P4 2.6C Overheating

[xJUANGRAMx]

Sup guyz, yes it's me with yet another problem. My bro's comp doesn't have ANYTHING overclocked, he's running everything stock, yet for some reason his cpu is unusually hot at idle. At idle, it's 48-50C. It's done a thermal shutdown like 2 times cuz the cpu got too hot or something. This is the setup, P4 2.6C, Intel 865PE Mobo, corsair xms series stick of 512mb ram, 1 lite-on cdburner and a radeon 9500 pro vid card. There's one case fan and the cpu has stock cooling. anyone know what I can do to make this run a lil cooler? thanks.

 

[SuperTool]

Why? Does it crash?

 

[jdiddy]

One case fan sucking in air isnt enough. Your in SoCal too its getting hot down here. First thing I would try is to check to see if the stock hsf is clean. You can also leave the side panel off and that should drop your temps a bit. If your willing to spend a little money pick up the Zalman 7000ALCU hsf for about $40 at Frys or your the online reseller of your choice. Oh an you have to get yourself some Arctic Silver 5, the stock thermal pad sucks. So your best bet is some AS5 and a upgraded HSF.

 

[Navid]

Originally posted by: xJUANGRAMx
Sup guyz, yes it's me with yet another problem. My bro's comp doesn't have ANYTHING overclocked, he's running everything stock, yet for some reason his cpu is unusually hot at idle. At idle, it's 48-50C. It's done a thermal shutdown like 2 times cuz the cpu got too hot or something. This is the setup, P4 2.6C, Intel 865PE Mobo, corsair xms series stick of 512mb ram, 1 lite-on cdburner and a radeon 9500 pro vid card. There's one case fan and the cpu has stock cooling. anyone know what I can do to make this run a lil cooler? thanks.

That is too hot even for the stock cooler with only one exhaust fan!
How was the cooler mounted?
Did you use the thermal pad that was on the cooler, or did you use thermal compound?
If you used thermal compound, did you remove the thermal pad first?
Is the heatsink seated properly? Are all four clips snapped in place? Are the two levers flipped tight?
What is case temperature when the CPU is at 50C?
You can buy a better cooler. But, the stock cooler is not that bad.

 

[o1die]

Lucky you. My 2.8c is 63c idle and 84c under load. My msi bios gives false temp readings, and flashing it didn't help. I use arctic silver and the copper Intel heatsink. To keep it from shutting down, you can disable the shutdown feature in the bios, and not use the hardware monitor program.

 

[Navid]

Have you used Motherboard monitor to check the temperatures?

I would not disable the thermal control in the bios. It is there for a reason.
What is your case temperature?

Use Motherboard Monitor.
http://mbm.livewiredev.com/

 

[o1die]

Same problem. It's about 50c under load. The msi board has a northbridge fan, and the cpu comes with a 1 year Fry's warranty (it was only $150 with board), so I'm not worried. By that time, I'll have switched to an athlon 64 rig. The Fry's ecs board reads the temperatures lower. I use sandra for temps, or the "core center" from msi if I want to see the high readings. The bios hardware monitor has the same high readings. It's just a board problem. I've had similar issues with asus and abit boards.

 

[Navid]

50 degrees under load is very different from 84 degrees under load!
I would not consider 50 degrees under load too too high.

The original poster says that he has 50 degrees idle. That is hot. You said that you had 63 degrees at idle. That is too hot also.

If you run your CPU too hot, you may actually reduce its speed without knowing. Pentium 4 throttles down when too hot.

 

[o1die]

The system temp is 50c, which is too high, if the reading were accurate. I don't believe it is, but I will try mbm 5 to double check. I am running a quiet system, so a few degrees more doesn't bother me more than extra noise. My fan is running at 2200-3400 rpms, depending on the temps. Intel fans have a thermal sensor. I don't like high temps, but my 10 years experience with building tells me that these readings are false.

 

[dguy6789]

I thought it was impossible for a p4 to crash due to heat, doesnt it dynamically underclock itself if it gets too hot? I think toms hardware did a video showing it wont die if heatsink is removed while it is on.

 

[Navid]

Originally posted by: dguy6789
I thought it was impossible for a p4 to crash due to heat, doesnt it dynamically underclock itself if it gets too hot? I think toms hardware did a video showing it wont die if heatsink is removed while it is on.

