Over heating???

[chaz]

It should be under no load at the bios screen, it should not be near that hot. Either the cpu fan is dying and slowing down to the point it cant keep up with the heat generated by the cpu, or the cpu heatsink which the fan is mounted on is full of chit and needs to be cleaned out. As long as the power supply fan is working it should be enough for that machine. I think if the heatsink was not making enough contact, it probably would have kamikazi'ed by now.

[Big Gay Al]

According to the bios screen, the fan was running about 5000 to 5500 rpm. And the temp would actually go up while it was sitting in the bios screen with me watching it.

I decided to try a different one, so I got CompUSA's "Copper Pro Gamer Fan" which is rated to 2.2ghz. At first it seemed ok. But then the temp started rising again. The only way I can keep it cool is to leave the side cover off, and have a fan blowing into it.

I think maybe the CPU is damaged.

[Big Gay Al]

Just checked the temp, with the side open and fan blowing in, temp seems stable at 40-44 degrees Centigrade.

[chaz]

Ok, I dont see that particular cooler, but I assume it's a fan and heatsink combo? A copper heatsink should be more than enough. Is the power supply fan working? It wont matter how good the cooler is if we cant evacuate the hot air from the case. If not, another psu is in order, if it is working, then a case fan or 2 should help. The local radio shack has them, but they're a bit pricy compared to newegg.

[Big Gay Al]

Ok, I dont see that particular cooler, but I assume it's a fan and heatsink combo? A copper heatsink should be more than enough. Is the power supply fan working? It wont matter how good the cooler is if we cant evacuate the hot air from the case. If not, another psu is in order, if it is working, then a case fan or 2 should help. The local radio shack has them, but they're a bit pricy compared to newegg.

Considering it was running consistently at about 50-54 degrees before, under the same conditions with original fan/heat sink, I see it as an improvement.

Yes, the PS fan is working. So I'm now thinking about where to put a case fan.

I just don't understand what changed, as it was working fine until Friday night, "boom" so to say, it started the reboot cycle, and over heating. THis is just plain strange.

[SlackPawn]

The case fan *must* be an exhaust fan, and therefore must be at the rear of the case. If you use an intake fan, that will destroy the negative pressure in the case, which in turn destroys CD drives. The CD drives can only get ventilation by means of the negative pressure inside the case.

When you check that fans are running, be sure they are running well instead of running very slowly. Sometimes the lubrication fails and causes the fan to run at 1/3 or 1/4 normal speed. To re-lubricate a fan, peel the label and inject a couple drops of thin machine oil, preferably silicone type. This won't last, so only do this if you don't have any new ones handy. The fact that you get good cooling with the case open, sort of points to the power supply fan.

The quantum change in heating could also happen if the core voltage somehow got raised. You can measure the core voltage by probing with a voltmeter on the solid metal tabs of the power transistors in the regulator circuit. Be careful not to touch more than one thing at a time with the probe. If that voltage is too high, maybe clearing the CMOS would fix it.

If the regulator is misbehaving, look for leaking capacitors. You can recognize them by the bulged-up top.

To get more ventilation, I leave an empty hole where the second floppy would go if you had one. This also obviates any need for a hard drive fan because the hard drive can be located near that front opening.

[Big Gay Al]

My system finally died completely on Sunday Night. I was able to confirm it was the CPU as a friend had an old Athlon 950 that we tried on the mobo, and it worked fine for over an hour before I finally shut it down.

Today I finally broke down and bought a Sempron 2500+ on an Asus A7V8X mobo. Connected it all up, and it's running fine. According to the temp monitor program I'm running now, temp is steady at 41-42 degrees celsius (whatever happened to centigrade, I always liked the word "centigrade".)

I'm happy, but my bank account isn't.

[vaughan]

Now you have a new rig what DC project are you going to crunch with it?

[Big Gay Al]

Now you have a new rig what DC project are you going to crunch with it?

Actually, I'm going to play Fighter Ace more often. ;)