Thermal throttle? H100?

[Samwell]

Hiya

Today I tried overclocking my 8320. I started at 4.3GHz... and thats where it stayed. I was running a stress test and after a minute or two, it would get to about 65 degrees C and throttle down to 1399MHz. Then after about 5 seconds, the temperature as dropped to about 55 and it goes back up to 4.3GHz.  Before I even go into looking at coolers, I'd like to ask, is that due to thermal throttling? (I'm pretty sure it is, but it's always good to check with someone who actually knows what they are doing).

 

At first I thought my current cooler (some Akasa thing I got for free) wasnt running high but I checked and it maxes out at 2800rpm and thats where it was at and the CPU was still slowing down. So that makes me think that I do need to change coolers. (This one is good for stock though, very quiet)

 

So, if it is that, I'd like to jump into watercooling.. I've seen some refurbished H100's for £50 that have been fully tested and has a 90 day warranty from a reputable retailer. Is this something I should seriously look at? I'm not bothered by the i versions with the USB control etc. Or would a H80i be better to look at. I was thinking about a Hyper 212 Evo but thought that a H100 would be quite a bit better?

 

Thanks

[Guest Generallee]

snip

 

You need a better cooler, look at the NH-D15 or an H80i/H100i

[Senzelian]

I'm not a fan of the H100/i. 
The H105 has better performance, looks better and doesn't have that useless Corsair link.

Also have a look at the Nepton 240M from Cooler Master. That is also a really nice AIO.

But if you can get a nice H100 for a cheap price, then go for it. It's a nice cooler.

[Samwell]

Thanks for the replies

Say my budget was around £70, what, in your opinion, would be the best option? Would it be the H100 at £50 or is there something better?

[Faceman]

@Samwell

What motherboard do you have?  It could also be VRM throttling.

[Samwell]

@Samwell

What motherboard do you have? It could also be VRM throttling.

ASRock 970 Extreme3

Can overheating VRMs throttle the cpu? I thought they just melted/died if they got too hot

[Faceman]

ASRock 970 Extreme3

Thats likely your problem.

 

This is a weak motherboard for FX8 processors, even running on stock is considered a win.  It has minimal 4+1 VRM phase design, I wouldn't try overclocking on this motherboard.  You can try to offset this by getting some airflow directly over the VRMs, but this is a bandaid, not a fix.

 

https://spreadsheets.google.com/spreadsheet/pub?key=0AgN1D79Joo7tdE9xMUFlMEVWeFhuckJEVF9aMmtpUFE&gid=2

 

Look at the ASRock 970 Extreme3: "User-experience: "Will throttle on overclocked FX 8-core"

 

Honestly, you are better off selling your CPU and mobo + taking that 70 quid and moving over to Intel.  Even a locked i5 will outperform even the highest overclocked FX8 processor in games.