CPU Temp & behaviour..

[basepointdesignz]

Hi,

Yeah i know that this may be covered a thousand times and there are a thousand varying problems and reasons etc, but i just wanted some advice..

My girlfriend's pc runs fine all day and then just restarts. Whenever i catch it in action like that, i will immediately go into the BIOS and check the PC Health status and on occasion the CPU temp shows as 60 degrees, but sometimes its only 51 degrees - i say only but is that too hot or a normal reading?

I've taken off the heatsink a few times to clean it out of dust and that and i think i may need some more of that paste that sits between the heatsink and cpu - excuse my ignorance. What is it? Where can i get some? and does it really make a difference?



Cheers,

Paul
basepointdesignzltd..
XP Pro..
Pentium Core 2 Q6600 Quad Core
ASUS P5N-E SLI Motherboard
4GB DDR2 RAM
2 x SLI NVIDIA 8500GT SLi 1024MB DDR2 PCI-Express Graphics Cards

 

[Freestone]

The paste you are referring to is thermal conductive material, and yes, it does make a difference, and is necessary. Its purpose is to aid the transfer of heat away from the CPU to the heatsink.

When removing the heatsink, one should always clean the old material from both the heatsink and CPU and apply a thin layer of new material. Note the words thin layer because in this case, more does not mean better. Arctic Silver is a good brand of material. They have instructions based on the CPU type here:

http://www.arcticsilver.com/arctic_silver_instructions.htm

 

[wahnula]

Good points Freestone. I might add that while its purpose is to transfer heat away from the chip's heat spreader and into the heatsink, it does this by filling in the microscopic gaps between the two. The compound consists of very small particles, and they fill in all the imperfections in the two surfaces so they mate as perfectly as possible.

I agree one should not remove a CPU without removing the old paste before re-installing. I use Q-tips and a SMALL amount of alcohol to do this.

Tony

Users helping Users...

 

[Xyphious]

Also make sure you have sufficient airflow inside the case, you can use all the thermal paste you like but if the airflow sucks (heh :-\) then its gonna overheat no matter what.

As a minimum i always make sure i have a fan on the lower front blowing in and one behind the CPU fan to suck hot air out, if possible one the top of the unit is good too.

as for the temps i imaging the shutdown threshold is 60 degrees, install the following software

http://www.almico.com/speedfan434.exe

This allows you to monitor temps whilst in windows, if you hardware has enough sensors you can view temperatures for the specific parts and see whats causing the overheat then target the hotspots with fans


Hope that helps

 

[BionicJohn]

Clearly good heat-flow from the CPU to the heat sink and through the case are essential, but the actual working temperature range depends on which model of CPU you have.

See this and following pages:

http://www.hardwaresecrets.com/article/143/5

on Hardware secrets.

60°C is approaching the max of most CPUs - very high, almost critical for some, so it's good to check what's happening.

Assuming the heat-sink is seated correctly and dust-free, airflow through case is probably what needs to be addressed. Some cases, especially when full of cards, have poor airflow.

Taking a panel of a case can sometimes produce a dramatic drop in temperature.

You may need to investigate how to increase the cooling, perhaps by installing an additional intake and/or exhaust fans, assuming the case can accept them.

Thet may of course be some simple things to check, like moving the computer away from a heater, or putting it near door where there is a cooler airflow.

Liverpool: Capital of Culture 2008
Anfield: Capital of Football since 1892
Iechyd da! John
Glannau Mersi, Lloegr.

 

[paparazi]

basepointdesignz
A quad 6600 produces a lot of heat and as others have said: the heat transfer surfaces and old paste need cleaning/re-applying EVERYTIME the heatsink is removed.
IT IS absolutely critical and CANNOT be ignored.
As this contact is degraded the potential temperature change fluctuates more dramatically and much more quickly, it doesn't have the heatsink mass to temper it's heat and slow the warming and cooling process down. The temperature range from idle to full load will widen and so it comes as little suprise that you report varied temps in bios.
Memory, PSU and software driver faults can also cause restarts.
Martin



On wings like angels whispers sweet
my heart it feels a broken beat
Touched soul and hurt lay wounded deep
Brown eyes are lost afar and sleep

 

[basepointdesignz]

Hi,

Thanks for the advice, gonna pick up some Artic Silver and check out maybe an upgrade heatsink and fan, just need to find out what socket it is..

Its not my pc, paparazi, its my girlfriend's - its a P4 2.4Ghz single core..

I think that the main problem is where the pc is. its in a one of those cheap pc desks, where they haven't really thought through where the pc alcove is - aren't all pc's right-handed when it comes to the motherboard? (ie: the mb is on the right side of the case looking front on) - well this desk has the left side of the pc alcove on all covered up and the right side is open, so with the pc in there, can't really move it (no other space for it) its kind of choking itself. I had already removed the access panel to try to increase air flow ages ago..

