Urgent upgrade from stock CPU fan.

Jasy19

Solid State Member
Messages
18
Location
England
Hi all.

I recently bought a new computer two months ago for gaming, and i've noticed my CPU has been reaching 90C then cutting off shortly after whilst playing Guild Wars 2. I assume this is pretty damn dangerous, as well as annoying, and would like some opinions on a new/cheap fan to replace the stock. I bought this PC as a pre-built online.

Motherboard: Gigabyte M68MT-S2
Processor: AMD FX- 8120 Eight-core

I have changed the BIOS settings to keep the fan on 100% full power, but it will still persist and cut out occasionally whilst gaming.

Could anyone suggest a good fan? I am unsure if I will need anything else to fit the fan after ordering it, so any input would be appreciated.

P.S. This PC sounds like it is about to take off.

Regards,
Jason :)
 
Please tell me the make and model of the HSF that you're using now. 90c is insane, and you are dramatically shortening the life of that CPU. Even a stock HSF should never allow those kinds of temps.

There may be many reasons for this. The HSF may have been improperly installed. The builder may have forgotten to install the TIM. The HSF itself may be defective.

But, first things first exactly what is this HSF you're using.
 
pop the side of the case, if it has a fan mounted on top of the heatsink, it is most likely a cheap stock hsf. If it has a fan mounted in vertical relation to the board, it is likely custom and needs thermal paste.

If you have crappy stock one, get a Cooler master TX3 or 212 and some AC5, all of its around $30 and will fix your situation.
 
A person can find very solid, and informative advice on Internet forums. Then again, I also see advice such as post #4, which is completely misleading, and inaccurate, no matter how well intended.

There are some excellent HSF with top mounted fans. That is no criteria for determining quality. A vertically mounted fan is no guarantee that it is of high quality, or that it needs thermal paste.

Now Jasy19, you can follow the advice in post 4, or we can continue with a proper methodical approach to correcting your problem. Which will it be, because you can't do both.

If you'd like to continue, and you have no idea what HSF you have, just take a couple of good clear photos, so I can see what it is, and how it's mounted.

Here's a video that shows the stock FX 8120 HSF...see if this one is yours, or Google yourself some photos to verify.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=A2SvcvHlFfc
 
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Did a bit of a mess yesterday, took it apart and the processor out, only to remount it wrong and bend some pins. Anyway I straightened them, accidently snapped one and it's working again now.
It seems that by replacing the thermal paste I'm down to 40C on idle, as opposed to 57C before.
Right now the highest i've seen my CPU whilst playing is 68C'ish.

I could upload some pictures of the heatsink/fan shortly, though how many people think that a new fan would be necessary now?

Regards.
 
It's hard to help when you don't answer my questions.

You still have not told me exactly what HSF you are using. It's impossible to accurately answer your latest question, without knowing WHAT HEAT SINK FAN YOU ARE USING!

You also need to do a little research on your own. It's the only way to learn. The maximum operating temp for that CPU is 61c.

http://www.cpu-world.com/CPUs/Bulldozer/AMD-FX-Series FX-8120.html
 
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Just to clarify I haven't overclocked, nor am I much of a computer whizz, though I know a fair amount.

It would be great to have a fan/heatsink that would fit in, for less than £50 preferably.


EDIT: From the video yes it looks exactly like the heatsink/fan. Without whatever that white square on the bottom is.
 
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Ok, it certainly appears to be the stock HSF.

I do not know what thermal paste you used nor do I know how you applied it.

However, I can say that with properly applied quality TIM, and a stock running CPU, there should be no reason for the stock HSF to allow temps as high as 68c. It seems to me that you either used a very poor quality TIM, or it was applied improperly, or perhaps the HSF is not properly mounted, or maybe all three.

If you want to try another HSF, the CM 212, is inexpensive and should perform very well on that stock clocked CPU.






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