Fan cleaned and spinning, CPU still overheating

[vonstralin]

I am having overheating issues from a pentium Quad-core processor, I removed the cooler-master CPU fan that is plugged into the system, and it looks like the thermal paste was dried up some so I cleaned out all the fuzz reapplied thermal paste and hooked all the plugs back in nice and snug turn the machine on get to the BIOS it states that the CPU fan isn't spinning and I can watch the temp rise but I can see and feel the fan spinning.

any help would be greatly appreciated

 

[Robbmrp1]

The fan could be spinning at a low RPM and not enough to cool down your CPU. It may be time for a new CPU Fan/heatsink. Go into the BIOS and in the Thermal section, see what the low RPM Warning is listed for your CPU fan. You can also set the fan speed there at a manual level.

Does the BIOS actually show the RPM's of it or is it saying something like CPU Fan Not plugged in? There's so many fan connectors on motherboards these days that they usually have a primary and secondary CPU Fan. You could have connected it to the secondary fan pin instead of the primary.

 

[vonstralin]

I just checked it was plugged in as it says 0 RPM but it looks like it was plugged into the wrong fan jack as I am getting a reading from system fan 1 which as it turns out is what it is plugged into but since then I have plugged the fan into the CPU fan port and in both cases I am getting 2400 RPM which I am guessing is too slow ? what should I expect from a good condition cooler or is it going to specific to brand ?

 

[Robbmrp1]

CPU Fans generally range from 800(low) to 2800(high) RPM's. So 2400 should be adequate for your system. Put your hand on the opposite side of the fan and see if you can feel a good amount of air going through it. It's possible that the fan is stripped so that it appears to be spinning but just isn't moving the air. It's a long shot but worth a try.

If that's not the case then your heatsink isn't dissipating the heat enough from it or there are other factors involved as well. Is the room a higher temperature than previously? Have you cleaned all the intake and exhaust fans as well? There may not be enough air flow through your system as well. The heatsink may not be sitting evenly on the CPU also. Double check that as well as the amount of thermal paste you used. It may not have been enough. I try and coat the top of the CPU with paste instead of the heatsink to ensure that it's covered.

 

[vonstralin]

Hm the fan seems to be pushing out all the air proeprly I made sure that the heatsink it sitting properly nice and snug to the board as the reason this all began was that it looked like part of the heat sink was sitting on the CPU so I cleaned it all off and put on the same amount of arctic silver thermal paste that I have used for years a little over the size of a piece of rice and when you press down it has always covered it completely I appreciate all the help so far.

What are the chances that the CPU has gone bad due to the fact that it may have spent a period of time without a properly installed heatsink?
At this point I am just guessing.

 

[Robbmrp1]

I haven't ever had to deal with a CPU that's partly burned out but I guess that could probably be an issue. Do you have CPU-Z installed? If you do, load that up and see what it's doing on each core to get a better idea of how it's handling. If you don't have it, you can get it at the link below. Just how hot does your CPU get? Under full loads you could reach temperatures above 70C but typically don't want to go over 80C ish for extended periods. If you like air cooling, Zalman has a line up of fans/heatsinks that work great. I've used them for years until I just switched to an all water cooled setup.

http://www.cpuid.com/softwares/cpu-z.html

 

[McHenryB]

Have you installed the fan the right way round? Is it pushing air onto the heatsink (which most people seem to think is the best)?

 

[vonstralin]

The system gets to just over 100 C then shuts down just sitting in the BIOS and I can't even get into Windows at this point something has happened to the install and it tries to repair the damaged portions of windows then shuts down.

The fan is installed correctly as it has clips on it to prevent it being installed the wrong way.

I don't have CPU-Z as I can't get into windows at all right now.

 

[Robbmrp1]

The system gets to just over 100 C then shuts down just sitting in the BIOS and I can't even get into Windows at this point something has happened to the install and it tries to repair the damaged portions of windows then shuts down.

The fan is installed correctly as it has clips on it to prevent it being installed the wrong way.

I don't have CPU-Z as I can't get into windows at all right now.

With it getting that hot, you really have no choice but to replace the heatsink and fan unit as it's not working at all. CPU's will burn up at those temperatures. With a different setup, if you are still getting the same results then the best thing to do would be to take it into a tech store and have them take a look at things. The CPU heatsink should never run that hot even when they are caked with tons of dust.

 

[vonstralin]

that seems to make sense again thank you for your help.

I don't understand how a heat sink doens't work at all but everything else on the machine seems fine

 

[McHenryB]

I've got to agree that that seems to make no sense. Heatsinks don't "not work". If the fan is working and blowing in the right direction, and the heatsink is properly fastened down, preferable with the right amount of thermal compound, I can't see how it wouldn't work. As we seem to have eliminated the fan, and the heatsink is just a lump of metal that can't break, I think you need to investigate again the metal to metal contact of the heatsink to the processor. It doesn't sound as if you have used too much thermal compound, so I would look carefully at the retaining mechanism to see that it is holding the heatsink firmly to the motherboard.

I've never heard of a processor overheating because it was somehow broken.

 

[Robbmrp1]

Is this a new heatsink that your installing? It's possible if it has dissipation tubes that during the manufacturing process something went wrong and they don't have adequate ventilation. Or is this an old heatsink?

As McHenryB mentioned, it could appear to be seated on the CPU but have a gap. When your installing it, is your motherboard flat so you can rest the heatsink directly on it, or it sideways during the installation? When I was using air coolers, I would lay my system on it's side so I could set the heatsink directly on the CPU, then I would proceed to hold it there while securing it with screws. This method allows for direct flat contact on the CPU and guarantee's the best fit. If it lifts just slightly in any direction, that's enough to cause heating problems.

 

[arsalaanali]

Try replacing thermal paste and or if not try to go into the BIOS and then try changing the CPU fan rpm to full and if you don't know how to do that download a app called SMS fan controlled and set it to the highest rpm speed and if not o think it's time for a upgrade. I had a stock cooler but it has stop spinning so soon as I have money I will get a new cooler the way I found out was that it had started to freeze and slow I replaced the thermal paste didint work now I'll blug it into another port to see if he other port is messed up or if its the fan but I hoped this helped and Ill update you on what happened!