Possible cpu/ram/gpu issues

[Yeoldgamer]

Hello everyone, I have recently brought myself a computer for mild gaming although i havent gamed on it yet im not sure how well the system goes. And before i do, i just want to see if this is normal. Its my first PC i have owned and yet to play on after 5-6 years of not having one.

The (i think) issues im having is the ram and also dual graphics and "cpu temperature in bios" .

System specs
-Windows 10 pro
-AMD A10-7890k
-AsRock fm2a58m-vg3+ r2.0
-8 Gb RAM with 2 x Ballistix Tatical 2133 Mt/sec DDR3 ultra fast memory
-MSI R7 250 2GD3 OC 1.8 GHz 2GB DDR3 Graphics card.

I have updated apu/graphics drivers and Windows is all up to date.
I have hdmi cable connected to my Dedicated gpu and when i go in to my Radeon settings 'hardware tab' it shows both the apu r7 graphics 'enabled' and my r7 250 series as 'primary' and theres no enable dual graphics/crossfire option in the gaming-global tab, i have enabled the 'on board graphics' in bios and set primary graphics adapter to pcie express, with a share memory of 2048mb.  Or is technology so ahead of me that its enabled without me knowing. I have to keep both the hdmi of discrete card and the dvi from my motherboard to my tv, if i disconnect the dvi cable the radeon hardware tab shows the apu graphics as disabled.

My other concern is my ram accorsing to CPU-Z 
I have 8gb of ram and theyre both running at:
"NB Frequency 1596.8 mhz"
"DRAM Frequency 1064.5 mhz"
Just curious if that is normal or if thats a issue.

The next issue is my cpu temperature the a10-7890k is housed in a ultra small coolermaster case and has a low profile cooler (i believe heatsink is the word for that) sortve what you would see on a bog standard fx series cpu i guess and the temperature hovers between 69degrees celcius and 79degrees celcius just want to confirm if that is normal at idle sitting in bios?

Have updated motgerboard bios and is now reading around 50degrcelcius.
 

I really have no idea whats going on and whether whats happening is normal just need some help in the right direction.

[bgibbz]

Everything seems normal. I have no experience running an APU and dedicated gpu in crossfire, but I have heard its possible. On all other issues, I will say with confidence that you are fine. 

[Yeoldgamer]

Thanks for the reply, Best i just use the computer and get some old games rockin.

[SLAYR]

With the cpu temps the only reliable programs to read it for amd cpus is amd overdrive or nzxt cam as amd shows thermal margin (degrees until thermal junction) instead of temperature so programs like hwmonitor will mess up the reading. 

 

The ram is fine at 1064.5, because it should show half of the ram frequency duw to ddr being double data rate.

 

You should only have to use one cable per monitor even in crossfire setups.

[SpaceGhostC2C]

24 minutes ago, Yeoldgamer said:

System specs
-Windows 10 pro
-AMD A10-7890k
-AsRock fm2a58m-vg3+ r2.0
-8 Gb RAM with 2 x Ballistix Tatical 2133 Mt/sec DDR3 ultra fast memory
-MSI R7 250 2GD3 OC 1.8 GHz 2GB DDR3 Graphics card.

I have updated apu/graphics drivers and Windows is all up to date.
I have hdmi cable connected to my Dedicated gpu and when i go in to my Radeon settings 'hardware tab' it shows both the apu r7 graphics 'enabled' and my r7 250 series as 'primary' and theres no enable dual graphics/crossfire option in the gaming-global tab, i have enabled the 'on board graphics' in bios and set primary graphics adapter to pcie express, with a share memory of 2048mb.  Or is technology so ahead of me that its enabled without me knowing. I have to keep both the hdmi of discrete card and the dvi from my motherboard to my tv, if i disconnect the dvi cable the radeon hardware tab shows the apu graphics as disabled.

 

You seem to have the right card for dual graphics with the A10-7890K according to this site. What does the Device Manager (or whatever Win 10 has) show under "display adapters"? It could be that it's working without much verbosity. 

 

26 minutes ago, Yeoldgamer said:

My other concern is my ram accorsing to CPU-Z 
I have 8gb of ram and theyre both running at:
"NB Frequency 1596.8 mhz"
"DRAM Frequency 1064.5 mhz"
Just curious if that is normal or if thats a issue.

