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Forums > Home› Support› PC, Network, and Other Technical Issues› Windows and General: PC, Network, and Other Technical Issues

So I find out that Star Trek Online eats a lot of power...

lonnehartlonnehart Member Posts: 846 Arc User
edited August 2014 in Windows and General: PC, Network, and Other Technical Issues
I bought my brand new FX 8350 processor and an Asus A5A76I -M motherboard to go with it. Found out the CPU was running incredbily hot even with a good cooler, so I decided to undervolt it. Took its Vcore from 1.284 to 1.12 and found that the computer still booted. However, when I tried to load Star Trek Online it shut off. I guess the other clue to this problem was my UPS beeping at me over 13 times (whcih I then replaced with a Line Conditioner to keep power stable).

It's running stable now undervolted at 1.1375. Anyone else with an AMD FX 8350 processor run into this problem?
*sings* "I like Gammera! He's so neat!!! He is full of turtle meat!!!"

"Hah! You are doomed! You're only armed with that pathetic excuse for a musical instrument!!!" *the Savage Beast moments before Lonnehart the Bard used music to soothe him... then beat him to death with his Fat Lute*
Post edited by lonnehart on

Comments

  • captainoblivouscaptainoblivous Member Posts: 2,284 Arc User
    edited July 2014
    lonnehart wrote: »
    I bought my brand new FX 8350 processor and an Asus A5A76I -M motherboard to go with it. Found out the CPU was running incredbily hot even with a good cooler, so I decided to undervolt it. Took its Vcore from 1.284 to 1.12 and found that the computer still booted. However, when I tried to load Star Trek Online it shut off. I guess the other clue to this problem was my UPS beeping at me over 13 times (whcih I then replaced with a Line Conditioner to keep power stable).

    It's running stable now undervolted at 1.1375. Anyone else with an AMD FX 8350 processor run into this problem?

    It's just that STO is very hard on CPUs. You undervolted and booted it, but as soon as you put it under load (i.e. started sto) *pop* it shut down.
    It's not that STO eats power itself, it is just a very big load for a CPU to bear.
    I need a beer.

  • lonnehartlonnehart Member Posts: 846 Arc User
    edited July 2014
    I see. Well... I guess this risk is better than having the CPU heat up to 70 degrees celsius when at the stock Vcore of 1.284. So far the machine is running smoothly. But as far as I know undervolting your CPU is not harmful to it though I've read at least one comment on some forums about something else overheating due to drawing in so little electricity...
    *sings* "I like Gammera! He's so neat!!! He is full of turtle meat!!!"

    "Hah! You are doomed! You're only armed with that pathetic excuse for a musical instrument!!!" *the Savage Beast moments before Lonnehart the Bard used music to soothe him... then beat him to death with his Fat Lute*
  • grouchyotakugrouchyotaku Member Posts: 0 Arc User
    edited July 2014
    lonnehart wrote: »
    I see. Well... I guess this risk is better than having the CPU heat up to 70 degrees celsius when at the stock Vcore of 1.284. So far the machine is running smoothly. But as far as I know undervolting your CPU is not harmful to it though I've read at least one comment on some forums about something else overheating due to drawing in so little electricity...

    Unless you reduced the CPU clock speed as well, undervolting the core may be risking reliability problems. This is related to the same reasons why CPUs and Memory are often are given increased voltage when over-clocked...
  • lonnehartlonnehart Member Posts: 846 Arc User
    edited July 2014
    Well, the system is still stable right now. No problems yet. I've read that some Asus boards overvolt their CPUs (that looks like it was the case with mine). Out of the box my stock cooler couldn't keep my CPU out of the danger temperatures. This was the case even after switching to another cooler (the Gammax 200) which should've brought down the temperature to safe levels without overclocking.

    Luckily undervolting has brought the temperature down to the point where it never even reaches the danger level (according to AMD Overdrive anyway).
    *sings* "I like Gammera! He's so neat!!! He is full of turtle meat!!!"

