CPU fan not working properly

[amoretto]

I custom built a PC on monday and it worked fine until before. When I booted up I got a message saying CPU fan isn't receiving enough power or isn't connected. I can clearly see that it was indeed connected and spinning. So I went into bios and hardware monitor and stayed there for a while. The CPU temp started at 30C and went up to about 42 then seemed to stay around that area. The CPU fan speed warning is set to 1200RPM, but it was exceeding that in hardware monitor (it was going over 1600rpm). Windows has also taken a long time to boot up since this happened. Also should I enable AMD Cool & Quiet and what should I put Hyper Transport on? btw, my cpu is an Athlon 3800, Asus A8N SLI Deluxe, 680w thermaltake PSU.

 

[amoretto]

It is the retailt version, so whatever fane came with it is the one i'm using. Nothing is overclocked either, so i doubt this problem should be happening.

 

[endyen]

Check to make sure the cpu fan is plugged into the correct header.

 

[amoretto]

yes it is plugged in because the fan is spinning

 

[endyen]

I know it's plugged in, you said it was spinning. The thing is, most mobos have a number of fan headers. Each one has a specific purpose. If you plugged the cpu fan into the header for the chassis fan, you would get that message. Look at where the cpu fan is plugged in, and make sure it says cpu.

 

[Ned_Flanders]

Logical thinking.

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[amoretto]

it is plugged into the cpu connector. now everything is running worst. it takes 10 years to boot up my pc and programs that i run always stop responding. my cpu temp is about 40C at full load. i do have thermal grease, should i try using that?

 

[endyen]

First, your temps are great. Intel would kill to get those kind of temps on today's chips.
Does your computer post slow, or take a long time to get into windows after posting?
The first would be a hardware problem, the second would be an OS problem, so to better figure out the problem, we need to know.

 

[amoretto]

After I turn on my computer I see the asus logo screen and then it listed the primary ide devices and hard drive. That when I get the message "Your computer CPU fan fail or speed is low". After that there is a cursor in the middle of a blank screen for about 3 seconds before listed devices again. Then I see the windows screen. After about 7 seconds of loading, the screen turns blank for about 1-2 minutes before showing the welcome screen and hearing the intro sound. Then it freezes again for about 30 seconds before finally loading up. I am also having problems running programs (PowerDVD, MusicMatch) and games. They keep freezing right after I start up. I would think this is a software problem too, but like I said, this problem didn't start to occur until I get that message. Plus I want to be sure because I don't want to format again for no reason. I have also reseating most of my hardware devices (don't even know if that could help) as well as opened the heatsink and tried to reseat that too. There was grease or something on the cpu from the heatsink. I don't know if that's normal or not but I didn't install any myself.

 

[endyen]

That "grease" is called Thermal Interface Material, or TIM for short. It helps conduct heat from the cpu to the heat sink. It is very important.
You need to check a few things. The fist thing to do, is to put the xp disk in, and check for system compatability. Then go to device manager, you can check for device conflicts.
Next, run msconfig, and reduce the xp wait time.
The hardest thing, is to download a prog called memtest86. When you run it, it will create a floppy disk with a program to check your memory. Just follow the instructions.

 

[amoretto]

ok i tried the first 2 options which didn't work, but i can't do the third because i don't have a floppy drive. should i maybe try updated my bios? would that help me with anything?

 

[endyen]

You can try the asus update, to flash your bios. It's not too dangerous.

 

[amoretto]

can you tell me where to go to upgrade?

 

[endyen]

If you put your mobo cd in, you should be able to find a program on it called Asus Update. This program will allow you to update in windows. If you have a solid internet connection, like adsl, or dsl, this is the safest, and easiest way to update bios.

 

[amoretto]

well i just formatted my harddrive and reinstalled windows. the bootup is much faster now but when i was in the middle of installing all my drivers i got a blue error screen and then it automatically restarted my pc. i also just got this message a few minutes ago. could this be a memory problem or is it hard drive?

 

[endyen]

Most likely memory. What slots are you running the memory in? What voltage is v-dimm, in bios?

 

[amoretto]

Well I was able to get the blue screen of death to stay up and this was the message.
A problem has been detected and windows has been shut down to prevent damage.
Driver_IRQL_NOT_LESS_OR_EQUAL
check to make sure any new hardware or software is install
nvtop.sys.address ec02d62c base at eco2b000 datestamp4192e2f0
beginning dump of physical memory.
anyone know what this means?

 

[Ned_Flanders]

Sounds like a memory problem, run memtest86 and post your results.

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Welcome to my Shed of Pleasure

 

[Rugger]

Agree that it sounds like memory. Run Memtest86.

Did you update all the drivers after installing windows? This BSOD can also be indicative of driver errors.

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[amoretto]

I wasn't able to install all the drivers because not all of them are on the asus disc. Like Generic IEEE printing support and unknown raid controller both have question marks in device manager. if i run that memory test do i have to have a floppy drive installed?

 

[endyen]

There is a way around using a floppy for memtest, but it requires access to another computer, with floppy and a burner. Did you raise the voltage to v-dimm?
What slots are your memory in?

 

[Rugger]

Disable RAID in your BIOS and see if that helps.

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[amoretto]

well i formatted my harddrive for a second time and installed windows again and so far i haven't had a problem in about 2 days. i disabled the onboard audio and raid controller before i did anything. i'm using a single sata hard drive, so is the raid controller actually needed for just 1? i also did some research on the error i was getting and people said it could be caused by irq conflicts. do you think maybe the audio or raid controller that i disabled may have been causing conflicts? I haven't been prompted to installed drivers for those devices. but i thought even if you disable them it still finds the hardware and asks for drivers.

 

[Rugger]

Glad you fixed the problem! You only need the RAID controller if you are going to install a RAID array. Not disabling may have been causing IRQ conflicts (RAID or sound related) or making the system look for a non-existent RAID. In order to tweak the BIOS you can disable any features that are not being used in your rig.

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