Question Why am I throttling?

[jayric18]

Hello! To get the easy stuff out of the way here is my Build:
Processor: AMD FX 8320 Eight Core Processor
Motherboard: GA-78LMT-USB3 R2
Graphics Card: nVidia GTX 1060 6 GB
Case: RAIDMAX SMILODON ATX-612WB
8 GB DDR3 RAM
Power Supply: CORSAIR TXM Series, TX750M, 750 Watt, 80+ Gold Certified, Semi Modular Power Supply
Cooler: Cooler Master MasterLiquid Lite 120 AIO CPU Liquid Cooler, White Led Pump, FEP Tubing, 120mm Air Balance MF, Dual Dissipation Technology
Hard Drive: ST3320620AS
SSD: PNY CS1311 240 GB

Now to the part where we get into the issue. I just recently replaced my Graphics card, upgrading to this model listed above months ago, and the Motherboard a year ago. The cooler I bought just before the motherboard be cause I was having a thermal throttling issue with my previous motherboard. I bought the power supply a month or so before that time as well. So most of the parts in this build are fairly new. My game of choice is World of Warcraft primarily and I have recently been experiencing massive drops in the framerate of the game all the way down to zero at times. It happens inconsistently buy the following dropbox link is an example I managed to catch on recording during an arena match I was in. I know it is not easy to see the gameplay, and to be honest it isn’t stellar either, but I have a program called OpenHardwareMonitor running and my OBS capturing both of those windows on top of WoW so it can easily be seen.
https://www.dropbox.com/s/gsodry7gcy7v3lp/Laggin.mp4?dl=0
There is a single moment where I completely lose all of my frames and from what I can tell the speeds of the cores drop significantly. This happens relatively frequently recently and it lags the entire computer and not just the game itself. I am at a loss and I really don’t know. Ask if you want any more information and I will see if I can provide it. Thanks in advance!

 

[gggplaya]

Are you using Nvidia's Nvec to record on OBS, or are you doing pure processor recording?? You could also try recording with shadowplay.

Also, I see that your memory usage is around 92 to 96%. You're basically at your max 8GB and may be overflowing into virtual memory.

 

[sizzling]

Your motherboard has poor 4+1 VRM power delivery and is not up to powering a 125w cpu. This is a known issue with the FX series on low end motherboards. When the VRM’s overheat the cpu is throttled to reduce the load and to prevent damage to the VRM’s.

Using an AIO cooler makes it worse. You have removed all the airflow from around the cpu area which includes the VRM’s. The stock cooler is much better for this, it pushes air down and out over the VRM’s. Going to a cooler that pushes air from top down might help but ultimately it’s a bad motherboard choice for a 125w cpu.

 

[jayric18]

Are you using Nvidia's Nvec to record on OBS, or are you doing pure processor recording?? You could also try recording with shadowplay.

Also, I see that your memory usage is around 92 to 96%. You're basically at your max 8GB and may be overflowing into virtual memory.

I was strictly recording just to get some evidence of this happening to show, it happens often without OBS running.

 

[jayric18]

Your motherboard has poor 4+1 VRM power delivery and is not up to powering a 125w cpu. This is a known issue with the FX series on low end motherboards. When the VRM’s overheat the cpu is throttled to reduce the load and to prevent damage to the VRM’s.

Using an AIO cooler makes it worse. You have removed all the airflow from around the cpu area which includes the VRM’s. The stock cooler is much better for this, it pushes air down and out over the VRM’s. Going to a cooler that pushes air from top down might help but ultimately it’s a bad motherboard choice for a 125w cpu.

Odd that the motherboard which specifically advertises that it has, "4+1 Phase Power Design for AMD 125W CPU support" would be bad at doing the exact thing that it is supposed to do. I currently have 2 sticks of 4 DDR3 ram in the PC, would my issue be solved by getting 2 more sticks of DDR3 RAM or is the investment better if I were to just buy a new processor/motherboard/RAM that all support DDR4 RAM? I am a little thrown off by the cooler comment though because the temperatures of the processor are not peaking higher than normal values.

 

[sizzling]

Odd that the motherboard which specifically advertises that it has, "4+1 Phase Power Design for AMD 125W CPU support" would be bad at doing the exact thing that it is supposed to do. I currently have 2 sticks of 4 DDR3 ram in the PC, would my issue be solved by getting 2 more sticks of DDR3 RAM or is the investment better if I were to just buy a new processor/motherboard/RAM that all support DDR4 RAM? I am a little thrown off by the cooler comment though because the temperatures of the processor are not peaking higher than normal values.

It’s not an uncommon issue, that’s not the worst board as it has better heatsinks than some but ultimately 4+1 is a weak setup. For short bursts of high cpu usage these motherboards work but under prolonged high cpu usage (gaming) the VRM’s overheat.

It’s not the cpu that overheats but the VRM’s next to it. By using an AIO there is no air moving in the cpu area. The stock cooler actually helps. Air is taken from the top, pushed down towards the motherboard and then flows outwards over all the components around the cpu which includes the VRM’s. This helps keep the VRM’s cooler.

 

[jayric18]

Okay, so the stock cooler that came with the AMD FX was technically better because it allowed for airflow around all of the parts of the motherboard, but again, the temperatures of the motherboard are not what is being called into question because they were all stable throughout the entire ordeal according to the monitors in the video. Better air circulation is what you are suggesting, but at the same time the RAM overages would be another possible factor correct? The stock cooler for the processor was what I had on the previous motherboard when I was clearly experiencing thermal throttling back then, so I decided to replace the cooler and motherboard because AMD Cards are notorious for running hot and using the stock cooler is not something that is looked upon as a wise decision in general. So a solution for both of these problems in air flow and RAM overflow is to get a new case with better circulation throughout and 2 more sticks of 4 GB of DDR3 RAM at the same time?