FX8320 running hotter than expected after configuration change

[Negatron]

Hello, ladies and gentlemen!

I'm quite a long winded fellow so I'll try to explain and ask for help without writing 3,000 words. I've not posted here since 2012 which is when I first started using my current PC build as I've not had time to get into it.

My shortest version of this is as follows; I've recently, finally, had the time to do some needed configuration changes to my PC which I presumed would make a great difference to my CPU temps to noise ratio but my 'upgrades' have had the opposite effect, and I think it's because of my coolant pump but I also know that there is just as good of a chance that I am wrong about that.

When I got this PC it was configured all kinds of wrong (it was built by Cyperpower, as they offered it cheaper than I could buy the parts, and wouldn't just send me the parts to assemble myself). The 240mm CoolIT AIO coolant pump was connected to CPU_FAN header. The CPU_FAN header is PWM, 4 pins. The coolant pump is 3 pin and I have my doubts whether the pump ever had any software speed control (its speed always displayed as ~4120RPM). The (2) radiator fans were connected to CH_FAN1 and CH_FAN2, and so I had to use software chassis fan controllers to control the CPU temps. This seemed to work OK for CPU temps but MB temps were not controllable in software because the chassis fan headers were occupied by the CPU fans. All but one of my chassis fans were connected to just 12V power, running full speed all the time. I ended up disconnecting all but one of the chassis fans because I couldn't deal with the sound of the jet engine under my desk.

I recently (finally) had the time to put some thought into the setup and I ordered some splitters and cables and such.

So now, the current setup is this; My 3 pin coolant pump is connected to a 2 pin adapter which is connected right to the 12V PSU rail. I assume these two pins are energized with +12V and -12V? I believe the coolant pump might be the cause of the high temps. I don't know if my coolant pump is even running while it is connected to that 2 pin adapter. I have 2 120mm Rosewill PWM fans connected to a splitter, which is connected to the CPU_FAN header. These fans do respond to changes in CPU temp. The seem to speed up and slow down correctly, but the CPU temp does not seem to respond to those changes in fan speeds.

When my CPU is under light load with both radiator fans running about 25% it runs right around 30C but when I give it a load and run both radiator fans at 100% the CPU quickly heated up to 58C before I killed the load, and it seemed like it would have went higher than that if I had allowed it. Also, I just cleaned my radiator earlier today.

As I said, I think the problem might be that the coolant pump isn't running. I don't have much experience with this though. If my pump isn't running, how would I know? It's silent even when I know it's running, and I can't see the coolant as all the hoses are opaque black, and there is no flow indicator (but there sure as hell should be if you ask me).

Anyone know what's going on with this? Thanks for reading if you made it this far!

 

[GTXJackBauer]

I believe your AMD chip can handle up to around 65c if I recall correctly otherwise anything more can be damaging to the chips longevity. I could be wrong but hope some of the more experienced AMD users will eventually chime in.

As for the pump, it is possible it could be not running. My question to you is what were the temps prior to the upgrades you have done and are you seeing any improvements? Can't say much till we know a bit more. If you could give us your ambient room temp, that would be great as well.

 

[Negatron]

I think the FX8320 max recommended temperature is 66C but I've never approached anywhere near that before as I hope the chip will last until the AM3+ socket is no longer in use. The FX tech is pretty well maxed out in the form of the 8320 in my opinion but that's another thread.


Anyway, before my config changes I could run the FX8320 at about 4200MHz under 100% load and never exceeding about 58C. Just a few minutes ago I checked everything and found that I had my (2) 140mm PWM side-panel case fans installed to blow air out of the case rather than into it. I thought maybe that was causing poor air flow over my radiator, which turned out to be true but wasn't the source of the problem. Turning them back inward did greatly increase airflow over the radiator, but it did nothing to affect loaded CPU temps. This makes me even more suspicious of my coolant pump. When I load the CPU and crank up the fans to 100%, the air coming out of the top of the case doesn't feel even warm, nevermind hot.

My ambient/room temp pretty well stays at 71F-72F at a pretty steady 15%-20% humidity. If the central air doesn't fill the room with enough cold air, the window A/C, which is literally 6 inches from my case, will take up the slack when the CPU and GPU start generating lot's of heat. During the winter I sometimes open the window (as the A/C isn't using the window) to let cold air fall right onto the top of my case.

While I'm thiking about it I'll list the current fan configuration just in 'case' (haha) -
(2) 120mm front case fans move air from outside to inside, connected to 12V, single speed
(2) 140mm Rosewill Hyperborea PWM controlled side-panel case fans connected to CHA_FAN1 and CHA_FAN2, mounted to move air into the case.
(1) 140mm Rosewill mounted on the case floor beside the PSU, mounted to move air into the case, "always on" single speed (currently disconnected)
(2) 120mm Rosewill PWM controlled radiator fans mounted to the radiator at the top panel of the case, connected via JBTek '1 into 2' PWM splitter into the CPU_FAN header, moving air from inside the case, through the 240mm radiator and out the top of the case.
(1) 140mm Rosewill PWM rear case fan, mounted to move air from the inside of the case to outside the case.


Does anyone know exactly what each of the 3 pins on a CoolIT 240mm AIO CPU cooler do? If it is connected to +12V and -12V, will it just run full speed all the time or will it not run at all? If it does run full speed all the time, is this likely to shorten the life span of the pump or extend the life span or neither?

