Overheating CPU, Unknown Cause

[w3ird0]

Hi all,

I joined this forum because I have this weird problem. I already posted this problem on Yahoo Answers, but I didn't get a good answer :lol:

The problem is, I can't have this computer turned on too much time, it overheats, no matter what I'm doing (If i try to play a game it overheats even faster). And when the CPU reaches 90º degrees it shutsdown, before that, the fans are loud as hell. I have already cleaned the dust out of it but it seems that it only downs like 5º.

The computer is old, it is an Acer M1100 Desktop, but it's not in an original state, I added come stuff to it, here are the specs:

Windows 7 Ultimate
AMD Athlon +4000 X2 2.10 Dual-Core CPU
1GB Memory - Upgraded to 3.25GB
X1200 ATI Graphics - Upgraded to a PCI x16 Asus (8400GS)
PSU 250W
250HDD
1 Cooler Master Fan that I Added, and the fan that came with it.

One more thing, I don't know if this helps but I already tried to add 4GB of RAM and the computer freezes in Windows or a BSOD appears.

Hope you can help me,

Thanks!

 

[rinval]

Hi all,

I joined this forum because I have this weird problem. I already posted this problem on Yahoo Answers, but I didn't get a good answer :lol:

The problem is, I can't have this computer turned on too much time, it overheats, no matter what I'm doing (If i try to play a game it overheats even faster). And when the CPU reaches 90º degrees it shutsdown, before that, the fans are loud as hell. I have already cleaned the dust out of it but it seems that it only downs like 5º.

The computer is old, it is an Acer M1100 Desktop, but it's not in an original state, I added come stuff to it, here are the specs:

Windows 7 Ultimate
AMD Athlon +4000 X2 2.10 Dual-Core CPU
1GB Memory - Upgraded to 3.25GB
X1200 ATI Graphics - Upgraded to a PCI x16 Asus (8400GS)
PSU 250W
250HDD
1 Cooler Master Fan that I Added, and the fan that came with it.

One more thing, I don't know if this helps but I already tried to add 4GB of RAM and the computer freezes in Windows or a BSOD appears.

Hope you can help me,

Thanks!

ok to start with were did you get the temps from? the fist thing i would consider is check you bios to make sure you dont have any crazy OC. next look at your heatsink and processor and make sure there is good contact and that your fan is spinning and blowing twords the heatsink. next would be to clean and replace your thermal paste between the processor and heatsink.

yes fan orientation matters especially on stock heatsinks.

about the 4 gb of ram. i would check your to see if your mobo supports 4 gb.

 

[theboi808]

if it isnt over clcoking, check the insides.

my best guess would be Dust. dust is really REALLY bad

 

[theboi808]

What kind of heatsink do you have?

 

[w3ird0]

ok to start with were did you get the temps from? the fist thing i would consider is check you bios to make sure you dont have any crazy OC. next look at your heatsink and processor and make sure there is good contact and that your fan is spinning and blowing twords the heatsink. next would be to clean and replace your thermal paste between the processor and heatsink.

yes fan orientation matters especially on stock heatsinks.

about the 4 gb of ram. i would check your to see if your mobo supports 4 gb.

Got the temps from Speedfan, I only have an OC on my GPU which doesn't overclock. My BIOS doesn't have overclock options...

Already tried cleaning the heatsink and replaced thermal paste...

 

[w3ird0]

What kind of heatsink do you have?

I have the stock Heatsink.

 

[rinval]

is your fan blowing on the heatsink? if so and ur heatsink is clear then it may be your MOBO is not reading heat correctly. i would ground myself to the case turn on the computer and place my hand on the side of the heatsink and see if it gots hot really fast. not warm but hot hot.

 

[digitalhardware]

Take out your heatsink using appropriate steps and apply Arctic Silver 5.
It should lower your temperatures at LEAST a little.

 

[rinval]

Take out your heatsink using appropriate steps and apply Arctic Silver 5.
It should lower your temperatures at LEAST a little.

just a though but if he idles at 85c changing thermal past is not going to be a huge improvement... maybe another 5c which would bring him down to 80c idle unless he does not have any thermal paste on there. ... i wouldn't be surprised if the CPU has not already overheated and damaged the transistors inside the CPU. or if the mobo is overvolting the CPU or even if the temp sensor is just wrong all together. have you looked in the bios to see if there is a preboot hw monitoring tool to see what your temps are there.

 

[w3ird0]

I will see if it gets hot using that method that rinval said when I get home and report here, and yes the bios has a menu that shows me the temps.

