWCB-1612 63.1 CFM 120mm Fan ($6.99 @ Newegg)
Case Fan: Rosewill - RWCB-1612 63.1 CFM 120mm Fan ($6.99 @ Newegg)
Case Fan: Rosewill - RWCB-1612 63.1 CFM 120mm Fan ($6.99 @ Newegg)
Total: $20.97
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available
Generated by PCPartPicker 2018-11-30 18:12 EST-0500


This would be a lot better:

PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant

Case Fan: ARCTIC - BioniX F120 (Black/White) 69 CFM 120mm Fan ($12.45 @ Amazon)
Case Fan: ARCTIC - BioniX F120 (Black/White) 69 CFM 120mm Fan ($12.45 @ Amazon)
Case Fan: ARCTIC - BioniX F120 (Black/White) 69 CFM 120mm Fan ($12.45 @ Amazon)
Total: $37.35
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available
Generated by PCPartPicker 2018-11-30 18:16 EST-0500


And any fans made by Noctua, Thermalright (Not Thermaltake), Cougar, Phanteks, Corsair or Scythe that are 120mm and PWM, would all be pretty good choices. Hell, blowing air on the VRMs would be better than nothing at all. LOL.

 
Nov 30, 2018
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Ok a lot of information here which is great because this is my first built PC so I am trying to learn what I can. So thanks for that! Since I only changed the graphics card and the processor, everything else is left as how the original owner had oriented them so bear with me!

I did forget to mention that there is at least ONE fan connected with the cooler on the rear exhaust. (To answer your question about where the cooler is mounted). This fan is an intake (Again, I didn't change how the original owner had it). I'm assuming that is the one fan that it came with that you are talking about.

The cooler is connected to one of those 3 x4 pin connectors at the top so there is room for 2. The one fan is connected in-between the 2 heat sinks from the motherboard from what I can see.

No idea how long this power supply has been in use but I assume it has been used for a while at the least. Definitely not brand new.

I had planned on purchasing these fans after I got the graphics card.
https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B01G5I6MRK/ref=ox_sc_saved_title_2?smid=ATVPDKIKX0DER&psc=1
(I would purchase 3 since you said it should have at least 4 fans)
They don't mention anything about PWM so I don't know if you would still recommend the 2 choices you gave me.
EDIT: I think these are 4 pin fans so they should have PWM if I understand fans correctly lol.

I'll have to look at a better power supply and cooling system then as well.
Do you know of a good brand for power supplies?

And would you recommend an air cooled cooling system over the one I have now? Or should I stick with liquid cooled but just find a better one?
 
So, start by making that fan an exhaust. Radiator mounted to case, fan mounted to radiator blowing OUT through the radiator, if it is in the rear fan location. NO other configuration is acceptable in that spot.

Then get another exhaust fan up to in the rear top location and two intake fans mounted up front. Leave the side panel off until you do that, and do that soon, because you are not doing yourself any favors and hopefully you haven't already damaged the motherboard or CPU from thermal fatigue.

You motherboard has four PWM 4 pin headers, so yes, you want PWM fans that are 4 pin.

I would recommend air over water for that system.

Something like this would be very good for that and is not terribly expensive. This could probably be used on any future build as well.

PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant

CPU Cooler: Thermalright - Macho Rev.B 73.6 CFM CPU Cooler ($49.90 @ Amazon)
Total: $49.90
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available
Generated by PCPartPicker 2018-12-01 00:10 EST-0500


If you can't afford that, then you could get by with something like this, but I'd get the better unit if there was any way possible.

PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant

CPU Cooler: Deepcool - GAMMAXX 400 74.34 CFM CPU Cooler ($16.89 @ OutletPC)
Total: $16.89
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available
Generated by PCPartPicker 2018-12-01 00:12 EST-0500


For power supplies, click the spoiler box below:

Let's start with the biggest misconception out there, which is that if a unit has high watts it will be ok or is good. No. Just, no.

