I've been worried for a little bit about my new processor since I have a bad heatsink (im getting a new one tuesday morning) since an incident relating Minecraft. When I was checking HWMonitor, it had turned out that it reached 98 degrees celsius (201F) without me even knowing, and other games I've been playing have had the temperature make it up to 91 degrees celsius, and Deus Ex 1 making it rise up to 81-85 degrees.
I was wondering if I should look for any signs of damage and how I would look for them. I would also like to know what temperatures I have to hit to stop gaming and how much my processor has to take to fail or degrade.
I have an AMD Phenom II X4 980 Quad.
Your CPU is already damaged.
The only way to tell is with a CPU benchmarking program. If you benchmark the CPU before and after extreme overheating, you will see that it has lost performance. Each overheating event will continue to degrade processor performance until something fries and the CPU dies completely.
Every CPU has a different TJunct (thermal junction, the temperature at which the CPU starts damaging itself from overheating.) Most AMD CPUs have a TJunct between 62.5-67C, while most Intel CPUs have a TJunct around 72C.
Just stop using your computer until you get a better heatsink. I recommend the Hyper 212+, or in the event that doesn't fit in your case, a Hyper TX3.
[QUOTE=bohb;35858555]Your CPU is already damaged.
The only way to tell is with a CPU benchmarking program. If you benchmark the CPU before and after extreme overheating, you will see that it has lost performance. Each overheating event will continue to degrade processor performance until something fries and the CPU dies completely.
Every CPU has a different TJunct (thermal junction, the temperature at which the CPU starts damaging itself from overheating.) Most AMD CPUs have a TJunct between 62.5-67C, while most Intel CPUs have a TJunct around 72C.
Just stop using your computer until you get a better heatsink. I recommend the Hyper 212+, or in the event that doesn't fit in your case, a Hyper TX3.[/QUOTE]
AH. SHIT!
I bought a new heatsink on Saturday and im going to receive it tuesday morning and im not sure if the cpu damage is actually true. I can run CSS at 299 fps still, but when it goes up to 91 degrees, i get studdering so I immediately exit before it gets any hotter. i only played minecraft for about 3 minutes and APB: R for about 5. Are there any signs I can look for without having to partake in CPU intensive games that will make it warm?
No, any test you do is going to have to stress the CPU. Ideally you'll want to use a program that actually checks for processing errors, like Prime95, not a game. But do that [i]after[/i] you get the new heatsink.
EDIT: Also, in the meantime, you can check whether your current heatsink is actually installed properly; I've had a problem with heat before, and it turns out one of the stupid Intel clips actually wasn't clipped in all the way.
[QUOTE=shill le 2nd;35866901]No, any test you do is going to have to stress the CPU. Ideally you'll want to use a program that actually checks for processing errors, like Prime95, not a game. But do that [i]after[/i] you get the new heatsink.
EDIT: Also, in the meantime, you can check whether your current heatsink is actually installed properly; I've had a problem with heat before, and it turns out one of the stupid Intel clips actually wasn't clipped in all the way.[/QUOTE]
Alright. Just in case, I did a 20 second test to avoid hitting damage temperatures on GTA: EFLC and I got a max fps of 48 fps on all high settings, minimum I got 32.
It doesn't seem damage was done to the processor so far, I'm honestly surprised.
Yeah I dunno what bohb is talking about. Intel procs have a maximum Tjunction of 85°C-105°C, and they'll automatically downclock or even shut down if they're in danger of being damaged.
[QUOTE=shill le 2nd;35868021]Yeah I dunno what bohb is talking about. Intel procs have a maximum Tjunction of 85°C-105°C, and they'll automatically downclock or even shut down if they're in danger of being damaged.[/QUOTE]
I have an AMD, does that have less of a tjunct and a failsafe?
Almost all modern CPUs have failsafes.
[QUOTE=shill le 2nd;35868097]Almost all modern CPUs have failsafes.[/QUOTE]
Failsafe ranging from what exactly? I've been wondering this for a little while now. Failsafe for AMD as in, shut off computer, lower voltage, clock it down or what?
[QUOTE=shill le 2nd;35868097]Almost all modern CPUs have failsafes.[/QUOTE]
Yes, nearly every modern CPU does have failsafes to prevent damage, which are usually disabled by default in the BIOS. The only failsafe the CPU has that isn't BIOS controlled is the inserting NOPs into the pipeline to reduce the amount of work the CPU is doing.
The other things like down-clocking the CPU, warning beeps or shutting down are completely BIOS controlled.
I've never used a motherboard on which "shutdown when overheating" is disabled by default.
OP: If your CPU still works and you are getting awesome speeds on your games, don't sweat it. Just get that better heatsink and stop worrying.
Games are stuttering because the cpu is downclocking itself because of the heat.
Open your case and check if the cpu fan is dirty or wrongly mounted.
If not take it off and re-apply the thermal paste (remove the old stuff) or buy a whole new heatsink.
[QUOTE=shill le 2nd;35869996]I've never used a motherboard on which "shutdown when overheating" is disabled by default.[/QUOTE]
Every retail motherboard that i've purchased or worked on since 1993 has had thermal shutdown protection disabled in the BIOS. Only on manufactured computers have I seen the feature enabled by default.
[QUOTE=bohb;35876460]Every retail motherboard that i've purchased or worked on since 1993 has had thermal shutdown protection disabled in the BIOS. Only on manufactured computers have I seen the feature enabled by default.[/QUOTE]
I went though at least 3 boards when I was on watercooling and every time the pump failed to start and the CPU started cooking, it shut off real quick. No options changed.
Every board I bought so far had thermal shutdown set on 85 - 95 degrees Celsius. That was on an Asus, MSI, Asrock, Intel board sockets 939, 775, 1156, AM3+.
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