PLEASE HELP! - is my CPU dead ???

[dsleesman]

PLEASE, PLEASE HELP!

first off, let me explain the scenerio: i have been getting really high CPU temps, so i decided to take off my heatsink, fan, and CPU so that i could verify an adequate amount of grease was on the chip. i reassembled everything, and NOOO!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

i have a:

AOpen ak73 pro
AMD Athlon 1.4GHz

when i turn the power on, NOTHING HAPPENS. the fans run and the LED's light up, but the green light indicator on the monitor just flashes. I have swapped video cards and RAM.

i do *not* have an extra motherboard or CPU to swap, so i'm not sure which one needs replaced.

ONE ODD THING is that when i put the RAM into different slots, sometimes the hard drives spin up, and the system actually starts to boot, but freezes after the CPU status and RAM are displayed. *SOMETIMES*


i think that my CPU is the culprit. i hope it's not the mobo.


thank you VERY VERY much:frown:

 

[cholley]

i'm gonna ask a stoopid question so brace yourself,
did you make sure to plug the fan into the proper pin header?
some of those boards have fan protection in the bios and that would give you a no-go indication

 

[Flashram]

You didn't really say, did you add more thermal grease?

 

[dsleesman]

the CPU fan is plugged into the same place.

nope, i didn't add any thermal grease.

i kept everything the same as it was before (or so i thought)

 

[cholley]

clear your CMOS just for fun

 

[dsleesman]

i cleared my CMOS, but it still doesn't work


hey guys, should i just buy a processor from newegg.com or something, to see if that's my problem? because i think the CPU is the culprit. athlons are so sensitive, and i think i may have accidentally fried it or something?? i dunno? i was EXTRA careful when doing it ?!?!


keep the ideas cummin!

 

[cholley]

re-seat your cards, if it was working when you turned it off then you might have bumpped somethin loose.
it always seem i fat finger something when i mess around in my pc.

 

[dsleesman]

OK OK....

another clue has been found.

my motherboard has the "Dr. Voice" feature. When moving stuff around (memory, video card), when the system is turned on, it says things like "your memory may have a problem", or "your CPU may have a problem", or "your AGP may have a problem".

on most boots, the Dr. Voice doesn't say anything.

i wish it just told me ONE thing and ONE THING ONLY, so i know what's wrong.


help!

 

[DAPUNISHER]

How high exactly is really high for the temps you were getting? What PSU are you using? after you put the HS/F back on did you smell anything? Did you get thermal paste on the CPU bridges or was it neatly on the core? Some quick advice without waiting for a reply is Remove the cpu and make certain a small piece of dust or fiber wasn't on the pins when you replaced it then reseat it and remove the HS/F and clean the CPU and HS of thermal paste and do a neat and proper reapplication of paste and try again.

 

[dsleesman]

Praise God!
IT'S ALIVE!!!

i think the problem is solved

i was looking through my mobo manual, and i saw where you could hit the "HOME" key to restore the default settings (dealing with the CPU frequency). **this is DIFFERENT from clearing my CMOS** i also messed around with my CPU DIP switches, and i have my system running at 1.33GHz, rather than the previous 1.4GHz, which is WEIRD that i can't quite get back up to 1.4. I'm happy / i'll take it.


thanks to all who replied!

 

[DAPUNISHER]

Good deal and have fun

 

[Xyphic]

Just out of interest, how easy is it to damage an Athlon by inexpertly fitting a heatsink?

The reason I ask is because when I was last in my local computer store, they had a notice on the counter saying that you should get Athlons fitted by an expert, and they wouldn't replace them if damage occurred if you mount the heatsink yourself. They also had pictures of the damage, and it was difficult to spot. I wonder what the rate of failure of CPUs is because of this? I also wonder if that was the reason my CPU fried...

 

[dsleesman]

yep, i've heard that Athlons are VERY sensitive when it comes to that sort of thing. they also run absurdly hot.

by the way, my system is working, but i have to underclock because my CPU **Gets TOO HOT!** i mean, i need to underclock down to like a 1GHz, or else i'll overheat ?!?!?

the CPU is transferring heat to the heatsink correctly, because the actual heatsink feels really hot.

?!?!? ???

 

[SithSolo1]

They just say that so they make more money.

 

[DAPUNISHER]

Originally posted by: dsleesman
yep, i've heard that Athlons are VERY sensitive when it comes to that sort of thing. they also run absurdly hot.

by the way, my system is working, but i have to underclock because my CPU **Gets TOO HOT!** i mean, i need to underclock down to like a 1GHz, or else i'll overheat ?!?!?

the CPU is transferring heat to the heatsink correctly, because the actual heatsink feels really hot.

?!?!? ???

Sounds like you need to buy a better HS/F combo and properly apply ASIII. If you have the cash buy a Thermalright SK-6, ALL COPPER@Newegg for 26$ + 6$ S&H or if money is tighter get the
SVC GC68 which has an 80mm fan and cools well while being much quiter than high CFM 60mm fans.

 

[dsleesman]

did you know that the SVC GC68 is only $5.99 on sale???

SWEET! i'll be checking that sucker out.

here is my question for you though, dude.

you see, before i was having these problems, i was running my CPU at 1.4GHz (it's a 1.4 CPU), and now i can only get it to run at lower speeds without it overheating.

so.... it USED to be fine, but now it gets too hot! right now, i'm running at 950MHz (136F, 58C) under practically no load.


BAFFLING, isn't it?

