CPU overheating

I have a PC with a overheating CPU.
I look in the bios and see the temp at 40 something , which rises steadily
from there.Running XP it reaches as high as 72c, at which point the PC shuts
down.
I have tried a new heatsink & fan on the CPU and also a different power
supply in the case.
The case is quite spacious and the case fans are running. The CPU has
been running inside this case for ages with no such problem , so I don`t
think it is the fault of the case.
Before I go off to spend money on a new CPU is there anything else likely
to be causing it to overheat?
The M/board perhaps or even the graphics card?
There have been no hardware changes for months.
Thank you..

sue

sue wrote:
> I have a PC with a overheating CPU.
> I look in the bios and see the temp at 40 something , which rises steadily
> from there.Running XP it reaches as high as 72c, at which point the PC shuts
> down.
> I have tried a new heatsink & fan on the CPU and also a different power
> supply in the case.
> The case is quite spacious and the case fans are running. The CPU has
> been running inside this case for ages with no such problem , so I don`t
> think it is the fault of the case.
> Before I go off to spend money on a new CPU is there anything else likely
> to be causing it to overheat?
> The M/board perhaps or even the graphics card?
> There have been no hardware changes for months.
> Thank you..
>
>

Check that the case fans are the right way around. A friend of mine had
a similar problem, and it was caused by the fan at the front and the fan
at the back all pushing air into the case. She turned the rear fan
around so it blew air out of the case and the temp dropped by about 20
degrees...

"The Muffin Man" <the.muffin.man@dotcomdotaudotcom> wrote in message
news:4270db71$0$17570$...
> sue wrote:
> > I have a PC with a overheating CPU.
> > I look in the bios and see the temp at 40 something , which rises
steadily
> > from there.Running XP it reaches as high as 72c, at which point the PC
shuts
> > down.
> > I have tried a new heatsink & fan on the CPU and also a different power
> > supply in the case.
> > The case is quite spacious and the case fans are running. The CPU has
> > been running inside this case for ages with no such problem , so I don`t
> > think it is the fault of the case.
> > Before I go off to spend money on a new CPU is there anything else
likely
> > to be causing it to overheat?
> > The M/board perhaps or even the graphics card?
> > There have been no hardware changes for months.
> > Thank you..
> >
> >
>
> Check that the case fans are the right way around. A friend of mine had
> a similar problem, and it was caused by the fan at the front and the fan
> at the back all pushing air into the case. She turned the rear fan
> around so it blew air out of the case and the temp dropped by about 20
> degrees...

The case & everything inside has been running fine for ages. If the fan
were the wrong way round I expect it would have caused problems before now

Look in the BIOS settings, and see if the voltage is properly set for the
CPU that you are using. Check to see that it is not being over-clocked.

--

JANA
_____


"sue" <> wrote in message
news:4270da1d$0$299$...
I have a PC with a overheating CPU.
I look in the bios and see the temp at 40 something , which rises steadily
from there.Running XP it reaches as high as 72c, at which point the PC shuts
down.
I have tried a new heatsink & fan on the CPU and also a different power
supply in the case.
The case is quite spacious and the case fans are running. The CPU has
been running inside this case for ages with no such problem , so I don`t
think it is the fault of the case.
Before I go off to spend money on a new CPU is there anything else likely
to be causing it to overheat?
The M/board perhaps or even the graphics card?
There have been no hardware changes for months.
Thank you..

sue wrote:
> "The Muffin Man" <the.muffin.man@dotcomdotaudotcom> wrote in message
> news:4270db71$0$17570$...
>
>>sue wrote:
>>
>>>I have a PC with a overheating CPU.
>>> I look in the bios and see the temp at 40 something , which rises
>
> steadily
>
>>>from there.Running XP it reaches as high as 72c, at which point the PC
>
> shuts
>
>>>down.
>>> I have tried a new heatsink & fan on the CPU and also a different power
>>>supply in the case.
>>> The case is quite spacious and the case fans are running. The CPU has
>>>been running inside this case for ages with no such problem , so I don`t
>>>think it is the fault of the case.
>>> Before I go off to spend money on a new CPU is there anything else
>
> likely
>
>>>to be causing it to overheat?
>>> The M/board perhaps or even the graphics card?
>>> There have been no hardware changes for months.
>>> Thank you..
>>>
>>>
>>
>>Check that the case fans are the right way around. A friend of mine had
>>a similar problem, and it was caused by the fan at the front and the fan
>>at the back all pushing air into the case. She turned the rear fan
>>around so it blew air out of the case and the temp dropped by about 20
>>degrees...
>
>
> The case & everything inside has been running fine for ages. If the fan
> were the wrong way round I expect it would have caused problems before now
>
>

Not necessarily Sue. If the computer has been recently moved and/or
the local weather conditions are warmer then problems may only just
surface. If local weather conditions are colder, is the room kept
artificially at higher temps?

