Motherboard gets hot playing game... help?

[Thompson76]

I have a M5A99FX Pro motherboard with a AMD FX-8350 processor and an Radeon 7770 graphic card. I run dual monitors. I have for about 2 months now and haven't had a problem, but I've noticed my temps started running warming and now that get scary high (to me), especially my motherboard temp.

When I'm playing a high load game (like Sims 4), my motherboard temps will run (on a good day) at 59C, but lately it's been going up to 62C-64C and the other day I got the warning that it reached 65C and in the couple of seconds it took my brain to register that and look at my temp, it was up to 68C.

My graphic card and processor run at decent temps under heavy load, right around 59C for GPU and around high 40's to low 50's for processor. It's just the motherboard that gets scary high.

What could be causing my motherboard to run that hot?

I disconnected the second monitor and the motherboard temp still runs at 59C on average (playing Sims 4). It only gets really high occasionally (again, while playing though it does run mid/high 40's idle sometimes). This motherboard isn't even a year old yet. Could it be I need a cooling system? I'm running my pc with the side off my tower and I blow it out with an air compressor once a week.

Any help is greatly appreciated.

 

[denis280]

Welcome to the forums.Thompson76.what case and cooling do you have

 

[DigDog]

either detached heatsink (.e broken mobo) or grossly excessive voltages on OC. no way that mobo should be hitting those temps.

 

[Thompson76]

Welcome to the forums.Thompson76.what case and cooling do you have

I'm not sure what my case is. Very basic case, nothing special. As for cooling, just the heatsink that came with the processor and the exhaust fan or what not at the back of the case. I'm learning as I go with this build. :'(

 

[Thompson76]

either detached heatsink (.e broken mobo) or grossly excessive voltages on OC. no way that mobo should be hitting those temps.

I'm assuming OC means overclock? Sorry, still new to all this. I don't overclock my stuff. It's all set to factory settings.


Actually, my step dad is the one that puts my pc together. He said the heatsink it has didn't need thermal paste because of some metal backing it has (not sure on the details here). Should he detach it and reattach with thermal paste this time?

The motherboard is less than a year old. I know that really doesn't matter since things can go out at anytime, but should I start looking to see if it's still under a warranty and see about sending it back?

I should add, my PSU (I believe that's the abbreviation for power supply) is only like a 450-550. Would that be a cause or help cause this?

 

[DigDog]

should he use thermal paste? hell yes. he should.

but, i dont get what you are saying. what heatsink, the one of the CPU? and when you say your motherboard is heating up, do you mean the CPU? or do you have a monitoring software that gives you the temp of the mobo?

a motherboard should not heat up under normal usage. your mobo has a MASSIVE heatsink over the vrm which is stuck on it with thermal adhesive at the factory. this is the mobo, not the cpu we are talking about.

now, if you have overclocked and used a ton of excessive voltage, you would get problems. but you didn't, so the other possibility is that the heatsink got detached because of rough handling or poor assembly.
inspect the mobo. look for any wiggle from the heatsink

if it moves, then RMA (return to manufacturer) the board.

 

[Thompson76]

should he use thermal paste? hell yes. he should.

but, i dont get what you are saying. what heatsink, the one of the CPU? and when you say your motherboard is heating up, do you mean the CPU? or do you have a monitoring software that gives you the temp of the mobo?

a motherboard should not heat up under normal usage. your mobo has a MASSIVE heatsink over the vrm which is stuck on it with thermal adhesive at the factory. this is the mobo, not the cpu we are talking about.

now, if you have overclocked and used a ton of excessive voltage, you would get problems. but you didn't, so the other possibility is that the heatsink got detached because of rough handling or poor assembly.
inspect the mobo. look for any wiggle from the heatsink

if it moves, then RMA (return to manufacturer) the board.

The heatsink I was referring to is the one on the processor. I do apologize. I am completely new and still learning. I didn't know the blue things on my motherboard were heatsinks as well. I will have them checked.

Yes, my motherboard is heating up. I have 3 programs to check temps with (speccy, OCCT, and Hardware Monitor) that I keep up with temps on (I know to only run one at a time. I tend to favor Hardware Monitor, so I usually use it). It shows the temps of everything... motherboard, processor, hard drive, graphic card. And only my motherboard is running hotter than it should.

