Requesting tech advice please (cpu overheating)

Reikage · Post by **Reikage** » August 22, 2003, 1:17 pm

Hello. Thanks for reading!

Here is my problem. My system is an AMD Athlon XP 2100, with a ASUS A7V333 mb. 2 weeks back i started experiencing repeated auto-shutdowns due to overheating, so i did a check in Hardware Monitor and sure enough my CPU temperature goes from 40celcius - 90celcius within 10-15mins of booting up.
My fan kinda made funny noises like its slowing and then going faster in spurts now and then and further observation in Hardware monitor showed that it usually starts and peaks off at 4000ish rpms, but slowly drops to 2k, and then to few hundred RPMish (red). It occasionally speeds up to 2kish abit but slows again later....
So OK, seems like an obvious fan problem to me.

I went out and bought myself a Thermaltake Volcano7, which i heard was very good (and loud). I followed instructions carefully, and did the things my friends told me to (spread the paste evenly bla bla), and mounted the fan. Once I was done I booted up and observed hardware monitor again, SAME SHIT. The fan was running at a very powerful 6000rpm, no problem there, BUT the Cpu temperature keeps rising like it was still using the old fan (or might as well no fan at all).

I did the remounting thing 4 more times, each time I cleaned the CPU core and heatsink with a solvent for a fresh application (out of paste now). No good, its like I never installed a fucking fan at all.......

This is really starting to piss me off, I HATE AMDS @#!$X. I would really appreciate it if anyone could enlighten me on what my problem might be... really, anything would help :<.

Thanks
/smellycat

vn_Tanc · Post by **vn_Tanc** » August 22, 2003, 1:22 pm

If you ran it hot for a long time it may have started oxidizing which will increase the resistance and generate more heat directly from the wafer.

Ain't no fans gonna fix that.
But I'm guessing.
And thus could be talking out of my arse.

masteen · Post by **masteen** » August 22, 2003, 1:22 pm

Does the case have good ventillation overall? Getting the heat off the processor is only the first step; it then needs to escape the case or you end up with a tiny oven...

Kylere · Post by **Kylere** » August 22, 2003, 1:28 pm

Okay cooling is a lot more than just a fan on the processor, it is all abut air flow, I have seen people put 11 case fans on a system and still have it overheat ( they had them all drawing in, should be half in half out, with a flow past the processorhd, north and southbridge etc)

Check out the HARDOCP FAQ on Cooling at: http://www.hardforum.com/showthread.php ... did=589689

Also check out The Case and Cooling Fetish Forum at Arstechnica
http://arstechnica.infopop.net/OpenTopi ... f=77909585

But to be honest if your processor fan is working fine, then it is the amount of airflow in your case, the ambient temp in the room it is in or the processor itself is bad.

Voronwë · Post by **Voronwë** » August 22, 2003, 1:31 pm

my ghetto cooling back in FLA was to take both side panels off, and put a small $9 fan i got at walmart blowing across the cpu heatsink

Sionistic · Post by **Sionistic** » August 22, 2003, 1:32 pm

heres an easy to to get more ventilation for your box, first take off the side panel, next place panel outside on the grass, then take a pick and proceed to cut open holes in the panel. tah daa, ventilation, just make sure you take the panel OFF

Tegellan · Post by **Tegellan** » August 22, 2003, 2:54 pm

Be very careful not to put on too much coolant paste, you have to use an extremely small amount and better to use too little than too much, otherwise it will insulate the CPU and overheat it.

Melrin_Specclaster · Post by **Melrin_Specclaster** » August 22, 2003, 2:57 pm

A) Take side panels off. Honestly it can be 80 or higher in your room and your CPU still shouldnt overheat.

B) Put a small amount of paste in the middle only.

If you're not overclocking, it shouldnt overheat. You can have a fan blowing inside, but that generally wont do much more than taking the side panel off.