Having said that, in my opinion 72c, although high, is not excessively
so, and your problems may lie elsewhere. Have you checked in the BIOS
to see whether it has been set to shutdown at over 72c? Does the
video card have a working fan, or if not, is the heatsink clogged with
dust, or is the airflow restricted by cards in adjoining slots.

You could try downloading and running Everest, from
http://www.lavalys.com/ and keep an eye on temperatures to see whether
any patterns emerge.

--
Cheers
Oldus Fartus

"Oldus Fartus" <> wrote in message
news:4270e36e$0$17603$...
> sue wrote:
> > "The Muffin Man" <the.muffin.man@dotcomdotaudotcom> wrote in message
> > news:4270db71$0$17570$...
> >
> >>sue wrote:
> >>
> >>>I have a PC with a overheating CPU.
> >>> I look in the bios and see the temp at 40 something , which rises
> >
> > steadily
> >
> >>>from there.Running XP it reaches as high as 72c, at which point the PC
> >
> > shuts
> >
> >>>down.
> >>> I have tried a new heatsink & fan on the CPU and also a different
power
> >>>supply in the case.
> >>> The case is quite spacious and the case fans are running. The CPU
has
> >>>been running inside this case for ages with no such problem , so I
don`t
> >>>think it is the fault of the case.
> >>> Before I go off to spend money on a new CPU is there anything else
> >
> > likely
> >
> >>>to be causing it to overheat?
> >>> The M/board perhaps or even the graphics card?
> >>> There have been no hardware changes for months.
> >>> Thank you..
> >>>
> >>>
> >>
> >>Check that the case fans are the right way around. A friend of mine had
> >>a similar problem, and it was caused by the fan at the front and the fan
> >>at the back all pushing air into the case. She turned the rear fan
> >>around so it blew air out of the case and the temp dropped by about 20
> >>degrees...
> >
> >
> > The case & everything inside has been running fine for ages. If the
fan
> > were the wrong way round I expect it would have caused problems before
now
> >
> >
>
> Not necessarily Sue. If the computer has been recently moved and/or
> the local weather conditions are warmer then problems may only just
> surface. If local weather conditions are colder, is the room kept
> artificially at higher temps?


It has`nt been moved and the PC went all through last summer with no
problems.


>
> Having said that, in my opinion 72c, although high, is not excessively
> so, and your problems may lie elsewhere. Have you checked in the BIOS
> to see whether it has been set to shutdown at over 72c?

It is set to shut down at 72. I didn`t see much point in raising this
limit.


Does the
> video card have a working fan.......


No , but then again it never has.



or if not, is the heatsink clogged with
> dust, or is the airflow restricted by cards in adjoining slots.
>

On Thu, 28 Apr 2005 13:42:04 +0100, "sue" <> wrote:

|>I have a PC with a overheating CPU.
|> I look in the bios and see the temp at 40 something , which rises steadily
|>from there.Running XP it reaches as high as 72c, at which point the PC shuts
|>down.
|> I have tried a new heatsink & fan on the CPU and also a different power
|>supply in the case.
|> The case is quite spacious and the case fans are running. The CPU has
|>been running inside this case for ages with no such problem , so I don`t
|>think it is the fault of the case.
|> Before I go off to spend money on a new CPU is there anything else likely
|>to be causing it to overheat?
|> The M/board perhaps or even the graphics card?
|> There have been no hardware changes for months.

Get a new fan, ones rip'd out of power supplies work great. Wire tie
it to blow onto the cpu, attached to the bottom of the drive bay works
for me.

Connectors to power it can be purchased and attach to a drives power
line -splitters are available if you don't have a spare.

Only problems encounter'd with this set up is the cpu's heat sink will
need to be clean'd more often.