The DRAM frequency is exactly what it should be for 2133MHz RAM, you are good to go there (DDR=Double Data Rate, 2x1064.5 ~ 2133).

 

29 minutes ago, Yeoldgamer said:

The next issue is my cpu temperature the a10-7890k is housed in a ultra small coolermaster case and has a low profile cooler (i believe heatsink is the word for that) sortve what you would see on a bog standard fx series cpu i guess and the temperature hovers between 69degrees celcius and 79degrees celcius just want to confirm if that is normal at idle sitting in bios?

Have updated motgerboard bios and is now reading around 50degrcelcius.
 

I really have no idea whats going on and whether whats happening is normal just need some help in the right direction.

69-79 when idle it scarily high, 50  could be reasonable for a warm day in a tight case with relatively small heatsink. Check teh temps when idling in your desktop, so you can confirm the CPU is a 0-5% usage. If it's still 60-70, it could be a problem fitting the heatsink to teh CPU (bad or poorly applied thermal paste, or the heatsink not correctly seated, or the fan starved against a blind case wall/roof).

 

[GreezyJeezy]

lol you got a 250 was it a prebuilt?

[Yeoldgamer]

Ok, windows 10 device manager 'display adaptors' show both "amd radeon r7 250 series" and "amd radeon r7 graphics" with no problems as far as i know they both seem enabled even with the dvi cable disconnectd and the hdmi left in but "radeon settings" now show apu disabled so i guess a restart was needed (pcie card is showing primary, and the apu graphics show disabled)

 

AMD overdrive shows all four cores fluctuating between 50 and 65 at idle.

[SpaceGhostC2C]

59 minutes ago, Yeoldgamer said:

Ok, windows 10 device manager 'display adaptors' show both "amd radeon r7 250 series" and "amd radeon r7 graphics" with no problems as far as i know they both seem enabled even with the dvi cable disconnectd and the hdmi left in but "radeon settings" now show apu disabled so i guess a restart was needed (pcie card is showing primary, and the apu graphics show disabled)

Mmm, that's not great news, i was expecting the Dual graphics to show up explicitly there in one of the entries (as "[gpu1] + [gpu2] dual graphics"). it may  not be working as dual graphics after all, but my knowledge ends here.

 

59 minutes ago, Yeoldgamer said:

AMD overdrive shows all four cores fluctuating between 50 and 65 at idle.

It seems high to me. Someone with better experience with small cases can correct me if I'm wrong. Which CPU cooler are you using? Some low profile heatsinks are rated for 65W TDP (the lower end APUs), but won't handle the higher end, 90-100W APUs. 65-70 is something I expect only under full load.

 

Edit: Is overdrive reporting 50-65 temps or 50-65 degrees of "distance to max"? If I remember correctly, the number Overdrive shows is how far you are from the temp limit (so it should decrease as the CPu goes into full load). If that's the case, then it's OK.

Edited August 14, 2016 by SpaceGhostC2C
Realized about a mistake

[Yeoldgamer]

On 14/08/2016 at 5:33 PM, SpaceGhostC2C said:

Mmm, that's not great news, i was expecting the Dual graphics to show up explicitly there in one of the entries (as "[gpu1] + [gpu2] dual graphics"). it may  not be working as dual graphics after all, but my knowledge ends here.

 

It seems high to me. Someone with better experience with small cases can correct me if I'm wrong. Which CPU cooler are you using? Some low profile heatsinks are rated for 65W TDP (the lower end APUs), but won't handle the higher end, 90-100W APUs. 65-70 is something I expect only under full load.

 

Edit: Is overdrive reporting 50-65 temps or 50-65 degrees of "distance to max"? If I remember correctly, the number Overdrive shows is how far you are from the temp limit (so it should decrease as the CPu goes into full load). If that's the case, then it's OK.

Found out the case name housing the components its the "elite 110" from cooler master so as to be expected its mega small.

 

I just got home and figured ill take the case cover off and moved the power box out the way and managed to remove the cpu fan and fins (heatsink?), and seen from what i believe was very very little thermal paste used (less than what you see pc builders use on youtube). The top of the cpu looked like it had nothing on it. 

 

The cpu cooler fan has numbers "dk8-00004-a1-gp" which is for 65w amd cpus, So maybe that is quite a broblem for the 7890k? 