 

[13thmonkey]

just a though but if he idles at 85c changing thermal past is not going to be a huge improvement... maybe another 5c which would bring him down to 80c idle unless he does not have any thermal paste on there. ... i wouldn't be surprised if the CPU has not already overheated and damaged the transistors inside the CPU. or if the mobo is overvolting the CPU or even if the temp sensor is just wrong all together. have you looked in the bios to see if there is a preboot hw monitoring tool to see what your temps are there.

+1 this is not an issue of a couple of degrees.

However, a 250W psu, with an 8400GS sounds a bit tight.

Can you described what your fans are doing? the psu fan is sucking from inside the case and blowing out of the case, what is your additional fan doing?

Check the surrounding area of the processor, particularly what the heat sink is attached to, if its that old and its attached to a plastic surround it may have cracked, and released pressure from the cpu, these can be brought off ebay.

 

[w3ird0]

The PSU fan is blowing air out of the case, the cpu fan is taking air to the heatsink, and the fan that i added to the case is taking air in.

I've been 5min on the BIOS it showed me 42º CPU Temp, started at 38º. Then I went to Windows and did nothing, restarted, bios showed me 68º.

One more thing, are the sides of the heatsink supposed to heat at 68º? Because i can hardly feel the heat touching it, but the fans are running like crazy!

 

[JustAnotherNoob]

No, the heatsink is going to be much cooler. The temperature displayed is an internal value from the CPU.
Have you checked if the cooler is mounted properly? If you unhook the cooler (i believe AMD still uses a baseplate and hooks?) does it come right off, or is it sticking to the CPU?

 

[w3ird0]

Yup the cooler is mounted properly, it does not slide or anything, the first time I took of the heatsink it was sticking to the CPU, but then it got off.

 

[rarichorig66]

You have and 8400 gpu and a 250 watt power supply. That could be a problem...... In regards to your CPU overheat, did you use the Heatsink/ Cooler that came in the box with your CPU? or the one that was on your old CPU? THAT can make a difference! Given the age of the system you can probably pick up a better 3rd party cooler at your computer shop for 20$ (or even free at a mom and pop repair place.....)

 

[w3ird0]

I didn't build the computer, it was premade, the heatsink is the one that came with it

 

[richard694000]

I would try reapplying the thermal past. Make sure you clean the old past off both the cpu and heat sink completely. And then re-apply new.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=I3gx6c62D7I

 

[w3ird0]

I already tried so, the only thing that it did was take more time getting hot, and the computer starts overheating again

 

[knightdog56]

You are right on the boarderline for a power supply, and with the age of your other parts you very well could have exceeded it. Can you borrow a known good 450 watt power supply from a friend to see if it solves your problem. I have seen alot of computer hardware rendered useless be being undepowered espcialy motherboards.

 

[w3ird0]

OK, so I will borrow one 450w psu from a friend and i will test it out and post here the results. Thanks to all of you!

 

[rinval]

The PSU fan is blowing air out of the case, the cpu fan is taking air to the heatsink, and the fan that i added to the case is taking air in.

I've been 5min on the BIOS it showed me 42º CPU Temp, started at 38º. Then I went to Windows and did nothing, restarted, bios showed me 68º.

One more thing, are the sides of the heatsink supposed to heat at 68º? Because i can hardly feel the heat touching it, but the fans are running like crazy!

the reasoning behind touching the side of your cooler is if its hot then the CPU is producing to much heat for your cooler and your board is properly reading the CPU temps. which could lead to mobo or psu issues. since its not that is saying your cooler is working properly but still could be PSU/voltage, or a temp reader issue. with booting to bios and seeing 40ish Celsius then its definitively not the reader.

What RPM does your fan show and can you feel it moving air around at the bottom of your cooler? id still check the PSU too though.

 

[maxpayne94]

Well I have a quad Core and I am having the same problem. Normally it is running on 49 temperature with my Air conditioner on in the room, otherwise before it was runnign like hell. When I opened up my computer, i noticed my nephew has turned on games and I was sleeping at that time. After a long run at the computer, i turned it off for a few minutes and then opened it up again only to know that it then went booming. 4 beeps came from the motherboard.

my motherboard is Intel DP35DP . I got a message when i booted up my computer saying your computer shut down due to thermal overheating.

Then I went to the bios and turned the heatsink fan speed to aggressive one. After that it's still working and I m browsing as usual but didn't play any games.

man, I want to beat up my nephew.

I'll try putting thermal paste and see what could be the difference to it. My current readings on idle are 49 C and on playing games or so it overhearts to 100 C

 

[w3ird0]

Hi again,

just wanted to let you know that the problem was that weak PSU, bought another one it doesn't heat more than 50º using prime95 64 bits!

Thanks to all!!!

 

[13thmonkey]

One for the books that one, wouldn't have expected that.

Congrats, glad its sorted.