HELP! MY COMPUTER IS MELTING!!! HELP!

[Wingster]

Okay here's my rig..
Athlon 1.2 Ghz /w 256 Kingston PC133
Tyan s2390 MB
Chrome Orb, case fan
Antec 300W (Athlon Approved Power Supply)

I just got home today and found out my computer was acting really weird... Within the first 10 minutes in windows, the computer just halted.. so I rebooted... NOTHING! Blank screen.. I can hear all the hard drive and stuff booting up.. so I power off and waited 30 secs... Power back on and it halts again during Windows ME bootup. So I power off and took the case apart.. Found out when I touch the CPU HS, My finger almost got BURNT! immediately took out my can of air duster and start spraying at the darn fan.. okay.. after 10 minutes.. I bootup into BIOS.. It stay steady at 51C for 2 minutes.. starts to climb... 55...60...65!!! (I can feel the temperature increasing with my fingers) I immediately poweroff coz it's growing at increasing speed..or temperature... All the fans are operating so the temperature should peak somewhere at least! Before, it used to peak at 59C, and I leave it on all night and the computer doesn't scream.. I dunno whats up with this thing and I am afraid to touch it!

Somebody suggest me some methodology to test what's wrong with this thing! (No, I don't have a spare athlon MB)
As crappy a chrome orb may be, it still shouldn't got beyond 65 at a rapid rate!!!

SOMEBODY HELP ME!!!

 

[darth maul]

Take the heatsink/fan off the chip, re-aply the thermal grease....you are using grease right? Not some cheap thermal pad that melted because your 1.2GHz chip is producing some 40-50watts of heat?

Just make sure there is good contact there, between the heatsink and chip, preferbly with some good grease (aka Articsilver). And of course, the fan on your cheapy orb was working? If so, your problem most likely all lays in the surface mating between the heatsink and chip.

BTW, there is a chance the chip is already gone...

 

[Wingster]

Forgot to mention, It got a sh*t load of artic silver on it. I don't suppose they dry out? You know the big metal plates on the chrome orb? this paste is so good that the plates burn my hands in seconds after Power ON!! With bad thermal paste, I believe the reading will go nuts while the HeatSink stays cool.. This IS NOT the case!

 

[Wingster]

Pretty sure the chip is not dead YET.. Still boots up to windows... takes 40 seconds to get everything loaded up.. But it's already 65C by then.

 

[Wingster]

Nevermind, got it figured out.. the FAN stops working after 5 min or so.. replug the darn thing and now it's doing okay so far.. my room temperature is pretty cold so it's steady at 48-49C now.. Thanks tho..


Btw, is Core +1.80V the default for Athlon 1.2 Ghz? My software proggie sensors are showing up RED..

 

[Wingster]

Btw, is there any program or executable that will power off the computer without user confirmation? My senser proggie can load wav or executable.. but still doesn't help if I wanna idle and download stuff. I don't wanna leave this machine on overnight and smells like fried Doritoes next morning.

 

[SuperKen!]

I would just be careful, and get a new HSF anyways.

I dont think the crome orb was suited/speced to cool an Athlon 1.2Ghz.

 

[WarCon]

No I'm sure its not, and anything much over 50C is not too cool. I know Athlon's run hot, but if you want the chip to last more than 6-12 months you need to keep it under or around 50C. Oh and by the way, Arctic Silver should only be applied in a thin coat, just enough to make contact between heatsink and core. Too much doesn't work better, it can work much worse. You develop a heat layer in the paste and heat transfer slows, i.e. processor get hot. 50C is at full load, not idle. Idle should be around 42C.

You might reapply your arctic silver if you goobed it on. Check this link for applying instructions. Arctic Silver Instructions

 

[Tbird]

mother board probe
good monitor progy that will shut system down if temp gets to high

 

[frastini]

i dont think the chrome orb is amd approved up to 1.2ghz.. take caution.. i'd
recommend getting a taisol or some other heatsink that is amd approved up to 1.2ghz

 

[ericd]

One other thing.....you don't want a ton of Artic Silver on the processor. In fact you want as thin of a layer as you can get. This could be part of what is causing your problem.

Eric

 

[Mikewarrior2]

I'd be very, very worried with the chrome orb at 1.2ghz. you're looking at a CPU core temp some 45-50C over ambient case temp at that speed with that particular heatsink.


Mike