There are plenty of 750-1000w units out there that I wouldn't trust to power a light bulb and might in fact be more dangerous due to their supposedly high capacity due to poor or non-existent protections inside the unit.

If the platform isn't good to begin with, how many watts or amps it says it can support is irrelevant.

Higher 80plus certification doesn't mean anything, UNLESS it's on an already known to be high quality PSU platform. For example, a Seasonic Prime platinum unit is going to be a better product than a Seasonic Prime Gold unit, because we already know the Prime platform is very good, and platinum efficiency along with it shows there are some improvements internally to account for the higher efficiency.

In a case like that, it might be worth it. It's likely the unit will create less heat, it will probably have better performance in regard to ripple, noise and voltage regulation. It might shave a few pennies, or dollars, off the electric bill over the course of a year.

Other than that, it is not going to perform any better than the same platform with Gold efficiency. On the other hand, just because a unit has Titanium 80plus ratings doesn't mean the unit is any good at all. For example, there are Raidmax units with Titanium efficiency and I wouldn't trust one of those to power a light bulb. There are a lot of units like this out there.

If the platform isn't good to begin with, whether or not it has an 80plus certification or not is irrelevant.

Whatever you do, don't EVER buy a power supply based on whether it has RGB or lighting, or looks like it might be a quality unit. Some of the biggest hunks of junk out there look just as good as a Seasonic Prime Ultra Titanium, but I assure you, they are not. So far as I've seen there are really no excellent units out there that have RGB built in. Maybe one or two models, but rest assured you'll be be paying for the lighting, not for the quality of the power supply.

I don't know what country you reside in, and I know that sometimes it's hard to come by good units in some regions, but when possible, when it comes time to get that PSU, I'd stick to the following if you can.

Seasonic. Just about anything made by Seasonic is good quality for the most part. There are really no bad Seasonic units and only a very few that are even somewhat mediocre. They do make a few less-good quality OEM style units, but mostly those are not going to be units you come across at most vendors, and they are still not bad. Also, the S12II and M12II 520 and 620w units are older, group regulated models. At one time they were among the best units you could buy. Now, they are outdated and not as good as almost any other Seasonic models. They are however still better than a LOT of newer designs by other manufacturers.

The Seasonic 520w and 620w S12II/M12II units CAN be used on newer Intel platforms, if you turn off C6/C7 in the bios, but I'd really recommend a newer platform whenever possible. Prices are usually pretty good on those though, so sometimes it's worth accepting the lack of DC-DC on the internal platform. Higher capacity versions of the High current gamer are not based on that platform, so they are fine. Those being the 750w and higher versions.

Corsair. The CX and CXm units are ok as a budget option, but I do not recommend pairing them with gaming cards. The newer 2017 models of CX and CXm are better than the older ones, but still not what we'd call terrific, so if it specifically says 2017 model, or it has a capacity other than an even 100, like 550w, 650w, 750w, etc., then it's likely at least better than those older ones. Aside from that, any of the TX, RMx, RMi, HX, HXi, AX or AXi units are good. Those are listed from best to worst, with the best being the AX and AXi units.

Antec. The True power classic units are made by Seasonic, and are very good, but are not modular. The High current gamer 520w and 620w, or any other PSU you see on the market that is 520w or 620w, are also made by Seasonic, based on the S12II and M12II platform for modern versions, and are pretty good units but again they are an older platform that is group regulated so if you go with a Haswell or newer Intel configuration you will want to avoid those because they do not support the C6/C7 Intel low power states.

The Antec High current gamer 750w and 850w units are very good and are not the older design, which came in 520w and 620w capacities and were good for back then but again, are an aging Seasonic platform that is not the best choice most of the time these days. Occasionally, these older units MIGHT be the best unit available and you could do worse than one of them, but a newer DC-DC platform is desirable when possible if it doesn't mean sacrificing quality elsewhere in the platform. There are however older and newer HCG models, so exact model number will likely be a factor if choosing one of these however both the older models and the newer models are good.