 

[caddi daddi]

why don't we start this off on the right foot?
please down load hardware monitor from the cpuid web site, download prime 95 and install these programs, open hardware monitor, and pull it all the way down so we can see everything.
open prime 95, select torture test, let it run 20 minutes.
set everything in the bios to default before you do this and we can start to help you.
we also need a list of all the hardware in your system and what operating system you have.

after 20 mins of running prime 95 take a screenshot of it all and post it here.

 

[GTXJackBauer]

Again, not sure what the issue is here. I'm guessing you're trying to find a sweet spot or the most efficient way to cool this chip? I mean your temps look good and if your pump wasn't working, you wouldn't even be close at getting those temps you are having now. Lets just say your CPU would be going through a automatic thermal emergency shutdown.

Does anyone know exactly what each of the 3 pins on a CoolIT 240mm AIO CPU cooler do? If it is connected to +12V and -12V, will it just run full speed all the time or will it not run at all? If it does run full speed all the time, is this likely to shorten the life span of the pump or extend the life span or neither?

In most cases the 3 pins are Ground, Power and Tach sensor. You could control this via BIOS or MB manufacturer OS software. If left to run at full boar, well you should be ok as long as its running within spec via temp, etc.

 

[Negatron]

Again, not sure what the issue is here. I'm guessing you're trying to find a sweet spot or the most efficient way to cool this chip? I mean your temps look good and if your pump wasn't working, you wouldn't even be close at getting those temps you are having now. Lets just say your CPU would be going through a automatic thermal emergency shutdown.



In most cases the 3 pins are Ground, Power and Tach sensor. You could control this via BIOS or MB manufacturer OS software. If left to run at full boar, well you should be ok as long as its running within spec via temp, etc.

There isn't really a problem, per se, so much as there is an unexpected inconsistency that can't be accounted for and it makes me a little nervous. I would have expected that properly conifuring my fans would result in lower CPU temperatures when the same load is applied. So the 'problem' is that temperatures went up by a significant number from one configuration to the next when they should have stayed the same or went down.

I kinda forgot to mention that my side case fans are ,essentially, new additions to my setup, since I wasn't using them before because they were way too loud. Adding them presumably increased the pressure inside the case and it seems like more case pressure would result in more efficient air flow over my radiator which should result in lower loaded CPU temps (by my assumption).


As for the 3 coolant pump pins; all of my MoBo headers are of the PWM type and plugging the pump into the CPU_FAN header resulted in a constant pump speed that never changed regardless of CPU temp. I don't know if the PWM headers are capable of controlling the speed of a 3 pin pump but when I plug a 3 pin fan into a PWM header the speed of the fan stays at max all the time.

Also, what is the point of controlling the speed of a coolant pump? If a pumps life expectancy is nearly the same when it runs at high speed as when it runs at low speed, why run it at low speed unless it makes noise (which mine does not. It is, practically, completely silent)

- - - Updated - - -

why don't we start this off on the right foot?
please down load hardware monitor from the cpuid web site, download prime 95 and install these programs, open hardware monitor, and pull it all the way down so we can see everything.
open prime 95, select torture test, let it run 20 minutes.
set everything in the bios to default before you do this and we can start to help you.
we also need a list of all the hardware in your system and what operating system you have.

after 20 mins of running prime 95 take a screenshot of it all and post it here.

Thanks. I ran the test today but I haven't had time to post results yet. I'll be posting those tomorrow.

 

[Negatron]

So, here's what happened.





Before I ran this test I went to reset UEFI to default and noticed it was out of date so I updated to a version from April 2015. When I ran the test, my CPU temperatures were back to pretty close to what I expected. I still don't know what explains the fact that, before the update, identical loads and software configuration with the new fan configuration resulted in higher CPU temps when they should have resulted in the same or lower CPU temps.

I have no idea what caused that spike drop down to 0 degrees C. I hope it's software and not hardware related!

System specs;

ASUS M5A97 LE R2.0 Motherboard, newest firmware
AMD FX8320 CPU - Runs at about 3,800MHz normally, cooled by CoolIT 240mm AIO liquid cooler with 2 120mm Rosewill Hyperborea PWM fans on CPU_FAN with PWM splitter.
16GB 1,333MHz DDR3
Radeon HD7870
Corsair 750 Watt 80+ gold PSU
Samsung 840 SSD and 1TB HDD
Windows 10, all updates
Plenty of case fans listed specifically in previous post


While I'm thinking about it... does anyone know where I can get some parts that I have been calling 'fan ducts'? I want to stand off my two side-panel case fans to cut down on the noisy, efficiency-robbing turbulence. I can't find them anywhere after lots of time searching. I thought of buying two identical fans and cutting all the guts out and screwing my fans to just the 'duct' part of the gutted fans and then screwing the whole thing to the side panel but the fans are going for about $15 each and I would rather not spend $30 on two fans just to promptly destroy them. Maybe I should post this question in another thread?

 

[Negatron]

I guess this one's dead, then.

 

[Kenrou]

The motherboard is too weak to handle your CPU, hence the throttling. The LE is a 4+2 and doesn't appear to have any heat sinks on the VRM's. Get at the least a M5A99x Evo r2.0 which is 6+2, problem might not have anything to do with your AIO.