Cooling problems...

[alexjohnson16]

I've been having problems with cooling lately, my computer keeps resetting because of overheating...

It was constantly running at 125-130° for a while, and kept moving up to around 140° than resetting... I took my case apart and checked all my fans to find that one of them wasn't running well, and cleaned out my heatsink of dust... It ran good for about 1.5 weeks, now its back up and running as I type at 143°...

Last night it reset and when it rebooted it was at 163°...

I have no clue why its started doing this, I've even ran it with one of the sides off the case to get more cool air to it...

Any ideas to help or fix this problem???

 

[VRXJudge]

System stats/CPU cooler? Can't help you much (at least I can't) otherwise.

You could underclock your system a little.

 

[drpootums]

Ya, your system specs would be nice...

 

[alexjohnson16]

Sorry...

Its an Athlon XP 1600, 120 gb hd, 512 gb ram, epox 8k9a board...

 

[drpootums]

Ok, what kind of CPU cooler do you have, when did this start, and what kind of thermal paste do you have?

Also, what is your case and how many fans do you have?

 

[VRXJudge]

You may want to pick up a Speeze (a.k.a. MassCool) cheapy ~$10 HSF and some Arctic Silver 5. Then you'll probably run fine if you have heat issues. Otherwise, your mobo may have a fouled up temperature sensor. Those are all I can think of ATM.

 

[alexjohnson16]

The CPU cooler is a heatsink w/fan that I got with the CPU in a retail package from NewEgg...

It started about three weeks ago...

The thermal paste is Arctic Silver...

The case is a MaxTop, one of the cheap $30 ones...

I have three fans (the regular ball bearing ones) hooked up right now, there's a fourth one on the other case panel but I took that off to get more air in the case as stated...

 

[VRXJudge]

Ehh, how would removing fans increase air flow?

Okay, well, you have some options.

Price: Speeze/MassCool cheapo HSF + AS5

Performance/Future: ThermalTake Tsunami Dream Case VA3000 + Antec PSU + ThermalTake 120mm ThunderBlade fan (it's quieter/moves more air than the stock front fan) + Speeze/MassCool cheapo HSF + AS5

Unless you have a protitute-level income, I recommend going with my "Price" option.

edit: Ahh, you took of the side panel. Unless you have a house fan that'll blow air into your system, I'd keep it on.

 

[Dough1397]

whatd a protitute....

 

[hondAS2ooo170]

wow thats not posible. that is way 2 hot for a cpu. and a stock hsf should keep it cooler for this.

140c thats insaine

 

[akira34]

He never said if the temp was in C or F... If F, then it's not that hot. If C, then I'm surprised it would run at all at that temp. Most mobo's shut down [when they detect the processor temp] at between 65C and 80C to protect the hardware.

Get your temp readings in C, not F or post that they are either C or F. Just stating temps without saying which scale they are on is NOT smart.

 

[hondAS2ooo170]

Originally posted by: akira34
He never said if the temp was in C or F... If F, then it's not that hot. If C, then I'm surprised it would run at all at that temp. Most mobo's shut down [when they detect the processor temp] at between 65C and 80C to protect the hardware.

Get your temp readings in C, not F or post that they are either C or F. Just stating temps without saying which scale they are on is NOT smart.

they would shut off if the operator turned that option on.

 

[alexjohnson16]

Its in F... Sorry...

It still keeps doing it... Stupid ace computer...

 

[akira34]

I wouldn't imagine someone disabling that item on purpose. Especially when it's there to protect your hardware.

Keep in mind,
140F=60C
143F=~62C
163F=~73C

Keep in mind 73C IS hot for a processor, even that old one. You should be able to run at 60C though.

I suggest checking for bios updates, reapply the thermal compound to your processor heatsink, and consider getting a better heatsink and fan. You can also check your fan filters (if you have any) to see if they are clogged with dust and junk. If you have pets, chances are you have hair in either the filters or fans (if you don't have filters). Also, take the computer off of the floor if it's resting on it. Get it at least a couple of inches off of carpet. If you still get no joy, try resetting the CMOS/bios on your mobo. That will return it to the factory defaults. Check the settings when you boot up and see where the shutdown point is (thermal, in the bios).

If you're not overcocking any of your rig, you should be able to get it to run stable again. That is, if your mobo hasn't decided to start dying a slow, painful, horrible death on you. This could be the early warning signs of that happening.

 

[alexjohnson16]

I've brought a floor fan down and am running it into the open side of the case...

It's steady now at 100-105°F, so this is a sign of good things... This is just a temporary solution until I figure out which of the stated ways will be best for me to fix hte problem...

Thanks for everyone's help...

 

[Waylay00]

Reapplication of Arctic Silver?

 

[drpootums]

Is it at 100-105 F load? If so, those are great temps...

heck...if that's idle that's still pretty dang good...

 

[alexjohnson16]

With the house fan blowing in, its running 104° steady, doesn't go up when I load programs, etc... I'm sure if I played a game or ran programs that are high maintenance its going up, but I have to find a more permanant way to go about this... The house fan can't stay here for long...

 

[alexjohnson16]

The problems are back, yet different this time... It's worked great for about a week but now its gone to junk...

Oddly, my computer shuts itsself down now at 120°F instead of 140-145... My BIOS also reads both my CPU and Chassis fans as not running (0 RPM)...

I hate this box...

 

[hondAS2ooo170]

there must be more to this.

 

[Newark]

My 3.6 Prescott is also running hot, running at 3.2. Software alarm default 76C and am sure i've passed it. Not shut down at all. Do see some performance loss after long play sessions.

Idle 46-50C
Gaming 75C running WoW

CoGen 6209 Case
3 80mm fans 2 Intake & 1 out
Thermaltake silent 775 FHS
Asus P5GDC Deluxe
1GB PC3200
80GB WD SATA
XfX GeForce 6600 GT PCI-E
450W P/S also a Allied AL 450E I can swap to.