I really need to check the specs on her MB / case and PSU and see whether i can put a few more fans in there, and as i said, upgrade her HS&F..

Thanks for all your help

Cheers,

Paul
basepointdesignzltd..
XP Pro..
Pentium Core 2 Q6600 Quad Core
ASUS P5N-E SLI Motherboard
4GB DDR2 RAM
2 x SLI NVIDIA 8500GT SLi 1024MB DDR2 PCI-Express Graphics Cards

 

[LawnBoy]

I had already removed the access panel to try to increase air flow

Do you mean that you've taken the side off the pc? This can cause less heat to be removed, as it disrupts the chassis' designed airflow.


"We must fall back upon the old axiom that when all other contingencies fail, whatever remains, however improbable, must be the truth." - Sherlock Holmes

 

[kjv1611]

basepointdesignz,

As LawnBoy pointed out, removing a case side panel can reduce the effectiveness of the cases airflow and ability to cool components. Sometimes it helps, sometimes it hurts.

But long term, you do not want to just leave the case side open for these reasons in the least:
[UL][LI]Greater risk of adding getting more dust on components than standard.[/LI]
[LI]Greater risk that if a liquid is spilled on or near the computer, that components will get fried.[/LI]
[LI]Greater risk that static electricity will fry at least one component. I have heard personally from a relative who repaired a motherboard where another person left the side of their case open, and zapped it with static electricity.[/LI]
[LI]Greater risk for personal shock - yeah, even though not likely, this is possible[/LI]
[/UL]

Another thing you can look at is slowing down the processor in the BIOS if there are any options for that. You can reduce the timings, etc, and see if the computer is still manageable. That should help with temperature in some cases quite well.

The ambient room temperature will have impact as well. For instance, I have to sometimes remind people when working on their computers, replacing fans, and components at times, that it would help their computer's cooling a LOT if they would actually use their air condition in the summer, and not use quite so much heat in the winter - at least in the room where the computer is, if possible. Along those lines, if you live in an area that gets really warm and humid in the Spring and Summer like where I live, and like to leave the windows open? Not really a great idea if you're running a computer in that room - especially if you're running more than one!



--

"If to err is human, then I must be some kind of human!" -Me

 

[basepointdesignz]

oh right ok, i thought it would be helping but i shall put it back on and see. I only took it off because its sitting against the closed side of the alcove on that side of the pc..

Thanks for the advice, i will as i said upgrade the cooling bits and see how it goes.. Thanks.

btw, yeah i can manipulate the chip settings in the bios, so is there am easy drop in volts ratio to temperature? Do i have to drop the chip much to see an improvement in temp or loads? whats a nominal figure to reduce it too, if there is one?

Cheers,

Paul
basepointdesignzltd..
XP Pro..
Pentium Core 2 Q6600 Quad Core
ASUS P5N-E SLI Motherboard
4GB DDR2 RAM
2 x SLI NVIDIA 8500GT SLi 1024MB DDR2 PCI-Express Graphics Cards

 

[kjv1611]

Do i have to drop the chip much to see an improvement in temp or loads? whats a nominal figure to reduce it too, if there is one?

Unfortunately, that isn't cut and dry. As I think was already mentioned in the thread, the thermal properties, etc vary from one CPU line to another. And they can even vary amongst CPUS of the same brand, speed, etc.

For instance, I had an Athlon XP 3200+ that ran regularly at over 60 degrees C on a Gigabyte motherboard (7NNXP) - which is still in operation today, I might add - and with no problems. That temp worried me for staying consistently that warm with an aftermarket heatsink/fan and Arctic Silver 5 Thermal Paste, and plenty of airflow in the case - to/from. But then I read online about that specific motherboard, and it's reporting higher temps, etc. Never had a real problem, other than I could never get any stable overclock out of it - which I think there was never a whole lot of good overclocking with that chip, anyway.

I later gave that one to my father-in-law in a rebuilt computer, and because of the environment where the computer was located, I dropped the speed back to similar to 2600+ speeds. He couldn't tell the difference with what he did, but it gave me a little peace of mind, knowing it would run a tad cooler. In his environment, stays in the 50s, I believe, whereas at my house, it stayed in the 40s at that speed. Crazy as it seemed to me. For that change, I just changed the bus speed from 400 to 333, I believe.

I would just change the CPU settings as little as possible, and test and see. I believe that's the only way you can really know for sure. And of course, always make sure you've got some paste between the cpu and heatsink. With heat produced by modern processors, you're just asking for trouble if you don't have some paste or other thermal conducting material in there (like a thermal pad).

--

"If to err is human, then I must be some kind of human!" -Me