I am not sure whom you are talking to!

The throttleing (of P4) will not allow the CPU to be damaged as shown on Tom's hardware. But, it will not make the CPU function properly at too high of an FSB (frequency).

 

[VirtualLarry]

Originally posted by: dguy6789
I thought it was impossible for a p4 to crash due to heat, doesnt it dynamically underclock itself if it gets too hot? I think toms hardware did a video showing it wont die if heatsink is removed while it is on.

No, P4 Northwoods can and do crash due to overheating, although, theoretically, they shouldn't be able to damage themselves.

I thought that it was later shown that the TH video was staged, wasn't it? I heard that somewhere, and it actually seems kind of that way.

 

[xJUANGRAMx]

Well, now the computer won't turn on. Ran prime for about 12 hours, no error, nothing. Turned it off, about 1 hour later turned it on, but just made the beeping noise, as if it was going to go to the screen where it says "your comp was turned off from thermal shutdown or something like that", but it makes 2 beeps and then just turns off. Man, this comp has been giving me trouble for quite some time now, i wanna just freakin' throw it out the window!!! if I buy a new mobo and heatsink, do you guyz think that will help? right now, like i said, i only have the intel mobo, nothing is oced and it's not intended to be an ocing system. Reason why i ask to change mobo is cuz sometimes programs install corrupt, or when you click on "My Network Places" in windows explorer, everything goes off screen, so you can only see the wallpaper, and then everything comes back, w/all the windows that were open, closed. ARGGHH...SOMEBODY PLEASE HELP!!!

 

[Navid]

Originally posted by: xJUANGRAMx
Well, now the computer won't turn on. Ran prime for about 12 hours, no error, nothing. Turned it off, about 1 hour later turned it on, but just made the beeping noise, as if it was going to go to the screen where it says "your comp was turned off from thermal shutdown or something like that", but it makes 2 beeps and then just turns off. Man, this comp has been giving me trouble for quite some time now, i wanna just freakin' throw it out the window!!! if I buy a new mobo and heatsink, do you guyz think that will help? right now, like i said, i only have the intel mobo, nothing is oced and it's not intended to be an ocing system. Reason why i ask to change mobo is cuz sometimes programs install corrupt, or when you click on "My Network Places" in windows explorer, everything goes off screen, so you can only see the wallpaper, and then everything comes back, w/all the windows that were open, closed. ARGGHH...SOMEBODY PLEASE HELP!!!

I ask again!
How did you mount the CPU cooler?
Did you peel off the protection layer from the bottom of the heatsink before mounting?
Or, did you just install it?
Or, did you remove the themal pad altogether and applied thermal compound?

 

[xJUANGRAMx]

Originally posted by: Navid

Originally posted by: xJUANGRAMx
Well, now the computer won't turn on. Ran prime for about 12 hours, no error, nothing. Turned it off, about 1 hour later turned it on, but just made the beeping noise, as if it was going to go to the screen where it says "your comp was turned off from thermal shutdown or something like that", but it makes 2 beeps and then just turns off. Man, this comp has been giving me trouble for quite some time now, i wanna just freakin' throw it out the window!!! if I buy a new mobo and heatsink, do you guyz think that will help? right now, like i said, i only have the intel mobo, nothing is oced and it's not intended to be an ocing system. Reason why i ask to change mobo is cuz sometimes programs install corrupt, or when you click on "My Network Places" in windows explorer, everything goes off screen, so you can only see the wallpaper, and then everything comes back, w/all the windows that were open, closed. ARGGHH...SOMEBODY PLEASE HELP!!!

I ask again!
How did you mount the CPU cooler?
Did you peel off the protection layer from the bottom of the heatsink before mounting?
Or, did you just install it?
Or, did you remove the themal pad altogether and applied thermal compound?

sorry. i took off the thermal pad that was on the heatsink and i used arctic silver 5. i cleaned BOTH the cpu and the heatsink before applying the as5. i used that 99% rubbing alcohol and a lint free cloth.

