hardware PC Throtteling/Limiting (PSU Issue?)

[Dark-E]

Hello reader.

So i have a slight problem that popped up for some time now. My PC keeps Limiting/Throttling down my CPU for apparently no reason at all. When i play games or have a more demanding piece of Software open my PC limits the CPU from 100% usage to ~30% usage and the Speed goes down to 1.30-1.50 GHz. I tried to see in the bios if something went wrong there and the first thing i noticed was that the 3.3V/5V/12V are on 3V/4.8V/11.8V. I have a 500W PSU and the specs are:

 

Graphics Card: Nvidia GeForce GTX 960 (MSI)
CPU: AMD Fx 8350 Eight Core Processor
RAM: Crossair XMS 3 DDR3 4x 4GB
Motherboard: Gigabyte 970A-DS3P Ultra Durable
PSU: 500W Cooler Master

 

I used to run games like Call of Duty MW Apex Legends etc. just fine with no issues like that what so ever. I looked if one of the cables was damaged or anything else went wrong but nothing was out of the ordinary. I checked and reapplied the thermal-paste but the issue still persisted . i reset the bios to default settings but it didn't fix it.

To see what is happening here is a short video of me stress-testing my CPU and showing what is happening:

 

https://youtu.be/XtC6ocDGayc

 

What i also did was setting the PC in Power-saving mode and High Performance mode. Both still had the same issue of the CPU limiting itself. I looked through countless forums. Spend hours upon hours checking my Hardware and Software. Nothing that i tried was helping the slightest. at this point i just want to know what the issue might be if it is a Hardware failure or if it is Software related. I would appreciate it if someone could tell me what is going on.

Motherboard Voltage readings:

BIOS

Brand	American Megatrends Inc.

Version	F1

Date	08-Apr-13

Voltage

CPU CORE	1.128 V

DRAM	1.464 V

\+5V	4.890 V

\+12V	11.592 V

VIN4	1.824 V

VIN5	1.188 V

VIN6	2.220 V

VIN7	1.656 V  

Operating System

Windows 10 Pro 64-bit

CPU

AMD FX-8350

Vishera 32nm Technology

RAM

16.0GB Dual-Channel DDR3 @ 669MHz (9-9-9-24)

Motherboard

Gigabyte Technology Co. Ltd. 970A-DS3P (CPU 1)	

Graphics

4095MB NVIDIA GeForce GTX 960 (MSI)	

Storage

465GB Seagate ST9500420AS ATA Device (SATA )

1863GB Seagate ST2000DM006-2DM164 ATA Device (SATA )

[Guest]

Looks obvious that Speccy is way off on your cpu core temps. Try a different software for readings. 

HWMonitor, Coretemp, HWInfo64. Even Gpu-Z in the sensors tab reports core 0 temps.

[Dark-E]

okay so i downloaded the HWiNFO app and i am seeing a lot of stuff i will attach a screenshot of what it is saying under this reply:

[Dark-E]

17 minutes ago, ShrimpBrime said:

Looks obvious that Speccy is way off on your cpu core temps. Try a different software for readings. 

HWMonitor, Coretemp, HWInfo64. Even Gpu-Z in the sensors tab reports core 0 temps.

 

[Fasauceome]

9 minutes ago, Dark-E said:

Motherboard: Gigabyte 970A-DS3P Ultra Durable

an older motherboard with a lackluster VRM, if the thermal pads for the heat sink have died then your motherboard might be throttling the CPU.

[Guest]

1 minute ago, Dark-E said:

 

Click Sensors tab

[Dark-E]

13 minutes ago, ShrimpBrime said:

Click Sensors tab

should i start logging everything or do you just need a screenshot?

 

[Windows7ge]

Yeah this looks like classic thermal throttling and I wouldn't trust the temps Speccy shows you at all the software has always been terribly optimized in my experience. As you've already stumbled across HWiNFO will be better and even better yet check your temps from the BIOS itself.

 

Fasauceome also bring up a good point. If the CPU VRM's are overheating the whole system will slow to a crawl and unfortunately temp sensors for the CPU VRM aren't standard on all motherboards. Given the age of the board though I'd give the VRM's a look and possibly replace the thermal pad while you're at it. 

[Dark-E]

16 minutes ago, ShrimpBrime said:

Click Sensors tab

 

so this is what i am seeing when i scroll down to my motherboard monitoring

[Guest]

Sweet. Now do the stress test while monitoring this. Tctl is cpu core temp. 

 

 

[Dark-E]

14 minutes ago, Windows7ge said:

Yeah this looks like classic thermal throttling and I wouldn't trust the temps Speccy shows you at all the software has always been terribly optimized in my experience. As you've already stumbled across HWiNFO will be better and even better yet check your temps from the BIOS itself.

 

Fasauceome also bring up a good point. If the CPU VRM's are overheating the whole system will slow to a crawl and unfortunately temp sensors for the CPU VRM aren't standard on all motherboards. Given the age of the board though I'd give the VRM's a look and possibly replace the thermal pad while you're at it. 

 

so this is what i have stumbled upon. I don't know what you mean with "possibly replace the thermal pad while you're at it.". 

[Dark-E]

14 minutes ago, ShrimpBrime said:

Sweet. Now do the stress test while monitoring this. Tctl is cpu core temp. 