Antec Edge units are ok too, but reviews indicate that they have noisy fan profiles. I'd only choose this model if it is on sale or the aesthetics match up with your color scheme or design. Still a good power supply but maybe a little aggressive on the fan profile. This may have been cured on newer Edge models so reading professional tear down reviews is still the best idea.

Antec Earthwatts Gold units are very good also.

BeQuiet. BeQuiet does have a few decent models, BUT, you must be VERY selective about which of their models you put your trust in. From model to model their are huge differences in both quality and performance, even with the same series. If you cannot find a review for a BeQuiet unit on HardOCP, JonnyGuru or Tom's hardware that SPECIFICALLY says it is a very good unit, and does not have any significant issues in the "cons" category, I would avoid it. In fact, I'd probably avoid it anyhow unless there is a very great sale on one that has good reviews, because their units are generally more expensive than MUCH better units from Antec, Seasonic, EVGA and Corsair.

Super Flower. They are like Seasonic and they make power supplies for a variety of other companies, like EVGA. Super Flower units are usually pretty good. I'd stick to the Leadex, Leadex II and Golden Green models.

EVGA. They have BOTH good and not very good models.

Not very good are the W1, N1, B1, B3 (All models except the 650w model), BQ and G1 NEX models.

Good models are the B2, B3 650w, G2, G2L, G3, GQ, P2 and T2 models.

FSP. They used to be very mediocre, and are a PSU manufacturer like Seasonic and Super Flower, although not as well trusted based on historical performance. Currently the FSP Hydro G and Hydro X units are pretty good.

I would avoid Thermaltake and Cooler Master. They do have a few good units, but most of the models they sell are either poor or mediocre, and the ones they have that ARE good are usually way overpriced.

This is just ONE example of why I say that. Very new and modern CM unit. One of the worst scores ever seen on JG for a well known brand name product. Doesn't look to be much better than a Raidmax unit. Sad.

http://www.jonnyguru.com/modules.php?name=NDReviews&op=Story6&reid=563

And most of the models I have linked to the reviews of at the following link are at least good, with most of them being fantastic.


Certainly there ARE some good units out there that you won't see above among those I've listed, but they are few and far between, much as a hidden nugget of gold you find in a crevice among otherwise ordinary rocks and don't EVER assume a unit is good just because of the brand.

If you cannot find an IN DEPTH, REPUTABLE review on Tom's hardware, JonnyGuru, HardOCP, Hardware secrets (Old reviews by Gabe Torres), Kitguru (Only Aris reviews), TechPowerUP, SilentPC crew or a similar site that does much more than simply a review of the unboxing and basic tests that don't include reliable results for ripple, noise, voltage regulation and a complete teardown of the unit including identification of the internal platform, then the unit is a big fat question mark.

I recommend not trusting such units as companies generally always send out review samples of any unit they feel is going to get a good review, and don't send them out if they know they are going to get hammered by the reviewer. No review usually equals poor quality. Usually.

Other models that should never be trusted OR USED AT ALL, under any circumstances, include A-Top, Apevia, Apex (Supercase/Allied), Artic, Ace, Aerocool (There might be one model worth using, but I'd still avoid them.), Aspire (Turbocase), Atadc, Atrix, Broadway com corp, CIT, Coolmax, Deer, Diablotek, Dynapower, Dynex, Eagletech, Enlight, Evo labs, EZ cool, Foxconn, G7, HEC/Compucase Orion, HEDY, iBall, iStar computer co., Jeantec, JPac, Just PC, Linkworld electronics, Logisys, Macron, MSI, NmediaPC, Norwood Micro (CompUSA), Okia, Powercool, Powmax, Pulsepower, Q-tec, Raidmax, RaveRocketfish, SFC, Sharkoon, Shuttle, Skyhawk, Startech, Storm, Sumvision, Tesla, Trust, Ultra, Wintech, Winpower, Xilence (Until I see a reputable review of a model showing different), xTreme (Cyberpower), Youngbear and Zebronics.