Everything else is running fairly fine.

The graphic card was running warm (in the mid to high 60s) which is why I took the side off my tower. I'll be getting a new tower and upgrading several parts on my pc in the next couple months but for now, opening the side was the only way to lower the graphic card temps and then I got Hardware Monitor and that's when I noticed my motherboard temps slowly started getting higher.

Thank you so much for your help!! I'll have some thermal paste put on my processors heatsink and check the heatsinks on the motherboard for wiggling.

 

[Danrr]

Hi,

As DigDog said check the heatsink on your motherboard, also you can verify the temperature with your hand, just be careful and start with the PC cooled down not on heavy load, if the motherboard feels hot there my be a problem with it if not it can be a software issue.

 

[Thompson76]

Just a quick update (and hopefully a little help if anyone else runs into this issue later in the future)...

None of my heatsinks on the motherboard were loose, we did add thermal paste to the processor's heatsink, but I don't think that was my problem...

While I was looking over my motherboard heatsinks, it dawned on me where my graphics card actually was. It was in the top slot, butted right against the heatsink on the motherboard. Open Hardware Monitor shows two temps for my motherboard, and it was always only temp #1 that ran warm/hot.

We moved the graphics card to a slot further away from the motherboards heatsink and my motherboard temps are running good again. I have my case closed again, so my graphics card is running a little warm when under load (60-65C) but that is to be expected with the case and air flow that I have. The main thing is that my motherboard temps are good (around 30C normally, and it's gotten as high as 53C under load). Again, not great, but considering my case and air flow, much much better.

I will be getting a better case, and I'm going to get the NZXT Kraken X61 Cooling system and the R9 280X Vapor X, so I'm sure my temps will run great (now that I know to keep that graphics card away from those heatsinks...)

Thank you so much for all ya'lls help. It was very much appreciated.

 

[Puffnstuff]

Before you commit to a new case take a look at it and make sure that it has adequate ventilation so heat doesn't build up inside.

 

[Thompson76]

Before you commit to a new case take a look at it and make sure that it has adequate ventilation so heat doesn't build up inside.

The case I'm looking at has a 200mm fan on the side, 2 x 120mm Top Fans, 1 x 120mm Front Fan, and 1 x 120mm Rear Fan. Hopefully with that and the liquid cooling that I'm looking at, I'll be golden. I hope. lol

Thanks for the tip, as I am learning as I go.

 

[Puffnstuff]

I've been in my cooler master haf 932 for 6 years now and it's been the best case I've ever used. I have positive air pressure throughout and that is important for keeping temps in check. If you've never looked at one you should look at the fan arrangements just as a reference.

 

[Shadowjump]

While I was looking over my motherboard heatsinks, it dawned on me where my graphics card actually was. It was in the top slot, butted right against the heatsink on the motherboard. Open Hardware Monitor shows two temps for my motherboard, and it was always only temp #1 that ran warm/hot.

If it was that, it could be the hot air from the GPU hitting the temp sensor. The ideal thing to do is touch the heatsink while playing and check for yourself.

My friend has the same issue, although his motherboard is watercooled. Because the GPU air hits the temp sensors, its a lot higher than it is to the touch.

 

[Thompson76]

If it was that, it could be the hot air from the GPU hitting the temp sensor. The ideal thing to do is touch the heatsink while playing and check for yourself.

My friend has the same issue, although his motherboard is watercooled. Because the GPU air hits the temp sensors, its a lot higher than it is to the touch.

I did touch the heatsink closest to the graphic card when it dawned on me what could be happening. I felt a lot of hot air hitting my hand from the graphic card but the heatsink didn't feel hot at all.

On Open Hardware Monitor (the one I mainly use to monitor temps) shows a temp #1 and a temp #2 for my motherboard. I'm *assuming* it is a NB and SB (though I couldn't tell you which is which on my motherboard). temp #2 stayed in the 30's no matter the load (barely hitting 32-33C while playing my game). But temp #1 was in the 60's, hitting a high of 68C at one point. I'm (again) assuming that temp #1 was the heatsink closest to my graphic card.

