CPU Problems - Sluggish Framerate In-Game

[Fenom356]

Hi, I'm having a few problems with my CPU. It's an AMD Phenom x4 Black Edition. I went out today to purchase new RAM, 4 more gigs ontop of my 4 that I already have. I have this really huge CPU heat sink that's an absolute ***** to put in and take out. Anyway, I had to take it out to install more RAM, I did so and held it carefully while installing the RAM. The cooling gell on the cpu looked fine and when I went to go put the heat sink back on, i had much more difficulty than taking it off. It was horribly designed with screws that need to be applied with at least 40 pounds of force to put in. I may have been too much force on the cpu but I'm not sure. Then after evertything was installed, it noticed the RAM upgrade and everything's fine. But when I went to play a game, I got very slugging frame-rate almost as if it were going from normal speed to slow-motion very quickly and it's almost unbearable. I tested out the cpu using AMD Overdrive and these are the readings I got.

Frequency: ~800MHz
Multiplier: 4
VID: 1
Temperature: ~51 degrees Celsius

I spent a lot of money on the cpu and i'd be extremely upset if it's broken. Please help me find out a way to fix this, I really need help and I dont exactly have a lot of money. If it is broken, please tell me a way to get it repaired without spending a lot of money. Thanks guys.

 

[pro2a]

First off... nothing should be forced into your PC. That is a sure way to break something.

I'd say an easy solution would be to get a smaller heatsink. I do know that some heat sinks can hinder the addition of new RAM because of their size and proximity to the memory slots. There are a number of things that could have gone wrong. You could have bent a pin on your processor or the heatsink may not be sitting flush with your processor. Sometimes too much thermal paste is just as bad as none at all. I'd recommend taking it out, checking the pins for damage and check the CPU slot for damage as well. Clean off the thermal paste. Take out the new RAM, put one drop of thermal paste on the CPU, reinstall the heatsink and try again.

If it still chunks up on you, it very well could be the CPU.

Edit: What kind of RAM are you using and what exact model of CPU do you have?

 

[carnageX]

Hi, I'm having a few problems with my CPU. It's an AMD Phenom x4 Black Edition. I went out today to purchase new RAM, 4 more gigs ontop of my 4 that I already have. I have this really huge CPU heat sink that's an absolute ***** to put in and take out. Anyway, I had to take it out to install more RAM, I did so and held it carefully while installing the RAM. The cooling gell on the cpu looked fine and when I went to go put the heat sink back on, i had much more difficulty than taking it off. It was horribly designed with screws that need to be applied with at least 40 pounds of force to put in. I may have been too much force on the cpu but I'm not sure. Then after evertything was installed, it noticed the RAM upgrade and everything's fine. But when I went to play a game, I got very slugging frame-rate almost as if it were going from normal speed to slow-motion very quickly and it's almost unbearable. I tested out the cpu using AMD Overdrive and these are the readings I got.

Frequency: ~800MHz
Multiplier: 4
VID: 1
Temperature: ~51 degrees Celsius

I spent a lot of money on the cpu and i'd be extremely upset if it's broken. Please help me find out a way to fix this, I really need help and I dont exactly have a lot of money. If it is broken, please tell me a way to get it repaired without spending a lot of money. Thanks guys.

I think AMD calls it "Cool 'n Quiet" in the BIOS. Try disabling that, and it should kick it up to the full speed.

How much thermal compound did you apply?

First off... nothing should be forced into your PC. That is a sure way to break something.

I'd say an easy solution would be to get a smaller heatsink. I do know that some heat sinks can hinder the addition of new RAM because of their size and proximity to the memory slots. There are a number of things that could have gone wrong. You could have bent a pin on your processor or the heatsink may not be sitting flush with your processor. Sometimes too much thermal paste is just as bad as none at all. I'd recommend taking it out, checking the pins for damage and check the CPU slot for damage as well. Clean off the thermal paste. Take out the new RAM, put one drop of thermal paste on the CPU, reinstall the heatsink and try again.

If it still chunks up on you, it very well could be the CPU.

Edit: What kind of RAM are you using and what exact model of CPU do you have?

If it was a bent pin or something like that, he would be having more than just problem in-game. He more than likely wouldn't even be able to boot up because it would be shorting out or something similar because not all of the pins are making contact. Plus, if he only removed the heatsink, and not actually the CPU (sounds like he didn't), then bent pins wouldn't be a cause, because the only way that could happen is if he removed the CPU from the board as well and tried to force it in as well.

 

[Fenom356]

I applied quite a bit, when I lifted it off, there was a fair amount on there. I'll try disabling the cool 'n Quiet in the BIOS when I boot up.

 

[carnageX]

You don't need a lot on there. You only need about a rice-sized to smaller than a pea-sized drop on there in the middle of the CPU, and then push the heatsink down and let the weight of the heatsink spread it out evenly over the CPU.

You could also try running some CPU stress tests to see what kind of temps/speeds you're getting from your CPU.

What kind of thermal compound did you use, by the way?

 

[Fenom356]

I disabled Cool 'n' Quiet, and everything seems to be running at higher frequencies, but the temperature has increased up to 88 degrees celsius and I'm still getting problems in-game. I'll try wiping off the thermal paste and re-applying it. What should I use to wipe it off and what brand of thermal paste should I use. Please help me, and thanks in advance.

 

[Fenom356]

I'm Using Patriot Memory Sector 5 G Series PC3-10666 1333 MHz. The CPU is X4955 AMD Phenom II x4 Black Edition 955 .

 

[Thomas]

Use as5 and you can clean the old off with a klenex. Something is up with those temps, Check that the cpu cooler is seated properly. I would put the oem cooler back on if you have it rather than risk damage forcing the large one.

 

[pro2a]

Just use any cloth that won't generate static electricity. I find toilet paper works fine.

Arctic Silver is a good brand. But most thermal paste is fine. As I mentioned earlier if you have an AMD chipset I have 2 smaller heatsinks laying around someplace and they kept my Phenom II 945 cool even during high stress games. Just let me know, but they are generally inexpensive to begin with, or you can just use your factory one. It will help with the conflicting space with your RAM.

 

[carnageX]

Use as5 and you can clean the old off with a klenex. Something is up with those temps, Check that the cpu cooler is seated properly. I would put the oem cooler back on if you have it rather than risk damage forcing the large one.

Just use any cloth that won't generate static electricity. I find toilet paper works fine.

Arctic Silver is a good brand. But most thermal paste is fine. As I mentioned earlier if you have an AMD chipset I have 2 smaller heatsinks laying around someplace and they kept my Phenom II 945 cool even during high stress games. Just let me know, but they are generally inexpensive to begin with, or you can just use your factory one. It will help with the conflicting space with your RAM.

No to both of those lol.

Use isopropyl alcohol (rubbing alcohol) and coffee filters. Coffee filters are non-lint (kleenex and toilet paper can leave residue behind). The higher the percentage of rubbing alcohol the better.

As for what kind of thermal compound to use, I recommend TX-2. It's cheap, and better than AS5. It doesn't have the curing time like AS5 does, and performs better.