Athlon System Instability

[owensdj]

I'm helping someone whose 1GHz AMD Athlon machine has started to be unstable. This machine has a DFI AK75 mainboard with a VIA KT133A chipset. If I run Memtest86, it gets thousands of memory errors after it's been checking for about 10 minutes. I swapped out the DIMM for a DIMM I know it good, but it still get huge numbers of memory errors. I tried it with a different video card and no other cards or drives(except the floppy) plugged into the motherboard, but the errors still happen.

I think the processor is overheating. I went into the BIOS to the PC Health Status and found out that the CPU Temp is 73C/163F and the System Temp is 31C/87F. Isn't that CPU temperature way too high? The fan on the processor is still turning.

Could the person who originally built this machine have overclocked that processor? I don't have much experience with AMD processors, so I don't know how to find out what the rated speed is. I know Intel has a processor ID utility that will tell you what's the rated speed for an Intel processor. Thanks for any info you can give me.

 

[Cerb]

73C is way too high! Especially because any board that early uses a socket thermistor. Chances are the CPU has been overheating for a long time. I doubt it's overclocking, but if you take the fan off, I wouldn't be suprised if the TIM's plastic is still on, or if the HSF was put on with no heatsink.
The case temp there is on the high side, but not by enough to justify more than 55C (typical load temp reading w/ stock HSF on a Tbird) CPU temp. You can still but TBirds, though, and at the right price for the performance, so the guy won't need a major upgrade, though I'd buy a new HSF with it

To see if it is overclocked: when removing the CPU itself, see if the set of bridges labeled "L1" are all closed (if they are, the multipliers could be changed). Also the text on the top of chip itself should say "1000" somewhere for a 1GHz TBird (I think on the first line under "AMD Athlon?")

 

[CraigRT]

if the CPU realls is at 73C you could have your problem right there...
I find it hard to believe it would be running even half decent at that temp, but you never know.
take your case sides off and see if the fan on the heatsink is spinning, see if there is tons of dust buildup too.
either the temperature is lying, or you have problems with your heatsink/fan.

 

[owensdj]

Yield, it's not running half decent. I've seen it have jumbled characters just going into the BIOS. The Memtest86 utility finds memory errors when it shouldn't and crashes sometimes.

The fan on the heatsink on the processor is still turning, but there is a good amount of dust in the case. It might not be turning as fast as it should, but I can't tell for sure.

Should I just take off the heatsink and fan and get new, good ones?

 

[CraigRT]

Originally posted by: owensdj
Yield, it's not running half decent. I've seen it have jumbled characters just going into the BIOS. The Memtest86 utility finds memory errors when it shouldn't and crashes sometimes.

The fan on the heatsink on the processor is still turning, but there is a good amount of dust in the case. It might not be turning as fast as it should, but I can't tell for sure.

Should I just take off the heatsink and fan and get new, good ones?

hmmm
are you wanting to get this PC running for sure? do you want to spend the money on a new cooler?
gotta be certain of that stuff first.
if you want to get a new cooler to try, i'd get something similar to the retail AMD cooler. they work very well normally.
you could try that.
also, if that doesn't fix it, try pulling out pieces one by one (NIC, soundcard, etc) and see if any one of those are causing the problems.

you never know.

 

[Vette73]

Have you taken the heatsink off yet??

Do that and make sure it is makeing 100% contact with the chip. Check for chips in the core also

 

[owensdj]

Yield, I've already tried the motherboard with none of the cards or drives plugged in except for the floppy and a different video card that I had lying around. It was still unstable, so I know the problem is either with the processor, heatsink/fan, motherboard, or power supply.

 

[Wiz]

Is the HSF turned around 180 degrees? I've seen temps like that from having the HSF mounted "backwards".
There is a ledge cut into one side of the face of the heat sink that must be aligned with the high area on the cpu socket.
It really doesn't sound like you are getting the HSF mounted right, or there is foreign material between it and the cpu.
(the fan is running right?)

 

[owensdj]

Wiz, after I took off the heatsink and fan, I found out that it has dual fans, one above the other. I know now that the bottom fan wasn't working because I can barely make it turn pushing it with my finger. I'm going to get a new heatsink & fan and see what the temperatures look like.

 

[DAPUNISHER]

Originally posted by: owensdj
Wiz, after I took off the heatsink and fan, I found out that it has dual fans, one above the other. I know now that the bottom fan wasn't working because I can barely make it turn pushing it with my finger. I'm going to get a new heatsink & fan and see what the temperatures look like.

That will very likely resolve the instability if the CPU wasn't permantly damaged, good luck and post back how you make out

 

[Iron Woode]

Originally posted by: owensdj
Wiz, after I took off the heatsink and fan, I found out that it has dual fans, one above the other. I know now that the bottom fan wasn't working because I can barely make it turn pushing it with my finger. I'm going to get a new heatsink & fan and see what the temperatures look like.

Dual fans?

I hope its not one of those horrid orb fans. Get a good HSF, rated for something faster than what you have now, say XP1800+. That should fix it once and for all.

 

[mechBgon]

Also, if the thermal interface material is of low quality, it may have dried out.