--
The Eagle Nebula image release on Hubble's 15th birthday
http://tinyurl.com/982nm (space.com)

sue wrote:
snipped

>
>
>>Having said that, in my opinion 72c, although high, is not excessively
>>so, and your problems may lie elsewhere. Have you checked in the BIOS
>>to see whether it has been set to shutdown at over 72c?
>
>
> It is set to shut down at 72. I didn`t see much point in raising this
> limit.
>

OK, so now you know why the computer is switching off when it reaches
72c - it has been told to do so.

What processor is it?

--
Cheers
Oldus Fartus

"sue" <> wrote in message
news:4270da1d$0$299$...
>I have a PC with a overheating CPU.
> I look in the bios and see the temp at 40 something , which rises
> steadily
> from there.Running XP it reaches as high as 72c, at which point the PC
> shuts
> down.
> I have tried a new heatsink & fan on the CPU and also a different
> power
> supply in the case.
> The case is quite spacious and the case fans are running. The CPU
> has
> been running inside this case for ages with no such problem , so I
> don`t
> think it is the fault of the case.
> Before I go off to spend money on a new CPU is there anything else
> likely
> to be causing it to overheat?
> The M/board perhaps or even the graphics card?
> There have been no hardware changes for months.
> Thank you..
>
>


When you are running Windows XP, obviously you are not then looking in
the BIOS to see what is the CPU temperature. What software are you
using to report the CPU temperature when you are running Windows XP?
You need to make sure to pick the correct chipset type in the
temperature monitoring program so it knows how to interpret the change.
Even a change in the version of the motherboard may require a different
utility version or a different selection of chipset depending on what
temperature monitoring software you are using.

Although you said all the fans are running and the temperatures were
okay last summer, still check that you don't have battling fans; that
is, don't have 2 fans blowing against each other or sucking away from
each other. Dust is a thermal insulator and prevent transfer of heat,
so maybe it is about time to blow out the dust (do it outside unless you
plan of dusting your room afterward, too). Make sure no flat cables are
in the way of the airflow. Most jobbers are sloppy when fabbing a host
and the cables are strewn every which way inside the case. Move the
flat ribbon cables out of the way or, at least, twist them so they are
parallel to the motherboard as much as possible to let the air flow from
the front of the case to the rear and upward to the power supply. Check
the BIOS settings for the voltage regulators on the CPU. If you are
overclocking, return to normal clock rates and reduce the voltages to
normal settings. When you replaced the heatsink, did you remove the old
heatsink compound and put on new paste? Did you make sure not to goop
it on thick and instead have a thin translucent layer on the heatsink,
press it against the CPU, and twist a few times to spread it out?
Although thermal paste does transfer heat better than it, it does NOT
transfer heat as well as metal so you don't want to insulate the CPU
from the heatsink with a thick layer of goop. You are filling the
microscopic air gaps, not making an Oreo cookie. Is the case positioned
too close to wall on the backside which would cause turbulence (which
reduces airflow rate)? While you can see the CPU, case, and video card
fans are spinning, did you actually check that the fan inside the PSU is
spinning? That is the major cooling fan for the CPU. I've even seen
where a backpanel fan near the CPU will raise its temperature (and where
reversing it from exhausting out to it sucking it would reduce the CPU
temperature - because of poor airflow design for side case fans that are
improperly positioned). If you have an unused drive bay, try removing
the solid cover plate (i.e., make a big hole at the front of the case)
and watch the CPU temperature. Could be the normal front ventilation
path is blocked or too restrictive. If that works, drill out a nice
grill pattern in the drive bay cover plate (I usually pick the spare
3-1/2" drive bay plate so it is near the front intake vents that are
just below and is near the hard drive that generates heat).

--
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sue wrote:
> I have a PC with a overheating CPU.
> I look in the bios and see the temp at 40 something , which rises
> steadily from there.Running XP it reaches as high as 72c, at which
> point the PC shuts down.
> I have tried a new heatsink & fan on the CPU and also a different
> power supply in the case.
> The case is quite spacious and the case fans are running. The CPU
> has been running inside this case for ages with no such problem , so
> I don`t think it is the fault of the case.
> Before I go off to spend money on a new CPU is there anything else
> likely to be causing it to overheat?
> The M/board perhaps or even the graphics card?
> There have been no hardware changes for months.
> Thank you..

What type of heat sink did you buy?

Was the contact surface on the heatsink extremely smooth (I often have sand
the lower quality ones).

What did you use as a thermal barrier (*paste* or tape)?

I also think you need to verify the board was not accident OC'ed or Voltage
bumped up inadvertently (as others have mentioned).