Thermal Event Shutdown

[itchy]

I recently got a new power supply for my aging Dell 4600. As long as Im not playing any games my pc is fine. But more than 10 minutes into 3d intensive games my comp shutsdown and I get a Shutdown due to Thermal Event message. The heatsink on the Radeon does feel hot to the touch but this didnt happen untill after the new power box.

I have a Dell 4600
P4 2.4G
windows XP sp2
Radeon 9800 pro
Echo Star 450w switching power supply.
512MB ram

any suggestions or help would be much appreciated.
Thanks

J

 

[Fern]

Hi itchy and Welcome to the Forums!

Most likely this overheat protection is for the CPU. Clean any dustbunnies out of the CPU's heatsink.

Check your temps in BIOS (prolly says PC Health or something) or use a program like Motherboard Monitor 5 to see temps.

AFAIK, the Radeon has no built-in temp sensor, thus it could not be your gfx card.

The fact that this has started happening since the install of the new PSU could mean:

(1) When changing the PSU you accidently left a a case fan unplugged etc.

(2) PSU has added too much heat (poor fan ventilation on it's part)

(3) PSU is faulty, which somehow increased case temps or irregualr voltage leads to mis-reading.

Just some ideas,

Fern

 

[theMan]

also, what efficiency is the psu? it could be really hot.

 

[itchy]

Hi and thanks.
Fern I've checked and rechecked no forgotten wires.
The psu has never felt hot to the touch during the 'event'
I have no way of telling if the PSU is faulty other than getting another and trying to recreate the situation. Thats potentially my cheapest solution.

Thanks for the help.

 

[FlyingPenguin]

Almost certainly it's the motherboard's CPU high temp alarm. Go into BIOS and check the overheat shutdown temp setting (usually in a menu called PC Health). It should not be set any lower than 70 C.

 

[itchy]

Ok theres no setting in BIOS that has anything to do with overheat temps...

maybe im in the wrond BIOS menu?

 

[CrispyFried]

Dont some dells have a shroud or something that hooks to the ps and guides air around the cpu? Did yours have that?

The BIOS should have a health (or similar) menu that lists temps, fan rpms and shutdown limits.

If not then some factory Dell program is monitoring and doing the shutdown. It could be called anything.

 

[FlyingPenguin]

Oh, sorrt, I forgot you have a Dell. Dells usually don't have that BIOS menu.

I did a quick google check and it looks like Dell BIOS gives that message if the CPU temp is high or a fan fails. Check all the fans - there's usually one on the back inside the CPU shroud, and one in the PSU. There may be more.

Could also be a loose fan sensor wire. The PSU may have a wire that plugs into the mobo just to give BIOS the fan RPM. Maybe it cam loose?

Could also be the heat sink paste has deteriorated. The heatsink may not be hot, but the CPU may still be overheating if it's not properly conducting heat away. Last resort I'd remove the heatsink, clean off the old goo and apply some fresh heatsink compound (you can buy some at Radio Shack) or better yet, Artic Silver.

DO NOT glop this stuff on the chip! Apply it thin even layer. I use a credit card to spread it.

Hope this helps...

 

[itchy]

thanks so much TFP ill double check the heat sink. I have a small desk fan sitting in the case blowing out right now and it seems to work. But its sitting on the vid card and proc heatsink so I still don't have a clear idea of what's heating up.

J