PC freezes when playing games due to CPU overheating

jalapenosausage · May 3, 2017

I'm a hardware noob and built my first pc 2 years ago based on a more technical friend's suggestions.

When I play games such as Fallout 4 and The Witcher 3, both on low settings, my pc sometimes freezes or shuts down completely. I recently bought Playerunknown's Battlegrounds and can play that for all of a few minutes on very low settings before my pc crashes. I think this is due to the CPU overheating because I recently updated the BIOS (after playing Battlegrounds) and installed ASUS AI Suite with it, which warns me when my CPU gets too hot. It reaches around 70+ degrees C before finally crashing.

I don't have the cash to invest in a whole new rig but hopefully this can be solved without spending too much? Any help will be GREATLY appreciated.

Build:

CPU - AMD FX8350 Black Edition 8 Core Processor (4.0/4.2GHz, 8MB Level 3 Cache, 8MB Level 2 Cache, Socket AM3+, 125W)
CPU Cooler - Cooler Master Hyper 212 EVO (120mm)
Motherboard - Asus M5A97 LE R2.0 (AMD 970/SB950, DDR3, 6 x S-ATA 600, ATX, PCI-Express 2.0, USB 3.0, Socket AM3+)
Graphics - Sapphire AMD R9 290 Tri-X OC (4GB. HDMI, PCI-E)
RAM - HyperX FURY Series 8GB (2x 4GB) DDR3 1866MHz CL10 DIMM Memory Module Kit
PSU - Corsair CX750 Builder Series CX 750W ATX/EPS 80 PLUS Bronze PSU
Storage - WD 1TB 3.5 inch HDD - Caviar Blue + a similar but much older WD 1TB HDD
Optical - Some ancient thing
Case - Zalman z9 plus (had to cut away some of the HDD bay to fit the graphics card in lol)

synphul · May 3, 2017

Have you checked temperatures using amd overdrive? It's one of the more accurate ways of determining temps on amd cpu's and reports temps using thermal margin. How much headroom you have until your cpu reaches throttle, so if it says 10c it's hotter than if it says 20c (meaning you only have 10c until throttle). Other temp monitoring programs can be off.

If it is overheating, try dusting out your pc. Use some compressed air and blow out the pc especially the cpu cooler fins to blow any dust out (with the pc off of course). All those fins in the cooler can trap dust. Check to make sure case fans are working properly. If temps are still high you might have to get some new thermal paste, remove the cooler and clean off the base of the cooler as well as the cpu's ihs (metal cover) with some isopropyl alcohol and a lint free cloth. Apply a pea sized dab of thermal paste and re-mount the cooler.

There's a center nut/thumb screw on the cooler in the middle of the x shaped mounting brackets. Giving it a few turns will help increase mounting pressure to ensure good contact and heat transfer.

jalapenosausage · May 3, 2017

synphul :

Have you checked temperatures using amd overdrive? It's one of the more accurate ways of determining temps on amd cpu's and reports temps using thermal margin. How much headroom you have until your cpu reaches throttle, so if it says 10c it's hotter than if it says 20c (meaning you only have 10c until throttle). Other temp monitoring programs can be off.

If it is overheating, try dusting out your pc. Use some compressed air and blow out the pc especially the cpu cooler fins to blow any dust out (with the pc off of course). All those fins in the cooler can trap dust. Check to make sure case fans are working properly. If temps are still high you might have to get some new thermal paste, remove the cooler and clean off the base of the cooler as well as the cpu's ihs (metal cover) with some isopropyl alcohol and a lint free cloth. Apply a pea sized dab of thermal paste and re-mount the cooler.

There's a center nut/thumb screw on the cooler in the middle of the x shaped mounting brackets. Giving it a few turns will help increase mounting pressure to ensure good contact and heat transfer.

Thanks for your quick response! I'll try those things out in the next couple of hours and report back.

jalapenosausage · May 3, 2017

Okay I downloaded AMD Overdrive and monitored the CPU temp as I was playing Playerunknown's Battlegrounds on ultra settings. This time it didn't actually crash and the thermal margin stayed around 10C at around 20-30 fps. Is this a normal rate? I also noticed in AMD Overdrive, the 'GPU Status' tab displays all negative readings i.e.
Engine -1MHz
Memory -1MHz
Voltage -1V
Temperature -1C
Could this have anything to do with the poor performance? Also, in Overdrive > System Information > Detailed > GPU 0, there are negative values for Core Frequency (-1MHz) and Memory Frequency (-1MHz)

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