Kilmoll the Sexy · Post by **Kilmoll the Sexy** » August 22, 2003, 3:11 pm

I have the exact same processor and had this problem when I first installed it. First, what kind of paste did you use? If you used anything other than Arctic Silver, then remove the processor and get the real deal. This can drop you 15' C alone. Second, make certain you have the fan installed in the right direction and is flush. I actually had one turned once and could not see because the room was so dark.

Second, as Kylere suggested, make certain you have intake fans and exhaust fans. I opened up an extra CD bay in the front of my box and put an intake fan there and the combination dropped me down to under 50' C easily.

Third, you can get software that will help your processor run cooler. Do a search on Google and you will find several. They do work.

Pilsburry · Post by **Pilsburry** » August 22, 2003, 3:25 pm

Definately try running the box without the sides on for a few days. It looks ghetto....but by doing that you know if fans will even fix the problem. Because if it overheats with the sides off.....well I'm no expert put putting the sides back on with any amount of fans probably won't do much good.

Also I've seen some sound proofing things....like foam insulate and fan filters....does anyone know how badly that would restrict airflow and cause heat issues?

I'm not making a statement, it's a question.

Aabidano · Post by **Aabidano** » August 22, 2003, 4:13 pm

If it's running fine and then dropping off, it could be a crappy power supply too. Starts fine, then overheats and then 12v current drops off.

Taking the sides off might let it stay cool enough to run OK. Get the part # off the power supply and compare it to the list on AMD's site. If it's not there, look at the power supply specs AMD reccomends for the processor you have.

A co-worker bought two new AMD systems from the same vendor about a month ago, one would die after ~30 minutes, the other ran great. The one that died had a crappy no-name power supply, the good one had a 400w Antec.

Winnow · Post by **Winnow** » August 22, 2003, 4:23 pm

Tegellan wrote:Be very careful not to put on too much coolant paste, you have to use an extremely small amount and better to use too little than too much, otherwise it will insulate the CPU and overheat it.

Excellent advice. When using something like Arctic Silver 3 Thermal Compound, you need only a very thin layer....no that's too much...try again.....extremely thin layer! You should be able to see through it almost. It makes a difference. If you goop it on, go ahead and add a few degrees to your CPU temp.

Deward · Post by **Deward** » August 22, 2003, 4:36 pm

Sounds like the power supply to me as well. I have had several go out and newer systms with big AMDs and big video cards need a lot of power, 350w minimum and I would go 400w if possible. Anything smaller is just asking for it.

I love AMDs but they do run hotter. In my last apartment without AC I could barely play on my computer for any length of time before it started going down on me. I put a new fan on the cpu. Put a cdrom fan in the front along with a normal box fan to suck air in. In the back I put a rotary slot fan right next to the video card and a box fan right under the power supply. Object is too keep the air flowing quickly in the case. If all else fails (and it still did occasionally on a hot day) then take a side panel off and point a box fan right at it. That fixes everything.

Deward

Zaelath · Post by **Zaelath** » August 22, 2003, 8:10 pm

My favourite cooling solution, before I got a new fan/CPU combo:

Side panel off + window fan (the ones that actually have 2 fans in them and basically cover the entire side of the case)

Worked beautifully =) Upside is they're generally a lot lower noise than any uber overclocker's fan...

Bubba Grizz · Post by **Bubba Grizz** » August 22, 2003, 10:54 pm

Actually I heard that if you take a ziplock bag full of ice and set it directly on the cpu you won't have any problems. Well, that's what I heard.

valryte · Post by **valryte** » August 23, 2003, 5:31 am

I have the same exact CPU and motherboard. I had the same problems you have. Like has been mentioned, get yourself some Artic Silver. BTW, when I first got mine I had the same fan (Volcano) Yes it's extremely loud, but there are better fans that are quieter. Get yourself a Vantec Aeroflow. It's what I have now and it's a hell of a lot quieter.

