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Should I overclock my CPU if it already reaches 79c temp when in full load?

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Jimmy__

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Sep 16, 2014
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I have an AMD FX-8350 and I cool it with the Cryorig H7 which I got recently. I used PRIME95 to test it and Core Temp to see how hot it can get. It seems it doesn't get hotter than 79 degrees.

I think that's the limit and above 80 degrees it gets dangerous, right?

My first question is, do you think this is an absurd temperature for the CPU with this cooler? Maybe I should reapply the thermal paste?

And the second question I wanted to ask is what the title says. Do you think that I could OC and get it above 80c without doing any damage? (sadly after a brief research I couldn't find an objective view about what is the limit.) Or should I wait to buy a water cooler?
 
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A
It sounds like you should have enough air movement through the case... The PSU being warm is pretty standard, why they blow air out of the case... I don't think better fans will make a difference, I think that will just be throwing money at the problem...

I'm not sure anyone mentioned this, but have you looked at you fan controls on the chip and made sure they are not turned lower. A lot of time they are set at 70% to reduce noise. You might consider bumping them up if you can.

To answer your original post though, I would not OC the chip... You'll not see a lot of difference since you are already hitting your thermal max. Personally, I would run the chip at stock until it dies, but plan in the back of your head to purchase new chip...
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What are you using to monitor temps? If those are correct you are already well above safe limits and are likely throttling at those temps. AMD recommends that cpu not exceed 62c core temp for long periods of time, it will throttle shortly after that. That is an absurd temp for that cooler, I used to have an fx 8320 at 4.7ghz 1.35v vcore I think and it stayed around 62c in prime95 definitely never exceeded 70c. If those temps are correct I would assume the cooler was not mounted properly or you did not use nearly enough thermal paste.

Do not OC until you get those temps in check, the cryorig H7 is capable of a lot better than that.
 
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You're already running hot if that is the true temperature. Reported AMD CPU temps aren't all that accurate but you're close enough to be dangerous.

The reason you can't find a definitive answer on the overclocking is that results vary from chip to chip - not make or model, but the specific chip you have in your hand. So overclocking results depend on the specific processor you are using. If you want to learn more, search on "CPU binning".

IMO, you shouldn't OC your chip with or without water cooling unless you are willing to lose it. IMO, the money and risk are not worth the reward of a few 100 MHz you'll probably get and may not even notice since a machines performance is dependent on so many other things. My advice would be to save your money for a AMD Ryzen or Intel system depending on what you're using it for.
 
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Overclocking is perfectly safe if you take your time read some guides and do it properly. Overcloking does not kill chips heat and excessive voltage does. My 8320 ran at 4.7ghz constantly with heavy use for 4 years and still works to this day just as good as when I bought it. I certainly wouldn't recommend the OP OC that chip until they get those temps in check, but when they do why not? Its an FX chip with quite poor single core speeds, it will bottleneck pretty much any modern gpu in newer games an overclock will help to lessen that bottleneck, and most FX chips will overclock quite far without a lot of cooling.
 
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Thank you for your answers. I will try to reinstall the heatsink, because it looks odd to me too that it doesn't cool the CPU efficiently.

I applied enough thermal paste when I got the cooler a few days ago. I think some of it came out of the CPU a little, so I surely applied more than enough. Would that be bad for cooling it efficiently?
 
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I would use AMD overdive and monitor the thermal margins, that tends to be the most accurate with fx cpu's HWmonitor or HWinfo works as well, the temp you are looking for in that program is called cpu package temp I believe. Not sure about core temp, I have never used it with fx cpu's.
 
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0 is TJ max I believe, when it will start to throttle. You want to try to keep the thermal margin above 0 preferably around 10 or so under full load.
 
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I reinstalled the heatsink and removed the thermal paste (which was too much) and applied less this time. It didn't do the trick. The temperature at full load is 79 degrees.

I am out of ideas as it seems. Any suggestions? :/
 
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How is the air flow in your case... I know these are basic questions, but do you have adequate airflow? Do you have a bunch of wires obstructing air flow? Do you have your fans setup to move the air through the case?

Reason I ask is that I was wondering what the temps were like inside your case and whether that was affecting the heatsink. Perhaps not enough hot air was being kicked out of the case. It's a long shot, I know... :)

The reason I ask is that my last system was a 8350 and I first had it in a small case without a lot of air flow and my temps were high. I upgraded to a better case and they dropped significantly. I was able to get a decent OC on a hyper 212 whereas in the old case, I couldn't get above 4.3 without the temps going too high...

Adam
 
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Thanks, Adam. I have one fan installed on the bottom of my case and one in the front for dragging air inside, one at the back and one at the top for exhaust (the one at the top is installed in the slot that is in the middle, not the one close to the back of the case if that is useful). I admit that some of the PSU wires that are not used are in front of the two fans at the bottom. I will remove them and put them in the back where they belong.

BTW When I touch the PSU once I run a game, it gets hot. Even If I don't open the case, the side panel is warm to the touch. But the PSU is a Corsair 750W. I doubt it has any problem. Is there any good way to determine if there is though?

I am just worried because after a small search I realise that people think 79 degrees is dangerous and that it should be below 60. It seems very hard to get there though since I can't figure out the problem. I will remove the cables though and see if it makes any difference. Will buying better fans help? I will try anything now. lol
 
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It sounds like you should have enough air movement through the case... The PSU being warm is pretty standard, why they blow air out of the case... I don't think better fans will make a difference, I think that will just be throwing money at the problem...

I'm not sure anyone mentioned this, but have you looked at you fan controls on the chip and made sure they are not turned lower. A lot of time they are set at 70% to reduce noise. You might consider bumping them up if you can.

To answer your original post though, I would not OC the chip... You'll not see a lot of difference since you are already hitting your thermal max. Personally, I would run the chip at stock until it dies, but plan in the back of your head to purchase new chip in the near future. If I were building a system these days, I'd heavily consider a Ryzen 5.

Adam
 
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Thank you Adam. I will see what I can do to increase fans' rpm and get back to you.

Is it possible that's just the particular processor that overheats and this wouldn't happen with an Intel for instance? Not that I will upgrade. Just curious.
 
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