My PC shuts off while playing games

[Gromnir]

 

After playing for about 30 minutes I'm showing my max CPU temp at 79.4C with the average at 70.5C and Vcore is showing a max of 1.376V with an average of 1.298V

Temps and max voltage are way too high. Firstly, disable Turbo in mode in your BIOS, as this requires a massively higher voltage (your 1.376 probably) and does only marginally add to performance. Secondly, as stated by Humanoid, get a cooler that works. Not only will the PC be more stable with lower temperatures, but it will also be faster, because the FX will throttle at these high temps.

 

Regarding cooler, I'm using a Megahalems Rev. C on my FX 8350, and it does a reasonable job cooling it, even with a little overclocking. Just make sure the  cooler you get will fit in your case, and on AMD Socket AM3. Everything will be better than what you use currently.

 

 

bolded and underlined the understatement. our recollection is that your cooler is 'bout the size of a toddler's head.

 

HA! Good Fun!

Edited October 28, 2013 by Gromnir

[Humanoid]

Well, if the case is tall enough to fit an internal radiator for a water-cooling system, I'd imagine it's tall enough for a standard 120mm tower heatsink. But yes, do check, not only the height, but also whether any potential overhang might interfere with your RAM modules. (Tall memory heatspreaders should be banned! Banned, I tell you!)

 

P.S. Almost all tower heatsinks come with a crappy stock fan, so expect to spend another $10-15 on a good one if you turn out to be unsatisfied with the stock one. That said, they're probably no worse than the ones that cool your current radiator. The exceptions are Scythe and Noctua, which is to be expected since they also make the best stand-alone fans.

 

(And yeah, I have a Megahalems too, but it was more due to availability than specific choice. My personal pick in terms of absolutes would be the stupidly named Thermalright HR-02 Macho. But rationally the direct-contact smaller models are fantastic value - either the Coolermaster 212 or Silverstone AR-01. The latter is marginally better but also a bit dearer.)