Having trouble with CPU temps, AMD FX-4170

[grabmyrooster]

I bought an AMD FX-4170 a loooooong time ago, looking to get an unlocked quad-core for a low price. It was an awesome processor for as long as I can remember, up until it just quit one day. I had a Corsair Hydro H60 liquid cooling setup, so I didn't think it would get that hot. Highest temps I ever got on it, even after gaming for hours, was about 60 Celsius. I foolishly blamed my motherboard and have been using my old test i3-2100 for over a year now.

Trying the FX-4170 again, I get temps of over 100 degrees Celsius in under 2 minutes, and then the PC shuts off before even booting Windows. I open the case and touch the processor, and it's ice cold. I'm thinking the temperature sensor on the processor must have been damaged (correct me if I'm being a n00b but I'm pretty sure that's what happened...) because I did have it overclocked to around 5.0GHz, but I also had the H60 running at all times.

My question is, is there a way for me to just disable the temperature sensor on the processor itself, through the BIOS or some other method? I'd love my quad-core 4GHz+ CPU back instead of this dual-core 3.1GHz nonsense I currently have

Any help is appreciated!!

 

[clutchc]

The temp sensor and its firmware are part of the processor's hardware. It cannot be modified. I'm surprised the i3-2100 is performing worse than the FX-4170. The Hyper Threaded dual core is on a par with the Pseudo quad core. http://www.cpu-world.com/Compare/349/AMD_FX-Series_FX-4170_vs_Intel_Core_i3_i3-2100.html
But of course the FX-4170 can be overclocked to give it the edge.

 

[grabmyrooster]

The temp sensor and its firmware are part of the processor's hardware. It cannot be modified. I'm surprised the i3-2100 is performing worse than the FX-4170. The Hyper Threaded dual core is on a par with the Pseudo quad core. http://www.cpu-world.com/Compare/349/AMD_FX-Series_FX-4170_vs_Intel_Core_i3_i3-2100.html
But of course the FX-4170 can be overclocked to give it the edge.

The i3-2100 is slower and has less memory support. Power consumption is not an issue for me, so there isn't a single way that the i3 performs better than the FX-4170. It doesn't even need to be overclocked to have an "edge", it's out-of-the-box 1.1GHz faster than the i3-2100. That's not what I came here to discuss, however, and I appreciate the information you provided regarding the issue I initially had.

 

[Calculatron]

What motherboard, and PSU, are you using?

What voltages were you using?

Does your H60 sound differently from what it used to? Perhaps there is a bad bearing? (Have you cleaned out your case and radiator lately?)

 

[grabmyrooster]

What motherboard, and PSU, are you using?

What voltages were you using?

Does your H60 sound differently from what it used to? Perhaps there is a bad bearing? (Have you cleaned out your case and radiator lately?)

The voltages I don't remember exactly, but I had been running the CPU at around 4.8GHz-5GHz for several months before anything happened to it. I didn't change any settings and it had been running the same settings stably for several months then decided it didn't want to anymore.

The motherboard it was using at the time was a Gigabyte GA-970A-D3, and the replacement I bought before finding out about the temperature issue was an MSI 970A-G46.

The PSU is a Corsair GS700. It's a 700 watt 80 Plus Bronze PSU, it's got more than enough power.

I clean the case of dust once every two weeks or so, as well as the radiator. As I said in the original post, the CPU is cold to the touch even after the BIOS displays it at temperatures in excess of 100 degrees Celsius, so the cooling isn't the problem. The CPU is as cold as it was coming out of the box when I first got it.

 

[Calculatron]

Both of those motherboards had 4+1 phases on their VRMs, and weren't meant for serious overclocking, although the Gigabyte board could withstand it better than the MSI.

If everything else was optimal, it seems like the issue was either the amount of voltage you were feeding your CPU, or the Voltage Regulator Modules on your boards. Without knowing what voltages you were using, we'll never be completely certain.

 

[grabmyrooster]

Both of those motherboards had 4+1 phases on their VRMs, and weren't meant for serious overclocking, although the Gigabyte board could withstand it better than the MSI.

If everything else was optimal, it seems like the issue was either the amount of voltage you were feeding your CPU, or the Voltage Regulator Modules on your boards. Without knowing what voltages you were using, we'll never be completely certain.

Would that affect it even after switching back to stock clock and voltages?

 

[Calculatron]

If the components, either VRM or CPU, had been degraded, it could.

 

[grabmyrooster]

If the components, either VRM or CPU, had been degraded, it could.

Well, I guess the only solution I could try now is just disabling the temperature sensors on the motherboard(s) and trying that. Thanks for all the info!

 

[Calculatron]

Well, the best thing to do would be to check what voltages you are feeding the CPU, and probably go back to stock settings (for the meantime.)

1.55 volts is the absolute maximum you want to feed your CPU. Anything above 1.5 volts is kind of scary; most people try to stay below that. Even with proper VRM cooling, your CPU cooling solution may have issues keeping things cool with anything above 1.45.