Using a 125W TDP CPU on 4+1 Power Phase Motherboard

Deanyo2k7 · Apr 1, 2016

Hi, I'm going to be using an AMD FX-8350 on a ASRock 970M Pro3. The CPU will be water cooled by the Cooler Master Nepton 240M. You can see how it is set up here: http://

The build is obviously not complete yet, but there is a 200mm fan on the front and will be 2 AF120's on the bottom all in taking air. There will be a 200mm fan on the top exhausting air and an AF120 exhausting out the back, and you can see in that link the radiator exhausting air out the side. Should I change the top 200mm fan to intake air instead of exhaust?

My question is, will this be efficient cooling? There will be a EVGA GeForce GTX 960 SSC on the board too. I have read that the VRM's on this board overheat with an 125W TDP CPU. So I want to make sure things will be okay. Thanks

Dark Lord of Tech · Apr 1, 2016

It's just a bad pairing , that board should only be used with a 95w CPU.

Very poor power and thermal design.

Deanyo2k7 · Apr 1, 2016

It says on ASRock's site that the FX-830 is compatible....

Dark Lord of Tech · Apr 1, 2016

Yes , but it's not a good idea on that and many other boards that are poorly designed thermally.

For cooling the CPU and its surrounding components, please install a CPU cooler with a top-down blowing design.
That's why they add the warning above for 125w chips. ^

Deanyo2k7 · Apr 1, 2016

What if I made the top 120mm fan into an intake? That would blow right down onto the VRM's and exhaust out the back, right?

madmatt30 · Apr 1, 2016

Couldn't agree with blackbird more - those 4+1 phase boards are better suited to a 6300 than any of the 8 core chips.
There is at least room for some overclocking to 4GHz+ or so .

A water cooled 8350 on a 4 phase asrock board is an accident waiting to happen in all honesty.

Seeing as you've already built it now you may as well just see how you go , some people have had decent success with the 970m board with the 8350, its certainly a more capable board than the full atx pro 3 or extreme 3.

bignastyid · Apr 1, 2016

Might be supported on paper but in the real world the combo tends to be problematic.

Dark Lord of Tech · Apr 1, 2016

Might help a little , it's just not a great match , don't be surprised if it gets unstable.

Deanyo2k7 · Apr 1, 2016

madmatt30 :

Hi, "an accident waiting to happen" ? What does this mean, what could happen

Rogue Leader · Apr 1, 2016

I agree with everyone saying this is a bad choice. Your liquid cooling and all that Jazz is a waste of money with this setup you can't push that processor at all, and no way in hell you can overclock it. AND with a liquid cooler the VRM's have no cooling at all.

What he means by an accident waiting to happen is at a minimum instability, at a maximum burning out the VRMs and the whole deal crashing.

dudeman509 · Apr 1, 2016

They tend to overheat the VRMs and throttle to 1.4 GHz, which negates the performance added by going to an 8-core chip anyway.

If you really want to go 8 core, go for a 8320 or 8320E.

Deanyo2k7 · Apr 1, 2016

dudeman509 :

But the 8320 is also a 125W CPU

Deanyo2k7 · Apr 1, 2016

Rogue Leader :

Could this be a Fire Risk?

bignastyid · Apr 1, 2016

Most common issue is the VRMs will cause the cpu to throttle, worst case scenario is the vrms will burn up with actual flames.

dudeman509 · Apr 1, 2016

Deanyo2k7 :

Yes, but won't overheat the VRMs nearly as much as the extra 500 MHz a 8350 will.

bignastyid · Apr 1, 2016

The 8320e is 95w. Thats the fastest cpu I would reccomend for that board.

dudeman509 · Apr 1, 2016

bignastyid :

Yup

Deanyo2k7 · Apr 1, 2016

What If I put a super tiny fan next to the VRM's? Or is there bigger/taller heat sinks that can be put onto the VRM's?

Dark Lord of Tech · Apr 1, 2016

It's not a good idea , little fans won't help , 125w CPU's shouldn't be on the board.

Deanyo2k7 · Apr 1, 2016

So what CPU could I use that would be safe and not a noticeable difference from the 8350?

Dark Lord of Tech · Apr 1, 2016

Use an FX 8 core 95w.

Dark Lord of Tech · Apr 1, 2016

FX 8370E.

Deanyo2k7 · Apr 1, 2016

Is there much of a performance difference from the 8350?

Dark Lord of Tech · Apr 1, 2016

No not really , if you want similar performance with less heat it's a great fit.

Deanyo2k7 · Apr 1, 2016

I'm not to bothered about heat, as my water cooler keeps ths 8350 at 30 degrees idle. This VRM issue has gotten me shaken up however :??:

Using a 125W TDP CPU on 4+1 Power Phase Motherboard

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