Motherboard CPU Enquiry

Agreed, that store has your back 

It will work but that is a 125w CPU so not ideal. As you can see on your board there are not even any heatsinks around your CPU socket (VRM heatsinks). The wraith cooler will help with temps being a top down blowing cooler. 

CONNORJAMES wrote: Hello i currently run AMD Asrock Model - 980DE3/U3S3 R2.0 MOTHEROARDLINK I am wanting to install this CPU - AMD - FX8370 CPU Pc shop said something about the wattage will not suit and the PC wont load after it has been installed... Im sorry i dont no enough about hardware side of things , can anyone confirm this??. I did do a bios update but still not sure if i can run this CPU after doing this. Thanks for your time.

The shop is referring to the reality that not all AMD AM3+ mother boards are able to easily provide the required power to some of the AM3+ FX series processors, particularly if they are used under high load conditions for long periods of time, are over clocked, or both. The cooling configuration of the PC (number of case fans, CPU cooler model) is also a factor.

The AM3+ processor spec that is used to determine whether or not the processor is within the board's CPU power capability, is called the Thermal Design Power (TDP). TDP is really not a measure of power usage by the processor, but how much cooling capacity the CPU cooler must provide to adequately cool the CPU.

But in general, the higher the TDP rating of the processor is, the more power it will use. The mother board circuitry that provides power to the CPU must have more components of high quality, and have a heat sink on the transistors providing that power.

This was not understood very well at when the FX processor series was released, and evolved over time. Low priced AM3+ boards simply are not built to the standard needed for the 140W+ TDP processors like the FX 9370 and FX 9590. The CPU power circuitry would over heat and fail, destroying the board.

Even the FX 8350 or FX 8370 with a TDP of 125W, when over clocked or used under high loads can cause that to happen on many lower priced AM3+ boards.

After the failure of the boards began happening, BIOS updates were created that would not allow the use of FX processors with a TDP of 140W or greater in the affected boards. The BIOS will detect the "unsupported processor" from a power usage standpoint, and stop the PC from running the OS. That is specifically what the shop is referring to.

Sorry to say, but your board is an example of a low priced AM3+ board that is unable to provide the required power long term to FX processors whose TDP is greater than 140W. Even 125W TDP processors like the FX 8370 are questionable in your board, although the CPU Support List includes the FX 8370:

http://www.asrock.com/mb/AMD/980DE3U3S3%20R2.0/?cat=CPU

Notice that CPUs like the FX 8370 in the list have a warning that extra cooling of the mother board is necessary when they are used. BIOS version 1.30 and newer have the warning about unsupported processors and will not boot with one is installed in the board. The BIOS update does NOT allow more FX processors to be used, it restricts the models that can be used.

The FX 8370 is included in the CPU support list, so you should be able to use it. The shop knows about the limitation of some processors in boards like yours, but did not know the FX 8370 is in the CPU Support List.

For long term use, you'd be better off with the FX 8370E model, which is a 95W TDP processor. Regardless, you should have extra cooling for the mother board area around the CPU to keep the CPU power circuitry cool. I do not recommend over clocking at all on a board like yours.