HEAT PROBLEM with 8-core bulldozer

[blippy]

hi,

 i constructed an 8-core bulldozer system, with the AMD bulldozer FX 8120 3.1ghz processor (with 16gb of ram, asus sabertooth m/b, amd 6850 graphics card, 4T SATA hdd space total).

working well- in fact awesome! (scores 7.7 on the windows experience index with windows 7 ultimate), except it goes upto 60 degrees if im running 3 or 4 multiple apps , say windows media player , YM, browsng and doing a virus sweep all at once, so i might have to turn off windows media player for a while while it controls the temperature.

its using the stock fan which came with the processor, a good case with 2 chasis fans) and was set correctly with a thin layer of arctic silver paste.

Wondered if u have any knowledge of 8-core processor (125w) systems and the best way to cool them - to get a fancy water cooled fan perhaps? Just that i read the displayed temperature on the sensor is upto 10 degrees higher than what the actual temp of the cpu is because the sensor is under the m/b instead of in the chip?   its never shut itself down or crashed once due to overheating - perhaps its paranoia?

would greatly appreciate any reasonable/experienced feedback!

thanks jools 

[blippy]

ps: it has got the latest BIOS and drivers/updates available installed already by the way

 --- thanks jools 

[patio]

Found conflicting info on this but after looking at people who were OC'ing this seems to be the norm::

FX-8xxx is safe max of 60° IIRC
FX-6xxx/4xxx are 71°.

The AMD site was so convoluted for accurate info i gave up after 10 minutes...you may have better luck...
On that note...thermal paste applirf properly ? ?
Stock fan speeds where they should be ? ?
I've gotten stock CPU fans out of the box that were'nt up to snuff...
Also where are your temps being reported from ?

[blippy]

thanks,

i'm sure the thermal compoud and fans are right, will double check that,

the temperatures are measured with the AII suite sensor software, which came with the Asus sabertoth 990FX motherboard, which runs in win 7 ultimate 64-bit ,
so i presume thats quite accurate, the rest of the m/b, is all very cool, though Vcore1 is usually 4-5 degrees below the cpu value.

it runs at about 51 degrees normally, until i use multiple apps or a HD game , then will go upto 60 degrees sometimes, the fans the go crazy then, and it hangs at that temperature, until i close an applicaion, then cools quite quickly, but it will hit 60 degrees quite easily , especially with an intense virus scan and windows media player running,

thaks for any advice jools   

[patio]

DLoad and install the following ...just to get some comparitive readings...test both at idle and under load::
SIW system info for windows
Speedfan...
Let us know.

[blippy]

thanks for that , i used those apps, speedfan and siw , quit nice, they read exactly the same temperature as the Asus m/b sensor, but useful info,

i changed the fan speed again, loaded even higher, so that 55 degrees is 100% cpu temp, and the system runs very cool now, about  47 degrees under low load, but it still hovers at upto about 61 degrees under high load (61 degrees is claimed as the highest operating temp of this cpu, say with 4-5 good apps running, inc windows media player or a HD game).

i read some say the only thing for it is upgrading the stock fan/cooler   with this cpu, to get the full power capability...........more money eh!  argh

thanks for any input jools 

[patio]

Anytime...
You may want to add a case fan 1st if you have that option and see if things improve...
It may do the trick and would be less costly than a CPU cooler.
My Quad core intel rig idles at 29c and rarely goes above38 to 40c except very heavy tasking...one of the reasons i went with intel.

[blippy]

it has got 2 chasis fans on the antec case .. at idle: chasis fan 2 - 1760rpm   :chasis fan 3 - 1200rpm  : cpu fan  - 2900 rpm... chasis fan 3 is always about 500 rpm lower than chasis fan 2 , so maybe ill upgrade those chasis fans.

im not sure if its a problem or not, the Asus suite warns you if it gets to 65 degrees and has an auto-shutdown right? - thats on the asus sabertooth 990fx    m/b (has latest bios).

you got yours to 29 degrees - is that with an upgraded fan ?

thanks for the tips

jools 

[patio]

Shutdown on that CPU should kick in at 63...not 65.
That being said you are still running too close to that for the system to stay healthy or last very long...
My te,ps weren't a comparison...as they are 2 different CPU's...it was just a point of reference to show how hot you are running.

[blippy]

hi, had one of the chasis fans in the wrong socket - the biggest fan should be in slot 1...

and i was surprised i forgot to set the top heat limit of the cpu to 61 degrees in BIOS , it was set to 70 degrees....

so its fine after those tweaks

- theres also an EPU setting in the bios which is quite good if enabled, which regulates the power usage of the cpu - no bad detrimental effect when enabled anyway.

thanks for any help given 

[patio]

Good to hear you're fixed up...