[SOLVED] Amd phenom x4 9950 BE high temps on idle

Alex-V · Jun 14, 2016

Hello. I have a pc with these specs
thermaltake toughpower 650w
amd phenom x4 9950 be (aftermarket cooler gamma archer)
gigabyte ma780g-ud3h
5gb ram

the strange problem now. I am at idle 45c. When i plug in the usb wifi adapter and pc connects to the internet, it goes to 60-65c in 5 seconds!!! I tested another wifi adapter. The same. I changed os from 8.1 to 7, the same again. The thermal paste is new and is the arctic mx-4. I reseat the cooler, nothing. Also i am clean with viruses and cpu use is at 0-1% at idle

i am not overclocking and the bios is the latest version. I have this problem somewhere 1-2 years now. I didnt have this problem earlier, even with the stock cooler. Someone told me that cpu is dying.

clutchc · Jun 14, 2016

Why did you buy such a small aftermarket cooler?
I presume you have this cooler? http://www.deepcool.com/product/cpucooler/2013-12/7_459.shtml
The Phenom X4 9950BE is a 140W processor. You'll notice that the cooler I linked to is only rated for 95W CPUs max.
The stock cooler for the Phenom X4 9950 is the one to have kept... unless you OC. Then you'd want an even bigger cooler.

Dominator355 · Jun 15, 2016

That cooler is far to small on that CPU, i once had a customer in with a FX 8 core chip with that cooler, and it overheated constantly,
Change the cooler to a stock one, or a decent Coolermaster one, and your problems will be gone,

Alex-V · Jun 15, 2016

Thank you for your answers guys. The strange of all this is that 1-2 years ago i didn't have this problem. Even with the stock cooler. Now i have this problem and with the stock and with the aftermarket. Yes i know its not the best aftermarket cooler. I tested with a coolermaster tx3 of a friend of mine and i had the same results. With stock cooler i have 2-3 below the aftermarket. Not big difference. Sorry for my bad English.

Yes this is the cooler that i bought. I thought that it will be better from the stock.

clutchc · Jun 15, 2016

Alex-V :

Now that you've added that pertinent information about the fact that the stock cooler and the TX3 both are doing the same thing, that puts a different spin on the situation. Is it possible you are using too much MX-4? Not getting the coolers secure to the retention bracket?
When you are "idling", what are the actual core usages? (you can use something like HWmon to see core usages) It would seem that something would have to be using the CPU heavily to cause that. BUT... do this testing with a proper cooler. Either the stock cooler or the TX-3.

Alex-V · Jun 15, 2016

As i said above at idling the usage of all the 4 cores is 0-1%. No the mx-4 dosage is right. Its not the first time that i repair pc. I am doing this many years. The cooler is in the right place and in the bracket with the two clips left and right. This is the first time that i have this problem to a computer.

clutchc · Jun 15, 2016

Alex-V :

That is extremely odd, that's for sure. Even if the CPU was dying, it usually would appear as one bad core getting much hotter than the others.

Edit; Oh wait! I forgot, you can't read individual cores on a Phenom can you? There's just one temp reported for the whole CPU. So it could indeed be one core that is dying. Does your BIOS give you the option of disabling individual cores?

Alex-V · Jun 16, 2016

Ooooh now i see what you mean. Yes i think i can't see the temps from the 4 cores. Only the usage of the cores. As you said is just one temp reported for the cpu for example in speccy. In the bios how can i see that?

clutchc · Jun 16, 2016

Alex-V :

BIOS should show the same thing. A simple "CPU TEMP" instead of individual core temps.

Alex-V · Jun 16, 2016

Yes it shows only one temp. So, what should i do to find if a core is dead?

clutchc · Jun 16, 2016

Alex-V :

I doubt a core is "dead". Just one overheats faster than the rest. Use task manager to watch the cores usage. One is probably used more than the rest.
Btw, if you remove the wi-fi adapter, is the high temps issue still there?

Alex-V · Jun 17, 2016

no! thats the real strange. when i remove the wi-fi adapter and the pc is not online, the temps goes down to 47c! It's not the adapter the problem because i tested with another adapter and i had the same issues. Also i tested the adapter to another usb port. Nothing. For the usage of the cores now. Take a look. With these tabs the 4th core is usage is a little bit more from the others.

And this is the idle one.

clutchc · Jun 17, 2016

I don't see anything unusual in those graphs. The adapter uses one or more CPU cores as needed. I would expect the CPU usage to be a bit higher when the adapter is installed and in use. The core(s) in use will naturally be warmer than the one(s) not in use. And if all you can see is a common temp, it would show a rise.

Alex-V · Jun 17, 2016

These screenshots are with the adapter on. So, is there any solution to find the warm core?

clutchc · Jun 17, 2016

Alex-V :

If your motherboard BIOS allows, you can disable cores one at a time. I'm not sure about the 1st gen Phenom, but the Phenom IIs I've owned and the AM3 board's I've owned all had that option.

Edit: I did a quick scan thru your board's BIOS manual and did not see the option to disable cores. Maybe I just didn't look good enough?

Alex-V · Jun 17, 2016

Unfortunately doesn't have this option

Can i do this with a software?

clutchc · Jun 17, 2016

Alex-V :

No idea.
What happens if you plug in some other usb device? still send the temps above 60C?
You said you think you're clean of viruses. Have you checked for malware? Try Malwarebytes.

Alex-V · Jun 17, 2016

No. This happens only when i plug in the wifi adapters and the pc is online. When i plug in a flash drive for example nothing happens. The temps are 47-48c idle. Yes i checked with malwarebytes adwcleaner and superantispyware. Also i did a clean install of windows. I'm 100% sure it's not a virus.

clutchc · Jun 17, 2016

I can understand the adapter causing the CPU to load up when you are online, especially an older Phenom like that. But the increase in temp to 60-65C is a mystery. Have you checked the core temp against the thermal margin* to see if they agree. (as temp increases, thermal margins decrease)

* AOD: http://www.amd.com/en-us/innovations/software-technologies/technologies-gaming/over-drive

Alex-V · Jun 18, 2016

Yes is vevery very strange problem and i didn't see anything like that before. Hmm, i don't know. I will install the overdrive and i will tell you the results.

Alex-V · Jun 20, 2016

I installed the amd overdrive and i cant see any option for thermal margin inside.

clutchc · Jun 20, 2016

Alex-V :

It is under Status Monitor/CPU Status.
Here is a pic of AOD showing a CPU that is ~5C away from max temp. http://cdn2.pcadvisor.co.uk/cmsdata/features/3625943/amd_overdrive.png

Alex-V · Jun 20, 2016

Oh i found it. Thanks. Holy god look! But it doesn't say margin. This is on idle.

clutchc · Jun 20, 2016

Yes. Good. As it should be. You have a thermal margin of 69C degrees until max temp (TjMax). That would translate to core temps of roughly 31C.

Alex-V · Jun 20, 2016

Do you mean that my real temp is 31c? I don't have temps problem? :??:

[SOLVED] Amd phenom x4 9950 BE high temps on idle

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