Reikage · Post by **Reikage** » August 23, 2003, 5:32 am

Thanks for the replies guys, I followed your advice and remounted it again and again, and now the temperature *seems* stable at 57-59 celcius, not all that cool but at least it isnt going up anymore...

But now i have a new problem :<

Each time I boot up my PC and load up EQ my Pc goes screwy.... One of 2 things can happen.
1)I get past the patch server and click 'Play', at which point PC freezes up. When I do a manual reset it loads up to the 'Windows XP' screen with the loading bar at the bottom, and then it freezes. If I reset again it freezes at the same point.
2)I get past patch server and click 'Advanced' (to dl ldon), at which point my PC auto-reboots..... Once this happens, every auto-reboot it makes it loads up all the way till I get to see my desktop for a split second (as it loads the taskbar program thingies) before it auto-reboots again. It also sometimes freezes at the WindowsXP screen like in 1)...

Ive read about the blaster worm but I dont get that RPC msg whenever it auto reboots, and it always happens in the same manner for me.

To be able to do a proper boot up where I neither freeze on loading windows or auto-reboot at desktop, I need to manual shut down the PC and boot it up again.

After some experimenting it seems that this only occurs when I load up EQ. I tried loading Dungeon Siege, PhotoShop, Windows Media Player, Audio proggies all with no problems. Now Im not saying the problem is isolated to EQ, but it just seems that way from what I can tell.

Any ideas anyone? Software / Hardware / Virus problem?

/smellycat

Janx · Post by **Janx** » August 23, 2003, 8:07 am

Go into system properties/advanced startup and recovery and uncheck Automatically reboot. THen you can at least see whats causing the crashing..maybe.

Reikage · Post by **Reikage** » August 23, 2003, 8:45 am

ok update,

loading EQ as i stated above *always* freezes/reboots PC. But sometimes when doing nothing at all it also freezes at desktop :<

Zaelath · Post by **Zaelath** » August 23, 2003, 9:24 am

Chances are between all the fiddling you've done inside your case and a CPU hitting the heat guard and shutting down, something has gone squirrely with your computer or OS..

Be double sure all your cards are still seated properly, memory chips aren't sitting in a bed of dust, etc and see if other directX games crash out as well.. if it's just EQ I'd suggest at least a full reinstall of EQ if not the whole OS.

Saerilyah · Post by **Saerilyah** » August 23, 2003, 10:28 am

AMD and only dieing when you try eq ? ..

Go look at all the IRQ settings and make sure video isn't on with anything else.

You have described the exact same fault I had last 2 weeks with eq

I just fixed that problem in my comp and it took forever to work out what was wrong with it. My onboard sound somehow picked up the same IRQ as my video card

don't know how or why cause it was working fine till I got that other bug in eq where dx was buggy. I looked further and found network card and USB host sharing.
Good thing the other online game I play uses openGL instead of DX at times

Deneve · Post by **Deneve** » August 23, 2003, 6:34 pm

newegg has a cool box atm for pretty cheap that runs 2 120mm fans, one from the front and another in back that's supposed to provide huge air flow, i dig out the URL later if you want

Lohrno · Post by **Lohrno** » August 23, 2003, 7:21 pm

Voronwë wrote:my ghetto cooling back in FLA was to take both side panels off, and put a small $9 fan i got at walmart blowing across the cpu heatsink

I've heard that that can actually increase the heat because of bad airflow...

-=Lohrno

Bubba Grizz · Post by **Bubba Grizz** » August 23, 2003, 7:49 pm

Deneve wrote:newegg has a cool box atm for pretty cheap that runs 2 120mm fans, one from the front and another in back that's supposed to provide huge air flow, i dig out the URL later if you want

I just ordered a new thermaltake case for $86 from newegg that has 5 fans inside it. No power supply but you can get a deal on that there too.

Deneve · Post by **Deneve** » August 23, 2003, 9:25 pm

how much was that one? the one i was thinking of was about $60...