# What's the maximum safe temperature for an FX-6300?



## CannedBullets

I'm using the stock cooler on stock speed. I was running a Prime95 test to see whether or not it was my CPU or GPU fans being louder under load. Anyways a few minutes after I ran Prime95 my CPU temperature reading was around 55 C with HWMonitor and 68C with Speedfan. Someone on Reddit told me that for an AMD CPU that might be too much under load but I can't find the max safe temperature for an FX-6300 anywhere. If my FX-6300 is overheating, it could be that the stock cooler is failing or the thermal paste is starting to dry up (I'll admit it, I used the paste which came with my CPU) So does anyone know what the FX-6300's maximum safe temperature is?

I've been running fine so far actually even when my games (Planetside 2 mostly) push 50 C on my CPU but just to be safe I'm getting an aftermarket cooler. Is a Xigmatek Dark Knight 2 Night Hawk edition good for overclocking? It was recommended to me, my motherboard is an ASrock 970 Extreme3 and I might overclock it by going from 3.5 ghz (stock speed) to 4.1 ghz.


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## agrims

It is generally accepted that 62c is the max safe temp on the FX chipset. And if you are running a stock cooler, please go back to defaults until you can get a good, cheap air cooler at a minimum. I run a CM 212 evo. It's a great, cheap cheap cooler.


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## kyfire

I have a FX 6300 on a Gigabyte 970A-D3 with an Asetek 570LX cooler. Running [email protected] all cores at 100% at 4.1MHz, my temp peaks at around 48C. There are opther factors to consider about cooling, air flow in the case is the biggest. I have a Cooler Master HAF X full tower with 230mm front intake, 230mm side intake, 140mm rear exhaust and 2 120mm on the rad. Another factor to consider is your ambient room temp.


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## CannedBullets

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *agrims*
> 
> It is generally accepted that 62c is the max safe temp on the FX chipset. And if you are running a stock cooler, please go back to defaults until you can get a good, cheap air cooler at a minimum. I run a CM 212 evo. It's a great, cheap cheap cooler.


The thing is that I haven't overclocked anything on the stock cooler. The only thing I've changed was enabling S.M.A.R.T through the bios and clocking my RAM from 1333 mhz to 1600 mhz (also through the bios, my RAM was marketed for 1600 mhz but the motherboard puts it at 1333 mhz). I should also mention that I changed those settings last Friday. I doubt the RAM speed increase and S.M.A.R.T enabling would do such a thing. Also, Prime95 was running my CPU at 95% load and I think that's the only program which does that on my PC so I don't think any other games make my CPU run that hot.

Also, its starting to get hot here in California and my cable management isn't that good. I'm planning on getting that sorted out soon though when I upgrade my power supply.


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## AlDyer

62 core temperature and 72 on socket, but I honestly think socket can go a bit higher, atleast for me it sometimes went during my OC adventures and nothing bad has happened yet


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## CannedBullets

Okay this is weird. HWmonitor is saying I'm idling at around 16 to 18 C while Speedfan is saying I'm idling at around 34 degrees C. HWmonitor also said my CPU was 0 C for a split second., Yeah this is weird.


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## kyfire

It's generally recommended NOT to run more than one monitoring programs at once, they CAN interfere with each other. Run one or the other NOT both.


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## CannedBullets

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *kyfire*
> 
> It's generally recommended NOT to run more than one monitoring programs at once, they CAN interfere with each other. Run one or the other NOT both.


So which tends to be more accurate? Speedfan or HWMonitor? Because Speedfan was telling me that my CPU was at 68 C during Prime95 while HWMonitor was saying my CPU was at 55 C during Prime95.


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## kyfire

Most of the folks here and on other forums use HWMonitor.


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## CannedBullets

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *kyfire*
> 
> Most of the folks here and on other forums use HWMonitor.


Well I guess I'll go with HWMonitor then. I'll try to upgrade my cooling as soon as possible though. I think the either the stock fan is not good enough because its either failing or there's bad airflow or because the thermal paste is drying because I used the thermal paste which came with the CPU.


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## agrims

Yes, please upgrade as soon as you can on CPU cooler. The box AMD one sucks pretty bad. If you get a CM 212 Evo, they include some thermal compound grease which is actually not bad at all. It is comparable to AS5. Remember when you OC, or exceed the max recommended temps/volts, you are shortening the life span of your CPU, and other parts. In the end, it is up to the end user. I OC, and sometimes push my products hard, but I can replace it if it breaks...


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## DaveLT

IF you want something small and is a decent performer
http://www.amazon.com/dp/B006VK93P6/?tag=pcpapi-20
http://www.amazon.com/dp/B007G6XX4G/?tag=pcpapi-20 <- Costs less than a Evo and performs better

Want to try out something cheap? Or if your mobo has poor VRM cooling
http://www.amazon.com/Logisys-Corp-AC4400BT-Beta-Cooling/dp/B007RWXCQS


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## CannedBullets

Thanks for the suggestions but I think I'll go with the Xigmatek Dark Knight 2 with Arctic Silver 5.

EDIT: Actually I'm still deciding on a CPU cooler.

http://www.overclock.net/t/1385095/whats-a-good-aircooler-for-an-amd-fx-6300-on-an-asrock-970-extreme-3


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## CannedBullets

Okay, I just did some gaming, Speedfan said that my CPU got as got as 61 C. Normally I would use HWMonitor but I wanted to see how often my fans changed speed and because HWMonitor seems to be more merciful. So if Speedfan says my CPU is at 68 C HWMonitor will say my CPU is at around 58-59 C.

The weird thing is that the CPU fan doesn't change fan speed as much as the GPU fans. In my motherboard bios I have the CPU fan set to "Full On," does that mean the CPU fan is always spinning at 100%? I also noticed that my CPU's idle temp is at 15 C instead of the 13 C I usually see it at and my GPU is at 31 C instead of the usual 28-29 C I see it at. Then again the cable management in my case isn't that good. So could that cause me to have higher temps? I'm still planning on getting the cable management sorted out and getting an aftermarket CPU cooler installed.

Also, I changed my RAM today. I switched the RAM so it was running in dual-channel instead of single channel, I don't think its related to CPU and GPU demand though.

EDIT: Just went into the bios. My CPU temperature climbed slowly from around 30 C to 49 C before I exited the bios.


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## briddell

What's the melting point of silicon? Don't reach that.


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## CannedBullets

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *briddell*
> 
> What's the melting point of silicon? Don't reach that.


Well, someone on this thread earlier stated the max safe temperature for FX CPUs so I'm assuming its that. I'm also noticing that my idle temperature fluctuates also sometimes. Sometimes it will go from 16 C to 30 C then back to 16 C and etc.


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## DaveLT

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *briddell*
> 
> What's the melting point of silicon? Don't reach that.


Way beyond the temps we use everyday. Doped silicon will not even budge at 130C fact is they DO NOT MELT it's just that the tiny junctions and vias that can get severed in high-density integrated chips like modern CPUs (Using the word modern makes me feel old ..)


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