    "Hah! You are doomed! You're only armed with that pathetic excuse for a musical instrument!!!" *the Savage Beast moments before Lonnehart the Bard used music to soothe him... then beat him to death with his Fat Lute*
  • grouchyotakugrouchyotaku Member Posts: 0 Arc User
    edited August 2014
    lonnehart wrote: »
    Well, the system is still stable right now. No problems yet. I've read that some Asus boards overvolt their CPUs (that looks like it was the case with mine). Out of the box my stock cooler couldn't keep my CPU out of the danger temperatures. This was the case even after switching to another cooler (the Gammax 200) which should've brought down the temperature to safe levels without overclocking....

    So how good is the air circulation in your computer case... It sounds like you need an additional case fan or two...
  • lonnehartlonnehart Member Posts: 846 Arc User
    edited August 2014
    grouchyotaku wrote: »
    So how good is the air circulation in your computer case... It sounds like you need an additional case fan or two...

    I have five fans plus the two in the 700w power supply. Two pulling in air from the front (with all the HDD cables out of the way), one pulling in air from the side, and the last two along with the power supply pulling in air towards the back. My last CPU (an Athlon II 260 I think) ran pretty cool in the case with just the stock cooler.


    I'm very tempted to modify the top of my case to accept yet another fan so the hot air could be pulled out from the top as well to help cool the case interior...


    WhirlCPU_zpsf917a429.jpg

    Oh... and that's just Autobot Whirl helping out... Optimus is not great with computers and I don't trust Megatron at all...
    *sings* "I like Gammera! He's so neat!!! He is full of turtle meat!!!"

    "Hah! You are doomed! You're only armed with that pathetic excuse for a musical instrument!!!" *the Savage Beast moments before Lonnehart the Bard used music to soothe him... then beat him to death with his Fat Lute*
  • wildweasalwildweasal Member Posts: 1,053 Arc User
    edited August 2014
    Liquid cooling FTW!!!
    3ondby_zpsikszslyx.jpg
  • lonnehartlonnehart Member Posts: 846 Arc User
    edited August 2014
    wildweasal wrote: »
    Liquid cooling FTW!!!



    Maybe if I was overclocking... and I had a ton of money to drop on a liquid cooling solution... AND if I was willing to take the risk of leakage I'd go that way. T_T


    Of course I could go THIS route...

    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XGcW7Ii_BKo
    *sings* "I like Gammera! He's so neat!!! He is full of turtle meat!!!"

    "Hah! You are doomed! You're only armed with that pathetic excuse for a musical instrument!!!" *the Savage Beast moments before Lonnehart the Bard used music to soothe him... then beat him to death with his Fat Lute*
  • captainoblivouscaptainoblivous Member Posts: 2,284 Arc User
    edited August 2014
    lonnehart wrote: »
    Maybe if I was overclocking... and I had a ton of money to drop on a liquid cooling solution... AND if I was willing to take the risk of leakage I'd go that way. T_T


    Of course I could go THIS route...

    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XGcW7Ii_BKo

    lol, I was just about to say oil cooling xD
    I need a beer.

  • lonnehartlonnehart Member Posts: 846 Arc User
    edited August 2014
    Just out of curiosity... which cools better? A water system with a radiator and pipes, or a tank of mineral oil also with an external radiator?
    *sings* "I like Gammera! He's so neat!!! He is full of turtle meat!!!"

    "Hah! You are doomed! You're only armed with that pathetic excuse for a musical instrument!!!" *the Savage Beast moments before Lonnehart the Bard used music to soothe him... then beat him to death with his Fat Lute*
  • aureleusaureleus Member Posts: 175 Arc User
    edited August 2014
    lonnehart wrote: »
    Just out of curiosity... which cools better? A water system with a radiator and pipes, or a tank of mineral oil also with an external radiator?


    Avoid the mineral oil, why ? cause its a pain in the butt when you need to do anything hardware wise.

    And about your System, are all of your fans acting as intakes ? As in blowing air Into the case ?

