help: is my processor fried?

[csdanielson]

Here are my specs

AMD Athlon XP 1800 1.53ghz
Abit NV7-133R motherboard
GeForce 4 TI4200 64mb
512mb PC2100 Crucial ram
Win XP

I have the latest drivers installed and Windows Update has been run.

My problem is my computer keeps crashing while I am playing games.

Recently the problem has gotten so severe that I cannot play any games for more than a few minutes without it crashing.

It is not unique to one game it happens when I am playing Far Cry, WC3, UT2004 etc

What happens is the computer freezes and the screen becomes a jumbled mess of colors. The only way to fix this is to pull the power plug out and re-insert it. Then when you start the computer it will boot normally. If you don't pull the plug out it boots with the screen all crazy.

Is this because of overheating??

I went into the BIOS settings and checked the temp of the CPU. I noticed it was too hot, the warning temperature was 75 degrees and the CPU was at like 78.

I have removed one side of the computers case but I think the CPU may be too hot or perhaps it is damaged from already being burnt.

I removed the cpu fan and cleaned a BUNCH of dust out that was on top of the heatsink. I think the dust was preventing the fan from cooling the heatink and processor.

I just now installed MBProbe it is supposed to measure the temp of the processor. And it is showing the CPU temp as 144.5F farenheit!!!

Is this accurate and why would it be doing this.

How can I fix my computer??

Please any help is appreciated.

 

[ScrapSilicon]

is that a Palomino core..? anyway you are killing it..clean your case and your fans..

 

[nick1985]

get a new heatsink

 

[butch84]

is the heatsink making good contact with the processor? I remember with socket A heatsinks it was possible to put them on backwards so the core of the cpu wouldnt make good contact. Also, are you using any kind of thermal paste?

 

[Bassyhead]

that cpu is way too hot. make sure its on the right way, has good contact with the cpu die, etc.

 

[csdanielson]

Thanks for the help everyone!

Hmm not using any thermal grease I should look into that. Also I could probably get a better heatsink, I'm using the stock one that came w/ the processor.

Anyway I will make sure the heatsink and processor are hooked in right

Again thnx for the help and now I know what to do

 

[BigBadBiologist]

you definitely need to use thermal compound. If you don't have any, just go to radio shack and get their cheapo stuff. It's better than not having anything. You're going to destroy your CPU.

 

[Ionizer86]

Definitely, spend about $7 or so and get a tube of Arctic Silver 5 online. Even compared to normal temps using a heatsink and silly cone white paste, you can knock off like 5+ºC off the temp. AS5 is awesome!

Oh, and interesting board you got there. I remember the NV7-133R to be one of the few affordable yet well-featured boards in the nForce 1 days