Cooling Cooling a FX-8120 on ASRock Extreme3 970 ( High CPUTIN Temps )

Happy New Year everyone.

This year I am getting back to desktops ( and overclocking ) after almost 8 years now and I'm struggling to keep my FX 8120 cool (or overclock) using a Hyper 212 EVO (stock fan at FULL speed) with the MX-2 thermal compound. I have tried different application methods and even idle temps are high ranging from 31c at stock to 36c when partially overclocked.

Taking into account the 61c recommended limit on the FX series, the temperatures get high at load using IntelBurnTest Standard x 20:

Stock 3.1ghz @ Load: 55.5c with case closed.
Stock 3.1ghz @ Load: 53.5 with case open.

The above is recorded using Open Hardware Monitor and ASRock utility with an ambient temperature of 24c. Spread Spectrum, Turbo, AMD Application Power Management, Cool 'n' Quiet, C1E, Core C6 Mode and CPU Thermal Throttle were Disabled.

CPU Voltage 1.1750
CPU NB Voltage1.1750
DRAM Voltage 1.500
NB Voltage 1.110
HT Voltage 1.210

Motherboard: ASRock 970 Extreme3
RAM: G.SKILL Ripjaws X Series 8GB (2x4GB) DDR3 1866MHz CL9


As you can see, I have little room to overclock. Bumping the CPU Voltage to 1.2875, CPU NB Voltage to 1.2, DRAM Voltage to 1.53, Multiplier to 17.5 and CPU Frequency to 205 yields a load temperature of 56.5c (Case Open) @ 3.588ghz. I am getting these temps after running IntelBurnTest only for a few minutes. If I try to go for any higher clocks I am easily hitting 60c.

I am using a Define R4 case with Silent Series R2 140mm case fans. Intake: 2 front and 1 bottom. Exhaust: 1 rear. Trying to go for positive pressure silent cooling.

As I see it I have a three options here:

#1 Buy an additional (similar as stock) fan for Hyper 212 EVO

#2 Get two new fans and replace the stock fan on Hyper 212 EVO.

#3 Return recently bought Hyper 212 and go for the closed-loop cooling. Couple deals I found :

a ) Antec Kuhler H2O 920 on Sale for $75 CAD @ NCIX
b) Corsair H60 2013 Edition Refurbished for $60 CAD @ NCIX
c) Cooler Master Seidon 120M $60 CAD @ NCIX
d) Corsair H70 Core Edition for $50 CAD @ Canadacomputers + 1 or 2 Additional Fans.

I am planning on upgrading to Haswell, a month or two after it launches so if I do spend money on water-cooling I would like to use it for the new build as well.

Silent and positive pressure cooling is important.

What do you guys think ? Option #1 #2 or #3. If #3 than any suggestions for a cooler?

 

Does anybody know what's a good solution to cool the ASRock Extreme3 970 VRM/MOSFETS ?

The temperature I was referring to earlier were the CPUTIN Temps and not the Core Temps. The Core Temps seem to be relatively low but the board starts underclocking/throttling as soon as CPUTIN exceeds 60-63c.

I installed a second fan ( SP120 ) on the Evo as Push and retained the Stock EVO fan as pull and that seemed to bring the CPUTIN temps down by approximately 3-4c, allowing me to overclock by another 0.3ghz.

At the moment I cannot get to/past 4.0ghz as that requires me to bump the VCore up to 1.3625 and that's when the CPUTIN reaches the throttling level again.

I tried using a Hair Dyer ( at cold setting ofcourse ) for 20-30 seconds on VRM and that didn't stop the temps from rising under load.

Do I need to cool the Yellow and the Red parts in the picture below ?

 

Asrock am3+ boards have very poor vrms that overheat and cause throttling. Other than stick a fan over it not a lot can do other than swap it for a decent board.