High temperatures on new 8150 with WC

[gleighfield]

Hello, first post, so please be nice!

I have recently done a major upgrade to my system, I went from a 955 II x4 Black edition, to a 8150 with the supplied AMD WC solution.

I have also upgraded my case to a Corsair Carbine 400R, and a XFX 750 semi modular PSU, and a Gigabyte GA-990FXA-UD3 motherboard.

What is worrying me - is that on idle my CPU temp is around 40 degrees celcius, my old CPU was never that hot and that was cooled by air.

I have applied and reapplied a thin amount of artic silver 3 compound, tidied all cables and added an extra 2 fans to aid air flow (picture attached of current set up)

Does any one have any suggestions? Is this temp normal? Or has something been set wrong somewhere?

 

[Vic Velcro]

Well, for starters, don't look at the 'CPU' temp. Look at 'Core' temp.

The 'CPU' temp isn't accurate at lower temperatures. AMD specifically states that CORE temp is the one to be watching. As you approach hotter temps under load, you will see the CPU temp doesn't climb as fast as Core temps, until the point they both read roughly the same.

You want to keep Core temps below 61C. The CPU will throttle back if your temps approach 80C. At some point (can't remember what they told me on the phone) the CPU will do a thermal shutoff. The binders, adhesives, and material in the CPU itself won't begin to break-down until about 97C.

At idle, my Core temps are about 4C above ambient while the CPU temps are about 27C above ambient. When I probe it and when I hit it with the IR gun, CPU is *NOT* 27C above ambient.

In addition to that little gem of info they gave me... Turns out they aren't using physical temperatures anyhow. The Core temp is based on some formulaic voodoo they call math.

I did not record the call, so I have no way to back it up, myself - other than my word on it. However, if you google around about "FX-8150 maximum temp" (without quotes), you will find a transcript and an open email from an AMD executive that sums that all up.

P.S. - I've been punishing my 8150 for several days at 100% load (truly, over 72 hours with only one 15 minute drop to 50%, then back up to 100%). My CPU temp only went up 2C from what it always says at idle (right now, it says 48C for CPU temp in HWMonitor). My core temps are 4C higher than at idle (current Core temps says 31C).

First image is a screenshot while I was typing this post. Second image is my build at the time of completion, to demonstrate how much more crowded my case is, compared to yours.

 

[gleighfield]

OK - that's good to know that they have a tendency to run a bit on the hot side!

Thanks for your reply Vic - much appreciated!

 

[Vic Velcro]

Quite welcome.

I remember freaking out a bit because of my temps. I was on the phone with them for a few hours asking questions. Then about a week later, the thermal paste settled in and my temps dropped to what you see in my screenshot and mentioned in my previous post. They really looked bad, at first.

 

[gleighfield]

That makes sense then, as I have only had this CPU for a few days.

In your experience, what would you set a safe idle to be on this chip then? Reason I ask is so that I can set my WC system to have the fans off until it starts ramping up the temperature a bit.

I'd like my system to be a bit... quieter

 

[Vic Velcro]

I have my H100 on lowest setting all the time, starting immediately at boot time. I never hear it. I've never put in on medium or high except when I first installed it, to see what the noise levels were.

When my build was new, and I was testing it on air with the case open, my idle Core temps were 38C and CPU was 57C. For the first few days, I would only run it for an hour or so (install a few things, make adjustments), then shut it down for a bit. Rinse, repeat, ad nauseum. The reason I did that was to warm up the paste and lower the viscosity, then cool it down so it would 'shrink' back into the voids and gap. On the 7th day, I ran a burn in for 2 hours on full, then shut it down and let it cool off for an hour. Next time I powered up, my temps stayed much lower. Then I removed the air and installed the H100. Temps were cool as a cucumber, then.