 

[DAPUNISHER]

Originally posted by: dsleesman
did you know that the SVC GC68 is only $5.99 on sale???

SWEET! i'll be checking that sucker out.

here is my question for you though, dude.

you see, before i was having these problems, i was running my CPU at 1.4GHz (it's a 1.4 CPU), and now i can only get it to run at lower speeds without it overheating.

so.... it USED to be fine, but now it gets too hot! right now, i'm running at 950MHz (136F, 58C) under practically no load.


BAFFLING, isn't it?

Well did you clean the CPU and HS off and reapply a thin layer of thermal paste preferably ASIII when you reinstalled your CPU? Are you certain the HS it's seat properly and also not on backwards? Have you made certain the CPU fan is working properly and spinning enough RPMs. those are usually the culprits for the issue your having. Other factors include, is the room warm? did you forget to plug in a case fan? or 2? Have you tried removing the side case cover? Check all of those things because my money is on one or more of them causing the sudden heat issue

 

[RustyNale]

Originally posted by: dsleesman
yep, i've heard that Athlons are VERY sensitive when it comes to that sort of thing. they also run absurdly hot. ???

It's not just Athlons that run very hot these days. Intel's chips run just as hot, you just don't hear as much about it. ( I know as I've got a Plll and 3 AMD's sitting here now with temp monitors running on each ) The reason may be because many of us push our AMD's harder than you can push an Intel ( oc'ing wise ) and we're constantly looking for ways to reduce the resulting heat issue.( which is probably why you hear that AMD's run hot ) Before anyone starts to FLAME me, I've built many systems using both chips and they both run similar temps at stock settings, and this is not an AMD vs INTEL issue. The notice about damage from attaching a hsf stems from all the different manufacturer's of hsf's out there. Some of the clips are easy and use reasonable pressure to attach. Others because of their size, location, or type of clip will cause damage to your mobo or cpu if extreme care isn't taken when attaching. Note: these are aftermarket hsfs, generally the stock hsf is fine.


dsleesman, double check that you've got the hsf on the correct way, with just enough Thermal Grease to fill in any irregularities between the cpu and hsf. Check your bios for fan speed and temps. If your fan ( a stock one? ) isn't running at least at 4000rpm, I'd say the fan was defective. All my AMD systems ( 3 total ---XP1.4, T-bird 750, and Duron 1.0 ) run temps of 44-46 C at full load with room temps of 90F +.

 

[dsleesman]

well, my HSF is a plain jane generic one.

also, i'm using a cheap thermal compound i bought at Radio Shack. When i tried to scrape off the old thermal compound (on the CPU), i didn't quite get it all removed, because i was afraid of ruining the CPU if i were to push to hard or something. i don't know if that's acceptable.. ?!?

 

[dsleesman]

BASICLY, HERE IS MY OVERALL QUESTION RIGHT NOW:

I now have my system up and running. HOWEVER, it is underclocked down to 600MHz. If i go much higher, i'll overheat too easily. I am idle at 132F (56C) *with the case open*. THE CPU IS A 1.4GHz Athlon. I have never overclocked it.


IS THIS A SIGN THAT MY CPU IS GOING DEAD?


i am:
-using the same HSF as before
-thermal compound is applied properly
-jumpers are all set right


What the heck is going on?

 

[RustyNale]

What speed is your fan running at? What voltages is your psu putting out? Are they within spec? Do you have the correct voltage set for your cpu? You say you couldn't get all the old thermal compound off, if any of it is between your cpu and hsf, it will prevent good heat transfer.

 

[DAPUNISHER]

Originally posted by: RustyNale
What speed is your fan running at? What voltages is your psu putting out? Are they within spec? Do you have the correct voltage set for your cpu? You say you couldn't get all the old thermal compound off, if any of it is between your cpu and hsf, it will prevent good heat transfer.

Precisely, so to reiterate, the surfaces of the CPU and HS must be clean and you can use fingernail polish remover or Isopropyl Alcohol to remove the old compound and if you scraped the HS while trying to remove it then that's another no no. Buy the GC-68/ASIII and you will be in much better shape on temps

 

[tk149]

Try checking your CPU voltage and make sure you didn't bump it up by accident. If you increased it, that might explain why you're overheating even when you underclock your CPU.

The only other thing I can think of is that you need to take your heatsink off (again!) and reinstall the CPU. Make sure that NOTHING is between the CPU and the heatsink, including finger oils and dust. You may also have applied too much thermal grease (which is supposed to be even worse than having too little).

From Arctic Silver's site

Clean the mating surfaces [heatsink and CPU] completely with a low residual solvent (High-purity isopropyl alcohol or acetone will work) and a LINT FREE cloth. (i.e. lens cleaning cloth) If another thermal compound has previously been applied to the heatsink, the mounting surface should be thoroughly scrubbed and cleaned with a xylene based cleaner, (Goof Off and some carburetor cleaners) acetone, mineral spirits, or 99% pure isopropyl alcohol. It is important to keep the surfaces free of foreign materials and NOT to touch the surfaces (a hair, piece of lint, and even dead skin cells can significantly affect the thermal interfaces performance, especially on modern small core CPUs as the surface area is already severely limited). In addition, oils from your fingers can adversely affect the performance by preventing the micronized silver fill from directly contacting the metal surface. (Fingerprints can be as thick as 0.005")

I use Tape Head Cleaner Solution (for Cassette tape decks or VCRs) to clean stuff off. I only use the xylene stuff for getting rid of old thermal pads.

BTW, Follow the link to see if you're using the proper amount of thermal grease.