 

 

will do i will record it aswell and upload it afterwards after i send a reply with pictures just in case i may miss something

[Dark-E]

14 minutes ago, Dark-E said:

will do i will record it aswell and upload it afterwards after i send a reply with pictures just in case i may miss something

so what i noticed was that the temperature goes up to around 39 degrees and then when it is throttling it goes down to 14.8 degrees video is uploading atm

[Dark-E]

18 minutes ago, Dark-E said:

will do i will record it aswell and upload it afterwards after i send a reply with pictures just in case i may miss something

here is the video

[Windows7ge]

8 minutes ago, Dark-E said:

so this is what i have stumbled upon. I don't know what you mean with "possibly replace the thermal pad while you're at it.". 

What are you using as a CPU cooler? Given this is the FX-8350 these full load temps don't make sense. Unless perhaps you haven't overclocked then maybe they do...

[Dark-E]

13 minutes ago, Windows7ge said:

What are you using as a CPU cooler? Given this is the FX-8350 these full load temps don't make sense. Unless perhaps you haven't overclocked then maybe they do...

i never overclocked my PC before. Also i don't know the exact name of the cooler but it is a big block cooler. 

[Fasauceome]

5 minutes ago, Dark-E said:

when it is throttling it goes down to 14.8 degrees

this is really cold, 20 celsius is a comfortably cool room so unless you're really cranking that AC this is probably a faulty reading, since your CPU can't be below the ambient temp (unless you're pumping some liquid nitrogen in there and not telling us)

 

it's possible that the thermal sensors of the board are faulty, which would be yet another problem unto itself. If you are unable to get the software to give a proper reading, I suggest removing the VRM heat sink of the motherboard yourself and visually inspecting the thermal pad. If it looks deteriorated or dried out, then I highly suggest replacing it with something purchased online.

[Dark-E]

14 minutes ago, Fasauceome said:

this is really cold, 20 celsius is a comfortably cool room so unless you're really cranking that AC this is probably a faulty reading, since your CPU can't be below the ambient temp (unless you're pumping some liquid nitrogen in there and not telling us)

 

it's possible that the thermal sensors of the board are faulty, which would be yet another problem unto itself. If you are unable to get the software to give a proper reading, I suggest removing the VRM heat sink of the motherboard yourself and visually inspecting the thermal pad. If it looks deteriorated or dried out, then I highly suggest replacing it with something purchased online.

i will look at it in a minute and probably see what is going on there. if it is possible could you tell me what i would need to purchase?

 

[Fasauceome]

2 minutes ago, Dark-E said:

i will look at it in a minute and probably see what is going on there. if it is possible could you tell me what i would need to purchase?

 

thermal pads like this

https://www.amazon.com/ARCTIC-Thermal-Efficient-Conductivity-Handling/dp/B00UYTTMNI

except if you don't want to cut them yourself, you can find some small strips

https://www.amazon.com/ARCTIC-Compound-Efficient-Conductivity-Handling/

 

[Windows7ge]

6 minutes ago, Dark-E said:

i never overclocked my PC before. Also i don't know the exact name of the cooler but it is a big block cooler. 

So this is probably the issue, you're trying to run an 8 core CPU @ 4.0GHz base on a motherboard that only has an 4+1 Power Phase delivery. That's not good.

 

How long have you been running this setup? When did you first notice the problem? Your VRM are probably very toasty and that's what's causing the throttling.

[Dark-E]

12 minutes ago, Windows7ge said:

How long have you been running this setup? 

- almost 2 years now

"When did you first notice the problem?"
- beginning/ early summer of this year

[Dark-E]

18 minutes ago, Fasauceome said:

thermal pads like this

https://www.amazon.com/ARCTIC-Thermal-Efficient-Conductivity-Handling/dp/B00UYTTMNI

except if you don't want to cut them yourself, you can find some small strips

https://www.amazon.com/ARCTIC-Compound-Efficient-Conductivity-Handling/

 

i will look at it now i'll give you an update asap

 

[Windows7ge]

2 minutes ago, Dark-E said:

- almost 2 years now

"When did you first notice the problem?"
- beginning/ early summer of this year

Before we take my word for it that this is the issue do you have any small high RPM fans around? Get as much air flow as you can around the highlighted heatsink and see if it take longer for the system to start throttling or if it stops throttling all together.

 

[Dark-E]

12 minutes ago, Fasauceome said:

thermal pads like this

https://www.amazon.com/ARCTIC-Thermal-Efficient-Conductivity-Handling/dp/B00UYTTMNI

except if you don't want to cut them yourself, you can find some small strips

https://www.amazon.com/ARCTIC-Compound-Efficient-Conductivity-Handling/

 

Okay so i am in the middle of checking the thermal pads and what i noticed was that the metal is really hot

[Dark-E]

5 minutes ago, Windows7ge said:

Before we take my word for it that this is the issue do you have any small high RPM fans around? Get as much air flow as you can around the highlighted heatsink and see if it take longer for the system to start throttling or if it stops throttling all 

5 minutes ago, Windows7ge said:

Before we take my word for it that this is the issue do you have any small high RPM fans around? Get as much air flow as you can around the highlighted heatsink and see if it take longer for the system to start throttling or if it stops throttling all together.

 

 

Ill get back to you right away i am in the middle of checking the heat sinks