 

[Navid]

If you hold the CPU heatsink and attempt to wiggle it, will it move or is it firmly in place?
Does the CPU fan rotate?
How many case fans do you have? Where are they (back top, front bottom, ...)?
Do you have digital volt meter to meaure your 5V and 12V rails from your power supply?
You have not changed anything in the bios to overclock right?
You have not changed FSB, or CPU Vcore, right?

You may want to remove the CPU cooler and inspect the heat sink base. See if the CPU makes a good contact or not judging by the patern left by Arctic Silver.
You should place a very small amount when you install following the instructions on the Arctic Silver page.

 

[MrK6]

Check all that stuff Navid mentioned and also have you tried a touch test? What about sticking a thermometer in your case to see how far off case temps are. My board reports my case temp being 35-36C. I put a thermometer in the upper 5.25" drive bay (where heat collects and there's no air flow) and I only got 30C after it being htere for 30 min. Other places in the case were even lower. Try it and see how far off your board sensors are. It'll also be a good idea to get at least one intake fan in the case.

 

[xJUANGRAMx]

Man...i think the cpu is fried...when i turn on the comp now, it makes those 2 beeping noises, then the screen shows "your comp was turned off cuz of thermal shutdown" or something like that. and then i hit F4 to continue, it shows the Windows XP w/the bars at the bottom, then it tried to go to windows and it shuts off.

as for the other questions:
the heatsink is firmly in place
the cpu fan does rotate
there is one case fan in the back (exhaust)
digital volt meter? no, i guess i don't...
i have not changed anything in the bios to overclock.
i have not changed fsb or vcore

yah, i didn't put a lot, just like the directions said, but oh man, this thing has been giving me problems for the past year or so, maybe i should just tell my bro to buy a new mobo / cpu.

 

[TooRude]

id remount heatsink clean ur TIM off and reapply make sure to use a small amount and rub it into the heatsink to get it smooth into any miniscule grooves (put ur finger in a ziplock works well) then spread a thin layer smoothly across the chip. this technique has always worked really well for me. also u want to make sure u have that one case fan exhausting hot air that will build up. note* in situations where a case only has one fan always EXHAUST =P . also what type of fan do u have, cause stealth fans and other heat controlled fans will not push enough air. also try moving ur case somewhere else from where it is now (ontop of ur desk perhaps), sometimes if a case is under a desk or somewhere that hot air can get trapped around the case ull notice significant temp increases this also leads me to ask what are ur system temps generally if ur within 5-10c up from ur system temps that means ur setup is working alright if ur above that chances are the problem is with ur heatsink on the cpu otherwise id say the issue is getting cold air into the acse and hot air out to keep the air thats getting sucked into the fan on ur heatsink as cool as possible. id buy another fan regardless if ur one case fan is on the back then stick a 120 or 80 in the front pulling air in so that air travels across the mobo. hope that helps

 

[TooRude]

lol right when i hit reply the page refreshes and u answer some of my questions oh well.. find ur cmos jumper and reset it. if that doesnt work find the nimh battery and pop it out and let it sit for 5 mins or so then put it back in and try booting it up

 

[xJUANGRAMx]

Originally posted by: TooRude
lol right when i hit reply the page refreshes and u answer some of my questions oh well.. find ur cmos jumper and reset it. if that doesnt work find the nimh battery and pop it out and let it sit for 5 mins or so then put it back in and try booting it up

sigh, that didn't work either. well, thanks guyz, i thank you all for the input. i think i'm just going to call the cpu dead. i'm just gonna go out and get a new cpu / mobo, why motherboard? well, just for shitz and giggles =).

 

[Navid]

Originally posted by: xJUANGRAMx

sigh, that didn't work either. well, thanks guyz, i thank you all for the input. i think i'm just going to call the cpu dead. i'm just gonna go out and get a new cpu / mobo, why motherboard? well, just for shitz and giggles =).

A Pentium 4 should not die from overheating since it will throttle down.
You can get a digital vot meter from Home Depot or Lowes or any hardware atore for about $20.00. It will become handy. I would check the supply voltages.
Also, I would remove the cooler from the CPU and inspect the contact. If the Arctic Silver is not spread, it means that something is in the way or the coolser was not seated properly.

By the way, you can return both the CPU and the motherboard for warranty if you want to call them dead. The CPU I think has a 3-year warranty.

Good luck