Since moving my graphic card I've played Sims 3 and the max temp #1 hit was 54C (while fast forwarding thru the work day) but generally stayed around the 50-52 area.

And also since the move, I have played Sims 4 (which is the game I played that had the high temps) and temp #1 was in the 50's, but I didn't write it down to compare yet. But, 50's is lower than where it was running.

Of course, now that I have my case closed my GPU runs on the warm side again (55ish for Sims 3, 59ish for Sims 4) and has gotten as high as 64C. But as long as the temp doesn't climb higher than 65C under heavy load, than I'll leave my case closed since it's better in the long run (until I get my case).

This is the case I'm looking into getting. http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16811144278

 

[Puffnstuff]

What kind of budget do you have for your case? I would seriously recommend a full tower with the largest fans to get the air flow needed to keep things cool.

 

[DigDog]

i wouldnt get the kraken. thats for hardcore overclocks, just get either a 212EVO or a DH14. i *seriously* doubt you will need more than the DH14.

 

[Shadowjump]

If your heatsink was not that hot, then the sensor was getting hit by the hot air of the GPU.

Also, dont get that case, because if you want to install a side fan, the vents will make a whistling sound and at the end you ll end removing the fan.

 

[Thompson76]

What kind of budget do you have for your case? I would seriously recommend a full tower with the largest fans to get the air flow needed to keep things cool.

I don't want to spend more than 75 on the case, since I'm going to be spending about 800 already on my other stuff, too.

 

[Thompson76]

i wouldnt get the kraken. thats for hardcore overclocks, just get either a 212EVO or a DH14. i *seriously* doubt you will need more than the DH14.

Really? I don't overclock, ever. I'll look into those two that you listed.

Thanks!

 

[Thompson76]

If your heatsink was not that hot, then the sensor was getting hit by the hot air of the GPU.

Also, dont get that case, because if you want to install a side fan, the vents will make a whistling sound and at the end you ll end removing the fan.

I'm not sure I understand. It has a side fan with it... I don't plan to add any other fans (just the water cooling that I get).

 

[Shadowjump]

I'm not sure I understand. It has a side fan with it... I don't plan to add any other fans (just the water cooling that I get).

Exactly. That side fan is going to generate a lot of noise. A LOT. To the point you ll have to remove it.

I got this http://b.scdn.gr/images/sku_images/003158/3158802/top5.jpg for a friend and we ended up having to cut all the grills where the fan was, because it generated a terrible humming noise. And from what I see, the case you want has the same cut side grills for the fan.

You need something like this for a side fan. http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16811353058
And I think you want a side window, thats why you picked the APEVIA X-DREAMER4, right?

You understand now?

 

[Thompson76]

Exactly. That side fan is going to generate a lot of noise. A LOT. To the point you ll have to remove it.

I got this http://b.scdn.gr/images/sku_images/003158/3158802/top5.jpg for a friend and we ended up having to cut all the grills where the fan was, because it generated a terrible humming noise. And from what I see, the case you want has the same cut side grills for the fan.

You need something like this for a side fan. http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16811353058
And I think you want a side window, thats why you picked the APEVIA X-DREAMER4, right?

You understand now?

OHHH!! I understand what you mean. Sorry.

Actually, what first drew me to the APEVIA X-DREAMER was that I could get it in pink (newegg doesn't offer too many pink cases, and it was the best one looks and fan/air flow wise and it has the temp display on it, too). But, I've since decided against pink (for many reasons ) and was just going to get the silver and blue because the fans are really impressive in that one. I really don't care a whole lot about the window. But, I don't want a noisy case, either. I can't handle repetitive noises. They drive me bonkers.

I'll look that case over that you linked and keep researching. Thanks for the link (and explaining it to me lol).

ETA:
I found this case. I think it would probably be a better case, too. It has decent reviews and one even said it could support larger GPU's which is required since I'm going for the 280X.
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16811353059

 

[Shadowjump]

The last case you linked is not bad, design wise, but no side fan. And thats what you want to keep your mobo cool

 

[Thompson76]

What about this case? It's a little higher than I wanted to go, but I'd rather get one that is going to do good and serve me for a long time and spend that little bit of extra.

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16811517004

 

[DigDog]

never heard of the brand.

you could get a HAF XB for that money, though.