Running an OC'd FX 8350 at 100% 24/7. Anyone else doing that?

[poco242]

You can see in my sig, what I have. I have been crunching for SETI for 10 days now with it. I have it at 4.6ghz OC. I also have my GPU OC'd. It has been 100% stable the whole time. My max temp on the CPU and socket is 61c. Most of the time it is under 55c. My GPU stays well under 50C. I am curious what the long term effects of doing this may be to the system. What would likely fail and why. My V-core is at 1.464v. The GPU is at stock voltage. Anyone else done this at 100% load for a sustained period of time?

 

[caddi daddi]

yup, with all 8, the net effect is a huge electric bill.
I had to declock from 4.8 to 4.6 after a few days to correct for heat build up in the storage room.
still hammer mine for many days at a time with no ill effects other than having to re tim the vrm section of the motherboard once in a while.

 

[poco242]

What do you mean by "having to re tim the vrm section "

My wife pays the electricity bill so I am sure I am going to hear about it

 

[trents]

By "re tim" he means putting new Thermal Interface Material between the VRM heat sink and the VRMs themselves. The heat dries the thermal paste up. VRM=Voltage Regulation Module.

 

[poco242]

OK, got it. How can you tell it needs to be done, or just do it from time to time? I have never done it and my board is 1 1/2 years old. It is powered up a lot. Probably 6-8 hours a day minimum and 24 hours a day now.

 

[chrisjames61]

OK, got it. How can you tell it needs to be done, or just do it from time to time? I have never done it and my board is 1 1/2 years old. It is powered up a lot. Probably 6-8 hours a day minimum and 24 hours a day now.

If you have never done it you will find a thermal pad and not thermal interface material.

 

[caddi daddi]

next to the cpu, between the cpu and the rear in out plate is a heatsink that is the vrm heatsink.
I redo it when my vrm temps increase above the norm and get above a temp that i have decided is my limit.
for me that is 10c below where the motherboard will shut itself down.
if you are new to this i would pick a much wider margin, i have been running mine hard for a good while and know it very well.

 

[EarthDog]

If you have never done it you will find a thermal pad and not thermal interface material.

I'd replace with thermal pads as well. Some TIM is capacitive/conductive and would kill it.

The fujiopoly pads are regarded as some of them best.

 

[caddi daddi]

yes as the others have stated, use thermal pads or you will fry your board, i use tim, thats just me.

 

[chrisjames61]

As caddi daddi says- you have to be careful if you use TIM. I stick with the pads but I am not a hardcore overclocker.

 

[caddi daddi]

an 8320 at 4.7 is a little hardcore there buddy............

 

[poco242]

Next question, how do I find out what my VRM temp is on a Sabertooth? I don't see anything in HW monitor. Just Package Mainboard, and CPU. Also where do I find the temp the MB will shut down? What VRM temp would be approaching too high?

 

[caddi daddi]

another thing you have to watch out for when pushing a rig hard over time is being stable.
when the whole rig gets heat soaked it might take a week or two but it will find any weakness in your clocks or your cooling systems, both the water system and case air system.
mine runs back where I can't see it or hear it and walking back to check on it and finding the thing frozen after three or four days crunching is costly.

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cpu temp is what I use.

 

[poco242]

It has run for 5 days straight with no problems. The only time I have shut it down in the last 12 days, was twice to blow out the radiator. It was off for 10min or so. I would say it as stable as possible at 4.6ghz.

To clarify, CPU temp is what you use for what? The VRM's? If so what temp do you look for. Mine hits 61 max from time to time. Usually sits at 55 or less. I am assuming you are talking about the socket, not the package.

 

[poco242]

Would somthing like this work too?

http://www.amazon.com/Arctic-Silver...&sr=1-4&keywords=non+conductive+thermal+paste

Seems to have a much higher thermal conductivity than the pads. Also an electrical insulator.

 

[caddi daddi]

the cpu temp line is the vrm temp.
we, on this forum limit that to 72c with a package temp limit of 62c, we have found this to keep us all very safe.

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that is what I use.
please just use the thermal pads, they are very easy and very safe.

 

[poco242]

Thanks Caddi. I am low on my temps so I will not worry yet. I didn't realize that was the VRM temp. Was never really sure what it was measuring. Funny.

Thanks for the help all. I will be ordering some of the pads to have on hand.

 

[caddi daddi]

with it in the 60's the pads will be no good before you need them, so just wait.

 

[poco242]

Got it. They have a shelf life. I am actually seriously thinking about putting a custom loop on this. The AIO I have on it now is working fine, but I think I could do better with a custom loop. Plus this AIO is just over 2 years old. I am afraid the pump is going to give up on me soon. I don't think they are known for longevity. It has a nice radiator I can reuse though.

 

[caddi daddi]

with custom go all out or go aio.
unless you go with a killer gpu you are looking at spending 300-400 bucks.
all you need to cool is the cpu, don't bother with water on the board, lots of airflow works fine.
but then, if you like the looks of exotic full water cooling have right at, I watercoool everything, even the dual core apu rig I built for my 75 year old mother that runs stock.