    Also that Gammax 200 cooler is a POS, I'd look into something that has a better base then that thing. As its pretty apparent that even with that new cooler your Still having to underclock it.

    Look into a Zalman CNPS10X Performa or similar cooler, I'm running my Phenom II X4 955BE @ 3.8GHz @ v1.3625 and almost Never see 110F or 43c while playing STO

    I suggest setting up your case fans like this, equal intake and equal exhaust, this will create an airflow through the case which will carry the hot air out when done right. An leave the side panels on lolz otherwise this does not work.


    Here's an example using my PC :D.
    http://kaitheus.deviantart.com/gallery/49861010/Carbide-Air-540-WIP

    And temps at idle with an Overclock and slight voltage increase.
    http://kaitheus.deviantart.com/art/Low-Temps-473005215?ga_submit_new=10%253A1407137440

    Note that on average it has been around 100+ in my area all summer >.>, and ofc temps are going to greatly differ from 1 PC to another based on there setup.

    Also you might want to think about a new case :P, something with at least 120mm case fans :D, 80mm fans are pretty much obsolete in most cases....hehe....see what I did there :D.

    Something that might interest you.
    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4NYHC3DXynM&list=UUkWQ0gDrqOCarmUKmppD7GQ

    Anywho! hope some of this helps out! Ooh! before I forget, have you checked the thermal paste ? if your temps are That bad at stock then it might just be that the paste wasn't applied correctly or that the heat sink its self was not seated right.
  • lonnehartlonnehart Member Posts: 846 Arc User
    edited August 2014
    Case fans: 3 blowing in, 2 + power supply fans (2) blowing out. All towards the back. My system is a bit cooler now.

    As for having to undervolt, I was told by the computer salesman about how Asus boards tend to be set to draw more voltage for the CPU than they're set for (the board I'm using is the Asus M5A 78I-M/USB3.

    If I want a better cooler I'd have to order it online, and even then most places won't send stuff to PO Boxes...


    I AM looking into a better case. I wonder what would happen if I build my own case... Y'know... take a mannequin and modify it into a computer case (someone did that before... can't find the picture for it)... and make said mannequin look like an Orion "Slavegirl". Hmm....
    *sings* "I like Gammera! He's so neat!!! He is full of turtle meat!!!"

    "Hah! You are doomed! You're only armed with that pathetic excuse for a musical instrument!!!" *the Savage Beast moments before Lonnehart the Bard used music to soothe him... then beat him to death with his Fat Lute*
  • greendragon527greendragon527 Member Posts: 386 Arc User
    edited August 2014
    Being able to boot won't guarantee stability under load. I suggest prime95 for a few hours to really stress your system. Also, as aurelius said, looks like your case fans are all 80mm, so you may want to find a case with 120mm openings. Far as case suggestions the CM 690 II is a really nice case.
  • aureleusaureleus Member Posts: 175 Arc User
    edited August 2014
    Here's a case suggestion.

    http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16811139038

    For what it is it's actually priced really well :O.

    Also you may be able to goto say a bestbuy or similar store and order what you need from them and pick it up from there too, if for some reason you can't have it sent to you directly.
  • lonnehartlonnehart Member Posts: 846 Arc User
    edited August 2014
    greendragon527 wrote: »
    Being able to boot won't guarantee stability under load. I suggest prime95 for a few hours to really stress your system. Also, as aurelius said, looks like your case fans are all 80mm, so you may want to find a case with 120mm openings. Far as case suggestions the CM 690 II is a really nice case.

    It's okay. If my system goes BSOD I just bump the Vcore up a notch. Haven't had any issues so far at Vcore 1.14.

    I live on Guam, so that makes going to the big name US stores very difficult. There are only two I know of that will ship items here, but they won't ship to a P.O. Box. I'm definitely saving up for a new case and the fans to go with it but for now I'll have to make do.


    That reminds me... I have to get Autobot Whirl out of my computer case. He can only spin his helicopter blades for so long before he needs an energon break...
    *sings* "I like Gammera! He's so neat!!! He is full of turtle meat!!!"

