CPU Overheating...very strange

Jason Parks · Aug 21, 2009

Hi guys, my pc has been down for about 2 weeks now, finally getting round to sorting it.

HARDWARE :- AMD 4800+ X2 2.5@3.09Ghz, 3GB 880Mhz. Raid 0 Seagate 160gb, Artic Freeze 64, Corsair 750W PSU.

ISSUE :- The retention bracket broke on my heatsink/MOBO, before I noticed the pc had shut down due to over heating, the cpu was getting upto 120c!!!!

After a new retention bracket, cleaning every part in the pc case, re-attaching everything, including new heat sink paste etc, Im still getting well over 100c on load, idle is anywhere from 40-70c??

Before this issue I would get 35/40c idle with max load 60c, this was with a 20% overclock. I have taken the overclock off, still cant work out why Im getting these temps.

Can the procesor still work although product massive amounts of heat??, or am I looking towards a new motherboard? Or should I buy a new CPU and HOPE it is the problem??

Any help would be great, cheers guys....

Dan Coldrick · Aug 21, 2009

Jason Parks said:
Hi guys, my pc has been down for about 2 weeks now, finally getting round to sorting it.

HARDWARE :- AMD 4800+ X2 2.5@3.09Ghz, 3GB 880Mhz. Raid 0 Seagate 160gb, Artic Freeze 64, Corsair 750W PSU.

ISSUE :- The retention bracket broke on my heatsink/MOBO, before I noticed the pc had shut down due to over heating, the cpu was getting upto 120c!!!!

After a new retention bracket, cleaning every part in the pc case, re-attaching everything, including new heat sink paste etc, Im still getting well over 100c on load, idle is anywhere from 40-70c??

Before this issue I would get 35/40c idle with max load 60c, this was with a 20% overclock. I have taken the overclock off, still cant work out why Im getting these temps.

Can the procesor still work although product massive amounts of heat??, or am I looking towards a new motherboard? Or should I buy a new CPU and HOPE it is the problem??

Any help would be great, cheers guys....

Sounds like the heatsink still is properly attached, try reseating it.

Jason Parks · Aug 21, 2009

Thanks

Cheers for the fast reply...

I did expect this question to pop up, should have mentioned in my first post, but I've re-seated the heatsink/cpu on numerous occasions, no matter how I seat it, constantly getting high temperatures.....

Just need to work out if I need to buy a new CPU or a new MOBO......

Any more advice would be great....cheers!!

Damian Henderson · Aug 21, 2009

I would possibly say new CPU then Mobo, worth a try anyway, but it could be the Mobo to

Usually I've got few parts laying about to test see what's the problem but if you don't you just have to take the gamble on one part and hope that was the problem.

Jason Parks · Aug 21, 2009

Cheers

Yep tis what I was thinking......I built a pc for my bro a while back, same heatsink, slighlty faster cpu but same socket etc.....

So would you

A. Put the potential faulty CPU in his working PC....or

B. Put his good CPU in a potential faulty MOBO.......lol

Obv I dont wanna kill his system!!

I just needed clarification before I (maybe?!?!) kill his system :o

Cheers...!!

Damian Henderson · Aug 21, 2009

It should be ok either way. You could try his CPU in your PC, it should not break anything as I've done this sort of thing many times, but I can't give you a guarantee.

Maybe it's best you try your CPU in his PC though, I would probably do it that way first, but as said I can't give you any guarantees

Jason Parks · Aug 21, 2009

Naa that's cool, least I have my clarification from a another pair of eyes (as such!)...

Will post back when I have a result.......

Cheers much appreciated

ataru · Aug 24, 2009

Hi, have you had any luck in isolating what's causing the problem? I seem to experience the same strange overheating issues you mention.

My CPU is an old S939 3800+ X2 and since a few months it has been running a bit hotter than usual. When loaded at more than 50% the system overheats and shuts down.

My problems started due to dried out thermal paste, between CPU and heatsink. I have since re-applied high quality paste and am now using a coolLaboratory thermal pad which is supposed to be the best thing around. Idle temps went down slightly, but when on load it still over heats and shuts down. Another strange thing is that the fan is blowing cool air.

If you can confirm that it's a CPU thing, then there is a slight chance that it is due to dried out paste between CPU and IHS which causes heat to remain localized on the CPU die. Only thing left would be to do the mod as on this page, and replace the old paste (see this page -> [ame]http://www.xtremesystems.org/forums/showthread.php?t=94520[/ame])

I still need to pluck up enough courage to do the mod.

Edwin

ataru · Aug 24, 2009

After my post, I bit the bullet and removed the CPU's heat spreader. Underneath, I found that the factory thermal glue or paste had dried out and detached itself from the CPU die.

After removal of the heat spreader I cleaned up the the old compound gunk and applied a CoolLaboratory liquid metal pad instead. Due to the construction of my CPU heatsink it was not possible to get rid of the heat spreader (as in the old Pentium III and Athlon XP processors). Without it the heatsink did not even touch the die.

Re-assembly consisted of putting CPU in the socket, placing the liquid metal film on the die and carefully putting the heat spreader on top. If placed in the right orientation it should re-align due to the black silicone glue. On top, I used another sheet of liquid metal pad. http://www.coollaboratory.com/en/product_metalpad.shtml

After re-assembly I am getting really cool temperatures. See screenshot attached after a 1hr+ burn in and 10% overclock :victory:. I was unable to use SpeedFan, as after this mod it started giving me a BSOD.

Cheers!
Edwin

Michael Herrmann · Aug 24, 2009

Jason Parks said:
Yep tis what I was thinking......I built a pc for my bro a while back, same heatsink, slighlty faster cpu but same socket etc.....

So would you

A. Put the potential faulty CPU in his working PC....or

B. Put his good CPU in a potential faulty MOBO.......lol

Obv I dont wanna kill his system!!

I just needed clarification before I (maybe?!?!) kill his system :o

Cheers...!!

better put your cpu in his PC as a faulty cpu cant kill a mobo but a defect mobo can kill a cpu
:th_wink:

Jason Parks · Aug 24, 2009

Hhmm

Well just to follow up on my previous post, I went to my bro's place armed with my CPU and Heatsink.

His CPU (5200+) on full load with an overclock was no more than 50c.

I replaced his CPU with mine (4800+) and used his heatsink. Temps on load more or less exactly same as his CPU, ie no temperature issues.

I tried it with my heatsink, on his CPU and again on mine, low and behold, same temperatures, ie under 50c on load.

So CPU/Heatsink are fine, I may try Ataru's little trick when I get time to read up on it......but if my CPU is fine on my bro's MOBO surely its fine on mine??

I may bite the bullet and order a new MOBO and just for the hell of it a new PSU.