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I need a CPU Heat monitor 1

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sylve

Programmer
Jan 18, 2005
58
CA
I'm not a hardware sort of girl but my fan was making loud noises and today i had no noise at all... And pc suddenly rebooted. I looked and fan SEEMS to be working.

I can't find in the bios a place to see the fan's speed or the heat. Is there a applet, as small and efficient as possible, that will tell me in real time my CPU heat? I couldn't find anything on the neat that didn't look suspicious and i don't want to clobber up the pc with junk...

Please help!
 
Probably the bearing(s) in the CPU fan, should be replaced (bearings locked up - surge of power when you booted back up "kicked" it back to life). I say probably, because the video chip could have a fan that would do the same thing. Can you give us more information on the computer? Does it say on the front "Genuine Intel inside", or anything about "AMD"?

In BIOS setup, do you have a page that says "Health"? That would have temperatures and fan speeds listed.
 
As micker377 says, probably a seizing fan, either CPU cooler, motherboard chipset Northbridge, graphics card or even the power supply itself.
Either way the PC needs urgent attention to prevent permanent component damage.
At this stage a replacement is relatively inexspensive but you need to determine which fan is the culprit. You could even remove the fan, clean and lubricate it's bearings, as long as there isn't too much wear, a couple of drops of light oil applied to the bearing (underneath the sticker) and a proper clean of the fan and heatsink works wonders.
Post back with more hardware information (CPU, graphics and motherboard type)



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Neat frreware app that should be able to get fan and temperature info. It supports a LOT of hardware, though I have an ancient machine it can't seem to figure out. Any machine from the last three years, however, it should return good info for. :)



Doug Castell
Castell Computers
(310)601-4738
 
ok, when you say "light oil applied underneath the sticker"...What kind of oil? and do I just lube away under the sticker without regard at what it lands at? I am assuming the circular sticker in the middle of the fan...
 
azzazzello
It depends on the fan, on most you just peel back the sticker underneath the impeller to reveal the phosphur bronze or ball bearing, some have a rubber blanking bung which just pops out.
On a small 40mm fan it may only take one drop, on a larger fan maybe 3/4 drops, some on this site recommend an oil/graphite mix but to be honest I use just light 3in1 all purpose oil, available at all DIY stores (comes in a small handy can with nozel)
Although rare, there are fan types that are sealed so can't be lubricated.
Avoid getting oil on the sticker or suface that the sticker adhere's to, the sticker prevents bearing contamination.
If you inadvertantly damage the sticker you can use ordinary electrical tape to reseal.
You can't really damage anything with the oil as it doesn't conduct.
Martin




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Participate and help others.
 
Any oil will work. However, something like sewing machine oil is better as the rust freeing, penetration agents in something like three in one soon evaporate and mean you don't get as much oil in as needed. The addition of powdered graphite, if you can get it, generally means you will never have to do it again.

I generally add a bit of graphite, a drop or two of oil, spin the fan with my finger a few times, remove any surplus oil with the edge of a piece of tissue paper. If I get any oil where the label goes I wipe with isopropyl alcohol and when dry, re-apply the label or as already mentioned use a piece of pre-cut insulating tape if I messed up the label.
 
I'm the graphite guy and i swear by it! You can get powdered graphite in a little, round stick form as it goes on real easy that way. Be careful not to squeeze too much out at a time, best to put a bit on some tissue paper and use a small brush or even a q-tip, i use real small carft sticks myself. Put the oil in first and then the graphite and then seal it up again. Only takes a bit of graphite and be careful as it will stain!
YOu can get powdered graphite at auto or hardware store for about $2 or so. Its got a million uses around the house too, door hinges, car hinges, etc, etc. Its better than oil as oil evaporates and this doesnt. But its good to use oil as well to spread the graphite around.
I found this out by experimenting as i use those ide trays and the small fans in them are bad for being real noisy. I found that oil only lasts a couple months whereas oil and graphite lasts for years! My computer fans are all quiet.




Good advice + great people = tek-tips
 
I could not have been the terror of Cub Scout Pine Wood Derby when garebo wus just a glean in his momma's eye without graphited oil.
 
lol!!!

I was pointing out our recent discussions about this topic is all. I cant even guess at how many other posts are here.
around this subject.

Course i do remember a few people not knowing about graphite at the time, but, heck, its been around a lot longer than i have!

Point is, it works great.



Good advice + great people = tek-tips
 
Well i don't know about graphite. How odd... at some point, the cpu fan stopped. At another it wasnt spinning fast enough and making loud noises (from what i could tell by my naked eye). This evening, it seemed fine!

Replacement was only 20$ so i decided to have it replaced anyways. It's a 5 year old P3 machine and i'm not sure i feel like risking the whole processor, MB over 20$. Kept the old fan anyways.

Thanks for the advice everyone. I will download a applet to keep track.
 
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