 

The coolermaster website says the elite 110 allows room for a 120mm radiator im curious if whatever goes from the radiator will fit between the cpu and power box (power box sits right above it).

 

When i re-do the cpu paste like on youtube ill reply back what cpu-z says and what amd overdrive says and then what my bios says. As its half pulled apart now im keen to see if a radiator water cool will fit (less noise) and be efficient enough for the 7890k to keep cool.

 

I will worry about the dual graphics after i know the cpu wont cripple itself.

 

Thank you and sorry for the late reply.

[SpaceGhostC2C]

9 hours ago, Yeoldgamer said:

I just got home and figured ill take the case cover off and moved the power box out the way and managed to remove the cpu fan and fins (heatsink?), and seen from what i believe was very very little thermal paste used (less than what you see pc builders use on youtube). The top of the cpu looked like it had nothing on it. 

 

The cpu cooler fan has numbers "dk8-00004-a1-gp" which is for 65w amd cpus, So maybe that is quite a broblem for the 7890k? 

A combination of bad thermal paste application and wrong cooler could be behind your temperatures, especially in a crowded case. You seem to have a good lead there.

 

9 hours ago, Yeoldgamer said:

The coolermaster website says the elite 110 allows room for a 120mm radiator im curious if whatever goes from the radiator will fit between the cpu and power box (power box sits right above it).

 

When i re-do the cpu paste like on youtube ill reply back what cpu-z says and what amd overdrive says and then what my bios says. As its half pulled apart now im keen to see if a radiator water cool will fit (less noise) and be efficient enough for the 7890k to keep cool.

CoolerMaster is careful to always show it without the PSU, though  It would probably fit CM's own 120mm water coolers, and any other coolers with a similarly sized pump+waterblock (the thing you actually attach to the CPU). It may require some caution and patience to run the hoses from the front intake to the CPU block without bending them too much at the joints, avoiding too acute angles, and avoiding running the hoses through the space the PSU has to take on later to finish the build. I also wonder whether the fan will fit as well, or you would have to use it as a passive radiator. Finally, if there's room for the fan as well, I'm not sure it would be best to keep it as an intake (better for the CPU, but blowing warm air to the rest of the components) or shift it to exhaust (so air has to come in from any remaining vents), probably rising the CPU temps but helping dissipate heat from everything else.

All in all, a thin 120mm water cooler could be less effective for cooling the system as a whole than a similarly priced low profile cooler as the Scythe Big Shuriken or Raijintek Pallas, provided they fit (height should be OK, but you would have to check for clearance with the RAM sticks or other components (they are designed with these scenarios in mind, but it never hurts to check for unfortunate planetary misalignments )

[SpaceGhostC2C]

On a second thought, having the PSU on top of the CPU could be a problem for the fan (if it's too close to the PSU, it will starve a bit). If so, it could be an argument in favor of using water to take the heat to the front,, in direct contact with unobstructed ambient-temp air.

Something like the Big Shuriken should be around 20mm away from the power supply, though (always theoretically, based on manufacturers' reported dimensions).

[Yeoldgamer]

13 hours ago, SpaceGhostC2C said:

On a second thought, having the PSU on top of the CPU could be a problem for the fan (if it's too close to the PSU, it will starve a bit). If so, it could be an argument in favor of using water to take the heat to the front,, in direct contact with unobstructed ambient-temp air.

Something like the Big Shuriken should be around 20mm away from the power supply, though (always theoretically, based on manufacturers' reported dimensions).

was thinking on adding extra 80mm fans on the side as exhaust and then a radiator on the front with a fan as intake, theres i.m.o plently of room in that case for fans but it narrows down to the room temperature which being in the.lounge is always around 20degrees celciues (summer will be 28-38 degrees celcius) my main focus it cpu cooling whether a water cooler will be better at a average temperature all year round or a air cooler like you mentioned would have a good average temperature but then creeps up underload. 

 

I might yet end up taking the the pc into many shops and see what prices and options i have looking more forward to watercooling but would hate the nightmare of water going somewhere or the pump failing without knowing. 

 

Ill do a price up on coolers and the case being so small theres clearance issues so ill have to go into local stores and see what i can get.

 

Thank you for your help SpaceGhostC2C