AMD Bulldozer FX 4100 Throttling ! Help please..

[Belgrade]

Hello there,

I noticed few days/weeks ago that my FPS drops really low for 20-70 seconds and couldn't find out why. I ran CPU-Z while playing and when the FPS drop came my CPU Core Speed went from 3.7 GHz to 1.3/1.4 GHz. Tried using AMD Catalyst to set minimum CPU Core Speed to 3.3 GHz but that didn't work. I disabled Cool 'n' Quiet and Turbo Core. Same results...

Here are my PC specs :

CPU : AMD Bulldozer FX 4100
GPU : AMD Radeon HD6870
MOBO : ASUS M5A78L-M LX
RAM : 6 GB
OS : Windows 7 64bit


I also have problem in my BIOS cause I don't have a lot of options that other people have for FX 4100. I don't have C1E, Enhanced Halt State, CPU Thermal Throttle...

Thanks in advance! And my temperature didn't pass the "legal" limit for FX 4100 which is 71C.

 

[ishadu]

Are you using the stock cooler/thermal paste? also what version is your bios?

 

[Blahman11]

The 965 won't work it's 125 watts and the board only supports 95watt. The best CPU for that would be a Phenom 960T, but they're very expensive. Also I doubt the OP would want a new CPU, he's just worried about his current one. How good is the case cooling? As already said is the heatsink on properly? What temps does it get to when it throttles? It could be that the motherboard is being over cautious. If you can't do anything with the board get something like a freezer 7 pro, that would cool your CPU down a bit

 

[rorysory]

the fx series really arent as bad as everyone thinks reviewers are corrupt these days the get paid to say ***, anywho the throttling problem usually occurs when you need to update amds software or bios just go through drivers and *** and update it all should find it resolved if not i have a link to two fixes that should help with it

 

[Spelli]

I noticed few days/weeks ago that my FPS drops really low for 20-70 seconds and couldn't find out why. I ran CPU-Z while playing and when the FPS drop came my CPU Core Speed went from 3.7 GHz to 1.3/1.4 GHz. Tried using AMD Catalyst to set minimum CPU Core Speed to 3.3 GHz but that didn't work. I disabled Cool 'n' Quiet and Turbo Core. Same results...

And my temperature didn't pass the "legal" limit for FX 4100 which is 71C.

Are you using the stock cooler? Did you assemble your build yourself? The FX series is known to run quite hot, your CPU is most probably throttling itself to avoid damage. Don't try to force it to run at full speed when it's about to be blown apart.

To improve temps, you may need to re-seat the cooler, or better yet, get a more powerful cooling solution.

I also have problem in my BIOS cause I don't have a lot of options that other people have for FX 4100. I don't have C1E, Enhanced Halt State, CPU Thermal Throttle...

Your ASUS M5A78L-M LX is, quite frankly, garbage. It's based on the 760G chipset, which came out in 2009. It's designed for office use and has a Radeon 3000HD as IGP.
It's made to work with Phenom II CPUs, and simply got a BIOS upgrade to (barely) make it work with the FX series, too. But that doesn't make it support all the new features and changes which come with the FX, you'd need a 9xx series mainboard for that.


If someone else 'helped' you pick the parts and build it, they either had no idea what they were doing or ripped you off.

 

[Onus]

The OP's motherboard supports 125W CPUs: http://www.asus.com/Motherboards/AMD_AM3Plus/M5A78LM_LX_PLUS/#CPUS. Urban Legend is correct. The FX line was a howling disappointment. Get the 965BE (which should overclock pretty well; 4GHz is likely). Also make sure your BIOS is current, as you should be seeing those options.

 

[Houndsteeth]

The OP already has the 4100. The root is not to advise the OP to get a different processor, but to try and find out how we can help the OP overcome the issues with their current processor.

As per previous advice:

Download speedfan, CPU-Z or almost any other temperature monitoring software and keep an eye on your CPU temperature over time. Does the speed drop coincide with high temperatures? If so, check the CPU cooler. Are you using the stock cooler? If so, consider going with an aftermarket cooler, as Bulldozers tend to run hot anyway.

If not, update your BIOS firmware. Go to the ASUS website and follow the instructions. Make sure that when you are performing the BIOS firmware update that you do not interrupt the process in any way, as having to recover from a botched firmware update can be a very sticky situation. After you have the BIOS firmware to the most recent update, update the mainboard drivers. You will also find them on the ASUS website. Finally, check your graphics card and update the driver software for it as well.

 

[Belgrade]

Are you using the stock cooler/thermal paste? also what version is your bios?

Yes I am using stock cooler but planing to buy today http://www.itsvet.com/proizvod/cooler-master-hyper-tx3-evo-rr-tx3e-22pk-r1/comp_comp_cooler/54/1350 and http://www.itsvet.com/proizvod/cooler-master-hyper-tx3-evo-rr-tx3e-22pk-r1/comp_comp_cooler/54/1350 x2 . So I will see if that will help me a bit.

 

[EchoOne]

I noticed few days/weeks ago that my FPS drops really low for 20-70 seconds and couldn't find out why. I ran CPU-Z while playing and when the FPS drop came my CPU Core Speed went from 3.7 GHz to 1.3/1.4 GHz. Tried using AMD Catalyst to set minimum CPU Core Speed to 3.3 GHz but that didn't work. I disabled Cool 'n' Quiet and Turbo Core. Same results...

And my temperature didn't pass the "legal" limit for FX 4100 which is 71C.

Are you using the stock cooler? Did you assemble your build yourself? The FX series is known to run quite hot, your CPU is most probably throttling itself to avoid damage. Don't try to force it to run at full speed when it's about to be blown apart.

To improve temps, you may need to re-seat the cooler, or better yet, get a more powerful cooling solution.

I also have problem in my BIOS cause I don't have a lot of options that other people have for FX 4100. I don't have C1E, Enhanced Halt State, CPU Thermal Throttle...

Your ASUS M5A78L-M LX is, quite frankly, garbage. It's based on the 760G chipset, which came out in 2009. It's designed for office use and has a Radeon 3000HD as IGP.
It's made to work with Phenom II CPUs, and simply got a BIOS upgrade to (barely) make it work with the FX series, too. But that doesn't make it support all the new features and changes which come with the FX, you'd need a 9xx series mainboard for that.


If someone else 'helped' you pick the parts and build it, they either had no idea what they were doing or ripped you off.

run quite hot? what are you talking about lol my 6100 never gets above 55c when under load at 1.45 volts.

 

[Onus]

The OP already has the 4100. The root is not to advise the OP to get a different processor, but to try and find out how we can help the OP overcome the issues with their current processor.
...

This is a valid point. Since the OP is pretty sure he doesn't have a heat problem (although more tests may be needed), my thought could be that the CPU is getting bogged down in some way; a true quad may not suffer from the same problems, but some more tests are needed. This could be a paging issue that could be addressed by additional RAM.