AMD FX-8120 Cooling Issues

[gretagail]

Hello Dudes and Dudettes,

I set up this comp about half a year ago, it's got an AMD FX-8120 hooked up to a Corsair H60 liquid cooler. I've noticed that if I leave my computer idle for maybe 15-20 minutes, it just shuts off and won't reboot until I wait for a while ( to cool down I'm guessing ).

And that's what it is: a guess. I'm no guru, so before I throw down some money on another cooling system that hopefully works better with the AMD, I wanted to ask for opinions of more knowledgeable people. Does this sound like overheating?

 

[InvalidError]

Simplest way to find out would be to use a hardware monitoring program and keep an eye on CPU temperature.

If the PC shuts down while idle due to CPU overheating then your CPU 'water block' is either not installed properly or the pump is not running. If the block is cold or barely lukewarm, re-install it, it is not making proper contact with the CPU. If the block is hot but the radiator is still cold, the pump is not running.

If the pump is plugged on a motherboard header, the motherboard may be attempting to use voltage to control fan speed and that voltage might be too low to run the pump. You could try an adapter to run the pump directly from a molex connector to make sure it gets the whole 12V.

If that still does not work then your H60 might have a dead pump or other problem..

 

[gretagail]

The block does get hot, and the tubes/radiator get warm as well, though not very hot to the touch. I have an ASUS M5A99X motherboard. If voltage could be a problem, is it too difficult to use a molex connector? I'm afraid I've never heard of the term.

I've installed Speedfan, but it doesn't seem to give me my CPU reading... only GPU, Temp1, Temp2, Temp3 and HD0

 

[gretagail]

Ok I've installed HWMonitor, and it gives me a reading of 40C, which isn't too bad... hmm. Now I'm a little stumped. If it isn't a cooling issue, what could it be? That isn't normal behavior as far as I know.

 

[buzznut]

Ok I've installed HWMonitor, and it gives me a reading of 40C, which isn't too bad... hmm. Now I'm a little stumped. If it isn't a cooling issue, what could it be? That isn't normal behavior as far as I know.

Is that a 40C idle temp? Because that could get hot pretty quickly under load. I've had my FX 8120 under a similar cooler, the Antec 620 for about six months and it just quit on me. It certainly does sound like a temperature issue.

For my AMD rigs, I use AMD overdrive to test and monitor. It has a benchmark utility and a stress tester and you can monitor the core temps easily while doing these. I highly recommend AOD for folks with AMD processors, it is very helpful, especially when overclocking. In the meantime you could run a game or 3dMark program and monitor temps to see how high they rise under load.

 

[gretagail]

I've run the monitor while playing a few games and you're right, it shoots up to 70C. However, the comp never shuts down while I'm playing anything, and many times I won't play games during a session and it will still shut down after being left idle for a while.

With temperatures like that, it looks like I do need to either reinstall this cooling system or buy a new one. I'm going to try updating my bios as well and see if I get any better results.

 

[gretagail]

Ok, so while buying thermal compound at ye olde local computer store, I spoke with a man who told me there was a setting in Windows under advanced power settings where you can set the hard drive to shut off after so many minutes of being idle. I just checked, and my hard drive was set to shut off after 20 minutes. I can't believe it was that simple; I just didn't think there were controls for something like this. Thank you so much everyone. You've all been awesome.

 

[gretagail]

Best answer selected by gretagail.