Cpu temp question

[jyates]

Hi all,

I'm looking at a friend's computer and I just want to make sure it's not running too hot.

It's an epox EP-4sda+ motherboard running a 1.6A at stock speed with a stock
intel heatsink and fan. It does have a chassis fan in the front of it pulling outside air in.

I did put thermal paste between the cpu and heatsink and fan assy.

Upon boot up I go into the cmos setup and it it showing any where from 120 F to 125 F on the cpu
at idle and 78 F on the case temp.

She called and said her computer was rebooting it'self after running a little bit. She's running windows XP.

I caught it doing it a couple of times at her house but so far I can't catch it doing it here.

It boots up and within a couple of minutes you get a blue screen (it goes off super fast) and the computer
reboots.

Now, the office where she had it was warm this afternoon when I was there and my shop is somewhat cooler
than that.

Does it sound like we're running too hot? And if so, what can I do to bring that cpu temp down?
And what is a reasonable temp for a system like her's?

Thanks in advance for all and any help!
Jim

 

[Lord Evermore]

It may be a temperature issue. Are those temps you mentioned a boot from sitting cold for awhile, or the readings right after it reboots itself? 125F is only 51C (most people use Celsius when referring to computer temps), however if that's the cold boot temperature then it is quite high, and is obviously going higher during operation. In a somewhat warm environment 51C during operation would be considered acceptable, but if it's getting up to 55 or 60C, then it may be too warm.

However, the P4 is also designed to simply reduce operating speed when it passes a certain temperature, so it's unlikely the CPU is getting too hot and crashing, unless it really is getting very very hot very very fast. It may be that the video card is overheating or something though.

Did you apply thermal paste to the stock heatsink without removing the black pad that Intel applies? That black pad is their version of a thermal pad, and doesn't need any additional material applied.

One suggestion for better cooling, if the case is capable, is to put an exhaust fan on the rear, beneath the power supply and behind the CPU. That tends to provide better cooling than having a front intake fan, because it's pulling the air directly away from the CPU.

 

[jyates]

Hi,

Yes, the temps I mentioned are going from resting for a while to probably 5 minutes sitting in the cmos setup.

I'll take a look but I don't think the heatsink has that black square on it you referred to.

I'll try the exhaust fan because I believe the case has holes drilled there already.

Thanks,
Jim

 

[Lord Evermore]

All retail Intel heatsink/fan units have some sort of thermal pad attached, as far as I've ever seen.

 

[jyates]

Well, no place for an exhaust fan on the rear under the power supply.....

I had a non factory socket 478 heatsink and fan so I put it on.....it is quite a bit
louder than the intel fan and it dropped the teimp down to the 45c to 48c level.

I tried the utility that came with the epox mb but it shows the temp at 0c when using
it. I've been getting my numbers from the cmos setup pc health readings.

I'm running a 2.4ghz here in my system and the temp on it according to the intel
program is 30c to 31c and it's a fair amount warmer in my den here than in my
computer room which has an outside wal on 3 sides of it.

Also, on the non stock heatsink and fan it has latches different from the stock one in the
fact that I can get them latched into the mb bracket and it's sitting on top of the cpu but I
don't see any way to "lock" the heatsink and fan assy down tight on the cpu.

Any guidance on this?

Thanks,
Jim

 

[Lord Evermore]

Not sure what you mean there... P4 heatsinks are only designed to attach to the plastic bracket mounted to the board (or use a special bracket provided with the heatsink). They don't attach to the socket itself.

If your heatsink is attaching to the bracket but isn't making contact with the CPU, then it may be designed to use its own type of bracket rather than the standard one that comes with motherboards. But it sounds to me like you've got it set up right, P4's just don't seem as "tight" considering the heatsink is just pulling on a plastic bracket rather and seeming to force down on the CPU itself.

It sounds like the case may not be very well ventilated. Try setting up the system with the new heatsink in the warmer room and see if it's stable. If it goes back to your friend's house and isn't stable, try it with the side of the case removed, possibly with a small fan blowing into it. If that fixes it, then mounting a blowhole fan on the side might help.

 

[jyates]

I went and downloaded the utility for the epox board from the homepage. The
version I had tried before apparently wasn't for xp but maybe for 2000 and it didn't show the cpu
temp.

The utility I downloaded installed that was for Xp and told me that the cpu temp is around 37 to 38c
where the mobo's cmos setup is saying high 40's to up to 52c.

Which is true or most accurate?

I touched the heatsink and it's not very warm to the touch when the cmos setup is saying 50c.

I'm thinking now that either it's the ram or video card or maybe xp is corrupted. It will lock up within
seconds of the screen saver coming on.