GPU heat problem

[Estam]

Hi all, I have two HP Compaq DC 5100's and both run identical programs, pick up stock market data and the 2nd acts as a back up. They only pick up a few symbols and are not heavily worked.

The first computer has operated for over 3 years with no problems. The second which was set up and has been operating for few months has now decided to shut down and restart after about half hour.

Pulled covers off both cleaned and changed over Ram and Cpu with no change. Put a temp sensor in the Gpu and found the 2nd running about 20-25 degrees F higher.

Both units are clean with good air flow and wonder if anyone has any suggestions.

Many thanks for any help .......Dave

 

[Estam]

As an update, I re-installed a fresh copy of Win XP SP2 as I'm getting desperate and maybe something got downloaded that was causing the problem. So far it doesn't seem to want to crash and the 1st computer with the wand pushed in the heat sink registers approx 100 F and the 2nd computer now registers approx 118 F. It still feels hotter than the 1st and my question is why? Could it be a defective Gpu or is it being driven differently. How can I check this?

 

[monkeydelmagico]

Pulled covers off both cleaned and changed over Ram and Cpu with no change. Put a temp sensor in the Gpu and found the 2nd running about 20-25 degrees F higher.

Both units are clean with good air flow and wonder if anyone has any suggestions.

So you swapped CPU's from one mother board to the other?

 

[bononos]

Maybe the fan is acting up or maybe the heatsink on the gpu is loose. Monitor the fan speeds and inspect the gpu.

 

[Estam]

Thanks both, Both Cpu's swapped and both Gpu' re-guked and re-seated, fans working perfectly. Does doesn't seem right that one is running around 15 to 20 degrees higher. Many thanks for any further suggestions...

 

[monkeydelmagico]

It is odd. When your talking GPU do you mean dedicated GPU as in seperate graphics card? Or do you mean on-board graphics?

 

[fixbsod]

I'm thinking airflow issues??

 

[Estam]

The DC5100 has onboard GPU with Heat Sink attached.

Air flow is the same on both units, fans on both are operating.

Just swapped over power supplies and updated both Bios to the
1.09 which is the latest, still same problem.

I have these computers sitting side by each with covers off
and after 10 mins of run up one heat sink measures 101 degrees
and the other 110.

I am concluding that maybe this heat issue is not the problem causing
the intermittent powering down problem with this 2nd unit. This problem
now occurs maybe after an hour and after being on for maybe 4 hours
will happen 3 or 4 times.

The interesting issue here is that after shutting down it reboots, something
must be triggering the reboot.

What would cause the computer to automatically reboot after after something
on board shutting it down.

 

[BigChickenJim]

Reboot could potentially still be caused by heat issues, but my guess is that the heat issues that you are experiencing are only a symptom of your real problem: a faulty PSU. Try swapping a new PSU into the problem computer (if you are able to) and see if the problem resolves itself.

 

[Estam]

Thanks BigC, I mentioned I just swapped Power Supplies with same results, I can't think of anything else to swap ;-)
Again whatever is shutting it down it re-starts it's self. I'm not sure where that trigger would come from.

 

[BigChickenJim]

Thanks BigC, I mentioned I just swapped Power Supplies with same results, I can't think of anything else to swap ;-)
Again whatever is shutting it down it re-starts it's self. I'm not sure where that trigger would come from.

Ah, missed that bit. Out of curiosity, are both computers plugged into the same wall outlet? Do the restarts tend at all towards a certain time of day? Do they have the same HDDs? Do you notice any increased idle usages in the problem computer (RAM or CPU)? Does your BIOS report voltages? If so, what are they?

 

[Estam]

Yes to most of that except no bios voltages, kinda ruling that out for now due to swapped psu's. Same hdd's but the only difference is one has the 530 cpu and the problem unit has the 630. I thought I swapped these over at one time but have ordered one of each (530 & 630) to play with (total $5) should be here tomorrow, will report ;-)

 

[KingFatty]

See if the overheating GPU still overheats when put into the other computer. So what I'm suggesting is maybe one computer is infected with malware that is causing one of the GPUs to do more work and therefore run hotter, which is expected behavior.

If you swap the video cards, then you can see if the overheating occurs in that computer, or if the overheating moves to the other computer. If it stays, then you know it's something about that computer. If it moves, then you know it's that video card.

 

[BigChickenJim]

Yes to most of that except no bios voltages, kinda ruling that out for now due to swapped psu's. Same hdd's but the only difference is one has the 530 cpu and the problem unit has the 630. I thought I swapped these over at one time but have ordered one of each (530 & 630) to play with (total $5) should be here tomorrow, will report ;-)

First, try King's suggestion above. If you are seeing different idle load percentages and issues related to time of day, then my guess is that you have a malware or other software problem. Do you have any legitimate programs on the problem computer that could be causing higher idle loads? If the swap proves that the issue is related to that specific computer you'll have to go virus hunting.

 

[Estam]

Hi guys, As mentioned in my first post this computer was purchased as a back up to my main computer and I have it formatted with fresh install of xp sp2 and hasn't even been connected to the internet yet. I had purchased new cpu's ( 530 and 630 total of $6 for both) and have switched them between both machines all with same results. The second just like to run between 15 to 20 degrees hotter. All voltages are so close so I'm thinking it might be just a component (capacitor) failing on the motherboard. Not having a schematic for this I'm not able to go further.