FX8120 VRM throttling (?) even with stock frequency and voltage

Hi, I'm new here.

I've been experiencing FPS drops in my games, for example 150 FPS to 20 in League of Legends every 15 seconds. At first I thought it was my cheap Rocketfish PSU, but I bought a Seasonic SSR-650RM and the problem persists.

I ran HWMonitor and discovered that my CPU is throttling from 3,100 MHz and 1.3 V to 1,400 MHz and 0.880 V every 10-15 seconds. This correlates exactly with my FPS drops. Just before the throttling occurs, my temperature #2 on HWM shoots at 80+ C.

In BIOS, I tried default settings, and then I tried turning off Thermal Throttling and Turbo Boost. I tried High Performance plan and Balanced plan in Windows, no results.

Is it VRM throttling? How could I fix it?

Also, what exactly is that "temperature #2" value that is shooting up to 80+ C?

Here are my relevant specs:

ASRock 960GM/U3S3 FX
FX-8120 Zambezi 3.1 GHz
Seasonic SSR-650RM

Here is a SS of HMW with Min and Max values

Thanks

EDIT: Someone suggested I remove the case panel and place a big fan in front of it. It worked, I am no longer throttling. Clearly it's an air flow/cooling problem.
Someone else said my Motherboard is garbage. What should I do now? Replace my rear fan (it's kind of crappy), or buy a new mobo?

Obviously, your throttling problem is temp related if taking the side panel off the case and shooting a fan into it eliminates it. You may need to consider getting a new case with good ventilation. Some questions:

1. What is the make and model of your case? How many intake and how many exhaust fans do you have, i.e., how many push fresh air into the front of the case and how many pull heated air out of it?
2. Are you using the stock CPU cooler that came boxed with the CPU?

I'm not sure what program you are using and that you show a pic of above but we would ask that you use HWMonitor (non pro version). It's what most of us use on this forum and it makes it much easier to answer questions about readouts when we are all using the same reporting tools. One temp we need to see is "Package" temp (under load, i.e. after 20 minutes of running Prime95 blend) which are displayed by HWMonitor.

Windows in Power management in Performance Mode.
C1/E, C6, CnQ, TurboCore all disabled.

These are the types of information that most users supply in order to be able to help them very much.

CPU Tab in CPUz from CPUID com


Memory Tab in CPUz from CPUID com


SPD Tab in CPUz from CPUID com


And this is screen capture of HWMonitor (free version) from CPUID com
HWMonitor has been scrolled enough and large enough to show Min/Max of Voltages and includes the CPU CORE TEMPS fully visible.

This capture is made of HWMonitor after it has been open on the desktop logging Min/Max temps and voltages while Prime 95 was running Blend Mode test on all cores for at least 20 mins and then the capture of HWMonitor was made and it shows the Min/Max temps and voltages before P95 Blend was started and while running P95 Blend mode and gives much greater insight into how the system is performing without guessing.



In order to attach screenshots of INDIVIDUAL images as suggested, first crop and capture the images with Snipping Tool found in Windows Accessories or equivalent. Then click on Go Advanced, a button at the bottom of every new post window. Then click on the little paperclip tool at the top of the Advanced post window when it opens. Clicking on the paperclip tool brings up the file browser/upload tool and the rest is fairly obvious.

You can upload more than 3 images by repeatedly use BROWSE for file to upload. Images will appear in the post in the order they are uploaded unless you physically arrange the images differently.

With only a 760 chipset I am surprised you were able to run your FX 8120. I just checked your CPU support list and there is no FX CPU Supported above 95Watts. With no cooling what so ever on the VRMs. I would agree with trents you have some temp issues most likely in your socket area.

trents said:

Obviously, your throttling problem is temp related if taking the side panel off the case and shooting a fan into it eliminates it. You may need to consider getting a new case with good ventilation. Some questions:

1. What is the make and model of your case? How many intake and how many exhaust fans do you have, i.e., how many push fresh air into the front of the case and how many pull heated air out of it?
2. Are you using the stock CPU cooler that came boxed with the CPU?

I'm not sure what program you are using and that you show a pic of above but we would ask that you use HWMonitor (non pro version). It's what most of us use on this forum and it makes it much easier to answer questions about readouts when we are all using the same reporting tools. One temp we need to see is "Package" temp (under load, i.e. after 20 minutes of running Prime95 blend) which are displayed by HWMonitor.

Click to expand...

My case is an Antec SuperLanboy that looks like this:

The fan in front pushes air out very lightly. The fan in the back rotates very slowly and I'm not even sure which way the air is going. I will look into replacing that one.

The program in the screenshot I posted is HWMonitor. Maybe it didn't work, here it is again

bassnut said:

With only a 760 chipset I am surprised you were able to run your FX 8120. I just checked your CPU support list and there is no FX CPU Supported above 95Watts. With no cooling what so ever on the VRMs. I would agree with RGone you have some temp issues most likely in your socket area.

Click to expand...

I just bought a GA 970a ud3p. Hopefully that's good enough. Will I need to improve my cooling as well, or will that mobo be enough?

That's a screen shot of Open HWMonitor. Judging by your temps and this is a guess as to which temp is your socket temp but at Idle your socket temp is running 58 to 60*C that's without a load on it or worse case scenario it is 27*C to 81*C which is way over what we recommend as a max temp for your CPU Socket.