    "Hah! You are doomed! You're only armed with that pathetic excuse for a musical instrument!!!" *the Savage Beast moments before Lonnehart the Bard used music to soothe him... then beat him to death with his Fat Lute*
  • aureleusaureleus Member Posts: 175 Arc User
    edited August 2014
    Have you checked the thermal paste and or the heat sink to make sure there seated right or applied correctly ? With the thermal paste a Pea sized dot in the middle of the CPU is all that is needed, the heat sink will do the spreading for you. :D
  • lonnehartlonnehart Member Posts: 846 Arc User
    edited August 2014
    aureleus wrote: »
    Have you checked the thermal paste and or the heat sink to make sure there seated right or applied correctly ? With the thermal paste a Pea sized dot in the middle of the CPU is all that is needed, the heat sink will do the spreading for you. :D

    Yep. Too much ceramic paste is bad for the CPU. And the thing seems to heat up the most while loading STO (while on the screen which is currently the Romulan symbol). Quality also counts, so I bought the best ceramic paste the store could buy (that's being held by Autobot Whirl in the picture I posted).


    So far the system has held up while playing the new Firefall MMO at very high settings... I only get slowdown when huge explosions happen. And the CPU doesn't seem stressed out (I always have AMD Overdrive in the background so I can check on it).


    Hmm... now that this conversation has gone to keeping our PCs cool, maybe the people in charge can change the thread title to "Star Trek Online makes my new AMD FX 8350 CPU work too hard" or something appropriate?
    *sings* "I like Gammera! He's so neat!!! He is full of turtle meat!!!"

    "Hah! You are doomed! You're only armed with that pathetic excuse for a musical instrument!!!" *the Savage Beast moments before Lonnehart the Bard used music to soothe him... then beat him to death with his Fat Lute*
  • aureleusaureleus Member Posts: 175 Arc User
    edited August 2014
    Well from what I can tell from the photo is that thermal paste seems pretty *Generic*, which are usually best left alone lols. I use either Arctic silver 5 or Tuniq TX-2, they work really well. Also are you running that PC with the side panel always off ?

    Running a PC with the side panel off actually makes the cooling worse inside the case as it can't actually control the airflow with the installed case fans.

    Also if the exhausts on that case have grills *which is Does* Cut them Out. I say this cause most cases that used 80mm fans had grills that did more hard then good when it came to airflow so I'd cut them out, even the intakes if they also have grills, just get rid of them lolz.

    If you do decide to cut them out and you can't do it with plain metal cutters, you may have to use a dremil, in that case your want to remove everything in the case 1st or you get metal dust all over your hardware which can or will cause shorts in the system :P.

    Doing Just this small mod to the intakes and exhaust will actually increase the CFM or airflow your fans put out, if your notice on my case my fan grills are very open, which lets the fans push the air out or in very easily.
  • UnknownUnknown
    edited August 2014
    This content has been removed.
  • mondoidmondoid Member Posts: 305 Arc User
    edited August 2014
    To the OP, I typed in your board and it does not exist.

    I used Google and the only place your board appears is on this thread.
  • aureleusaureleus Member Posts: 175 Arc User
    edited August 2014
    mondoid wrote: »
    To the OP, I typed in your board and it does not exist.

    I used Google and the only place your board appears is on this thread.

    Pretty sure that this is his mobo. :D

    http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813131942

    Found it based on the Northbridge heatsink lolz.
  • lonnehartlonnehart Member Posts: 846 Arc User
    edited August 2014
    aureleus wrote: »
    Pretty sure that this is his mobo. :D

    http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813131942

    Found it based on the Northbridge heatsink lolz.

    Yep. That's the very board. It was pretty cheap (for here anyway).
    *sings* "I like Gammera! He's so neat!!! He is full of turtle meat!!!"

    "Hah! You are doomed! You're only armed with that pathetic excuse for a musical instrument!!!" *the Savage Beast moments before Lonnehart the Bard used music to soothe him... then beat him to death with his Fat Lute*
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