So this MIGHT be the reason my PC keeps shutting off...

[smurph98gt]

Last couple of days my PC has just shut off randomly. Then I can't turn it back on. I figured my power supply might be going bad or something, cause after awhile I could get it to come back on. Then today it happened while I was gone, came home, it turned right on, and I figured I might as well check the CPU Temp in the BIOS. Everything looked fine, it was running at like 36* C or so. Restart it, it gets to booting Win 2000, and then restarts itself. Huh. Then I notice the CPU Temp is now at 44* C. What the hell? An 8* jump in less than a minute!?!

Go and download MBM5, it reboots when its finished, and I decide to peep the BIOS again, 89*C. EIGHTY-NINE F'IN DEGREES!! I turned it off and left it off. The CPU fan looked like it was running just fine, I guess not.

I'm running an AMD Barton 2500+ on an Epox 8RDA+ board with the stock CPU fan. Nothings overclocked or anything.

Any ideas? Is my CPU already fried, or going to be heading that way soon? Or can I just toss a bigger, better fan on there? Thanks!

-Ronald

 

[JBT]

Are you sure your HSF is mounted correctly? 89C is HOT. If the fan isn't spinning it still ussually won't get very hot fthat fast. I have a 1.4 T-Bird that can sit for atleast 5 minutes in the bios with out a fan before it even hits 65C this is even with a 1700XP stock Heatsink which is less bulky than the original 1.4's T-Birds

I would take a guess it is either installed incorrectly or it is starting to fall off from a large bump to the system or something maybe perhaps there is a hair/dust clog in the heatsink it could be a number of things.

Is the heatsink HOT to the touch or is it cool? It could also just be a faulty Thermal Diode and makes the system shutdown. The CPU could be dead but if it is working could potentially hav shortened its life span or it could still be completely fine who knows until you try it.

 

[nitromullet]

Check and re-seat your cpu heatsink. Is this a new rig or one that has been running for a while without problems?

 

[gotsmack]

check the fan in the ps

 

[smurph98gt]

Originally posted by: nitromullet
Check and re-seat your cpu heatsink. Is this a new rig or one that has been running for a while without problems?

It's been running fine for almost a year now! LoL!

Originally posted by: gotsmack
check the fan in the ps

I did when I thought it was dying, it was cranking along with no problems...

I haven't done anything else besides shut the POS down and post using this other PC I just built for my girlfriends little sister. I'll have to look into it some more tomorrow I guess. I've only got one case fan on this rig, so maybe I'll go pick up another one or two at Frys tomorrow along with a better heatsink/CPU Fan..

Heres the other thing, will a new heatsink with the thermal grease that is on the bottom of it work fine? Should I try to apply some arctic silver, or would it be a fruitless effort?

 

[elkinm]

You should definitely use Arctic Silver, AS 5 to be precise.

Have you been using the original thermal grease or heatsink pad with your current HSF? As it may have dried up after a while possibly causing your problem.

 

[Slammy1]

Definitely sounds PSU related. I know when I replaced the thermal tape on my older Intel CPU it was a crispy critter, that was only after ca 2 months of usage at (what I thought was) a moderate o/c. The CPU died officially a couple of months later, evidenced by random restarts. Probably bad news for your CPU, but you can try replacing the stock HSF and see. Are you getting errors in the event viewer?

 

[smurph98gt]

Originally posted by: elkinm
You should definitely use Arctic Silver, AS 5 to be precise.

Have you been using the original thermal grease or heatsink pad with your current HSF? As it may have dried up after a while possibly causing your problem.

Alright, I have a tube of AS 3 I believe, but I'll pick up some 5 today also. I was just afraid that if the dried up thermal grease on the CPU wouldn't allow for anything to really get through and help cool it. Yes, I was using the original thermal grease that came on the coolermaster fan.

Originally posted by: Slammy1
Definitely sounds PSU related. I know when I replaced the thermal tape on my older Intel CPU it was a crispy critter, that was only after ca 2 months of usage at (what I thought was) a moderate o/c. The CPU died officially a couple of months later, evidenced by random restarts. Probably bad news for your CPU, but you can try replacing the stock HSF and see. Are you getting errors in the event viewer?

Poop! Well, we can only hope its not gone too far south! Maybe I'll start saving for a 64-bit system now.. Oh yea, and there were no errors in the event viewer related to it at all. The only error was because I removed the network cable to put it in a different machine! lol.

Thanks guys!

 

[htmlmasterdave]

What voltage does your motherboard say your cpu is at? Maybe it is overvolting it. I have a feeling the heatsink isn't on there right, just take it off and take a look (even if the cpu is damaged, it shouldn't run hotter)