Phenom 965 BE getting way too hot

Spuff · 29 Jan 2013 at 19:01

Hi guys! Long time observer of these forums (through various Google searches!) but first time poster!

I've become a bit confused today so I need a bit of advice on my troublesome Phenom 965 Black...
I thought I'd check today how hot the CPU is getting and it was getting up to 78c on full load! :eek:

(using prime95) The safe temp is 62c, according to AMD. The CPU cooler I'm using is a Cooler Master Hyper TX-2 and I'm running at stock values, not overclocked at all.
So, I took the side off, vacuumed all the dust off everything, cleaned the CPU and heatsink with TIM cleaner, re-applied MX-4 paste, re-seated the cooler and tidied up the wiring as best I could to get better airflow. I've even undervolted the CPU in BIOS! (1.264v now, according to CPU-Z)
But the best I'm getting is 35-40c idle and then it hovers around 60-65c at full load, still far to high for my liking. Even though all these temp readings are high, I never seem to have any stability issues whatsoever, even at 78c!
Is it likely that the cooler here is to blame? I was thinking of getting an Arctic Cooling A30 to see if that helps but would like any advice before I shell out another £25!

SeraphX · 29 Jan 2013 at 19:09

How are you reading the temps?

78c on a phenom chip would almost certainly kill it very quickly indeed tbh

download CPUID HWmonitor

and take the reading from the TMPIN0 or TMPIN1 reading TMPIN2 will be a dud reading

Spuff · 29 Jan 2013 at 19:18

I was using Speedfan and HWmonitor. I'm currently running Prime and have both apps running ... they currently read,
Speedfan - core - 62c
HWmonitor - TMPIN0 - 41c, TMPIN1 - 61c, all core temps - 64c

Orcvader · 29 Jan 2013 at 19:19

SeraphX said:
How are you reading the temps?

78c on a phenom chip would almost certainly kill it very quickly indeed tbh

download CPUID HWmonitor

and take the reading from the TMPIN0 or TMPIN1 reading TMPIN2 will be a dud reading

This. Since AMD CPUs do not have temp sensors in the cores, the core reading will be fake. The TPIN temp will be the CPU temp, which is what AMD sets the limit on, unlike Intel who sets the limit on core temp.

Spuff · 29 Jan 2013 at 19:45

Considering that I've been running this CPU for over 2 years and the temps have always been high under load with no stability issues, could the temp sensor be misleading me somehow? (faulty, perhaps)
*edit* - I downloaded Gigabyte's EasyTune utility, ran Prime and it stayed at 50c! So I put the vcore back to normal, went over 62c! But since I put the vcore back to what it was, it won't go back to 50c ... stays around 61-62c

The mystery deepens!