Prescott overheating - PC shuts down on XP install

[Overkast]

Hi. I'm pissed off... the rig I built for my friend uses a P4 LGA775 540 3.4Ghz processor.

I originally installed on an ABIT mobo but had to re-seat the CPU after 1st contact. In doing so, I kind of ripped the thermal pad, but I figured since it's made of wax it should theoretically melt back into place and so wouldn't be a problem.

Well, the PC kept shutting off after power-up for 5 seconds. Thought it was mobo, so I replaced it.

Long story short... I THINK the CPU is the problem but not too sure. This is where I need all y'all's consulting.

New mobo now: Epox 5EPA+ but same CPU installed. I get to WinXP installation and as CD is revving up, the PC shuts off. Then, the more I restart the PC, the earlier it shuts off afterwards.

I'm pretty sure this means the CPU is overheating... do you guys agree?

If so, what would be your solution? Scrape off the thermal pad and use Arctic Silver?

HELP!

P4 LGA775 540 3.4Ghz
Epox 5EPA+ mobo (i915P)
1GB Mushkin LII PC3200
Antec ATX v2.0 550w PSU
(2) WD 74GB Raptors
ATI Radeon x700 Pro
DVD ROM
DVD RW

 

[JohnAn2112]

Clean off the thermal pad stuff from the CPU and heatsink and apply a thin layer of AS5. That sould keep your temps down quite a bit.

 

[Zebo]

Sounds like an drive incompatability. What drive is it? And try one drive at a time hooked as master to secondary ide.

 

[carlosd]

Another presshot overheating . Sooo normal.

 

[Overkast]

Zebo, I have two Western Digital 10,000 RPM SATA Raptors (74GB) and I've tried both of them 1 at a time to no avail.

I don't think the master/slave jumpers make a difference with SATA HDDs. Right?

 

[Aenslead]

First off, read the temps on the BIOS and report them. touch the HS/F and see if its warm. Check your memory settings. I could almost swear its bad memory.

 

[Overkast]

Temps in BIOS read 60C at idle (hot!), and i've set the memory timings back manually from 2-2-2-6 to 3-3-3-7 and that STILL didn't work.

Also, the only reason I think it's the CPU is because the more I turn on the PC, the less time it takes for it to shut off.

HSF isn't warm because the PC doesn't stay on long enough for it to heat up.

 

[stevty2889]

Does sound like it could be over heating. I would scrape off the thermal pad, and replace it with a nice thin layer of artic silver. I had a lot of heat issues with my 3.4ghz LGA775 prescott. Even with a thermalright XP-120 and artic silver 5, it was running at 72c under load and throttling, now it's water cooled, and still hits 57c under load @3.82ghz. I have another prescott thats a 3.2 running at 3.45ghz and it stays in the mid 50's under load on air, and my 2.8 socket 478 prescott that was running at 3.5hz stayed around 63c under load. What kind of cooling do you have for the case? Is the CPU fan running at full speed at bootup?

 

[Overkast]

I think the CPU Fan is running at full throttle on boot... about 2100RPMs if I recall correctly.

I also have 4 80mm case fans running full tilt; 2 intakes and 2 exhaust. Also, PSU has 2 fans as well.

Hopefully the Arctic Silver will help. This sux man, I've built 6 computers with no problems. Now I try a LGA Prescott and everything goes to sh!t. I don't know how many more RMAs I can take before I go off the edge and hurt somebody!!!

Stevty, the guy I'm building this rig for won't be Overclocking. That being said, do you think he'll run into the same throttling/overheating issues you did if he uses the stock HS/f and air cooling? Or did your 3.4 overheat because you were OCing it?

 

[Zebo]

I was talking about the CD drives.

 

[Lithan]

Im pretty sure the P4 should downclock and give you a really choppy install rather then immediately crashing. You sure you have all the plugs hooked up to the motherboard? (24pin Atx + 4pinn booster) Try setting it to 2t aka CPC off.

 

[TuxDave]

Originally posted by: Lithan
Im pretty sure the P4 should downclock and give you a really choppy install rather then immediately crashing. You sure you have all the plugs hooked up to the motherboard? (24pin Atx + 4pinn booster) Try setting it to 2t aka CPC off.

Ding ding ding... haven't you all seen Tom Hardware's video where they had a Quake 3 demo running and they removed the heatsink to see what happens. The P4 kept running just at a much lower clock frequency and the moment they reseated the heatsink, it sped up.

 

[Overkast]

Holy crap... Lithan, it looks like down-clocking the CPU is working so far!

I set the CPU clock speed down from 3.4Ghz to 2.8Ghz and I'm installing WinXP right now with no crashes!

Now, if I get XP installed successfully, do you think I'll be able to get the clock speed back up to 3.4Ghz and still have this system stable??? Do you think the CPU is defective because I can only install Windows at a lower clock spped?

Also, should I still rip off that thermal pad and get some Arctic Silver just to be sure?

 

[stevty2889]

I'd still take off the thermal pad and put on some Artic silver. My 3.4 prescott was throttling at default speed, even throttling underlocked to 3.2Ghz. But unless the temp is really high, it should throttle and run slower first way before shutting down. There should also be some setting in the bios that turns on an audible alarm when the temp reaches a certain point, athough when I went to water cooling, and the power connector on my water pump was loose, the computer would shut down almost instantly from overheating.

Once you finaly make it in to windows, I would download Throttle Watch, that way you can see if you are throttling under load. If the case temps are staying under 40c, and you have a retail chip with the stock heatsink and fan, and it's still throttling, I would contact intel customer support, as they will likely replace the chip. They would have done so for mine had it been retail, but I got it off of e-bay. From what I have seen, some of the 3.4 and higher prescotts run too hot and throttle no matter what heatsink/fan combo you use, while others are pefectly fine.

 

[Overkast]

Thanks for the advice Setvty... much appreciated.

But if I scrape off that thermal pad and use Arctic Silver, will that void my warrantly so Intel wouldn't replace the chip afterall?

 

[LTC8K6]

The crashing bothers me. Normally a P4 will just throttle if it gets too hot. Newer ones will drop to a lower multiplier as well to keep cool. People usually successfully install windows even with a throttling P4.

They only discover they have an overheating problem when they run benches, or when they run ThrottleWatch.

This is making me think your problem is not related to any throttling your chip may be doing.

Can you leave the computer at the BIOS screen for a while and see how hot the HS gets? If the HS does not get hot, then you may have an installation problem.

The TIM pad is a one time use item. If you remove the heatsink, you really need to replace the TIM pad, or use AS5.

 

[DAPUNISHER]

Originally posted by: Overkast
Thanks for the advice Setvty... much appreciated.

But if I scrape off that thermal pad and use Arctic Silver, will that void my warrantly so Intel wouldn't replace the chip afterall?

Stop wasting your time, having to underclock a CPU just to do the OS install is complete bullshat, RMA it.

 

[Zebo]

Wow! I thought the cd disk was stuck in some PIO incompatability mode...no way could processor heat up *that* fast. Yes RMA, whole system. 3700 San Deigo is looking really good.

Hi. I'm pissed off...

I would be too.

 

[Overkast]

Well I got Windows Installed no problem. I set the clock speed back up to 3.4Ghz and Windows is running fine too.

I have ThrottleWatch running and my CPU was throttling at 100% during a software installation. The temps went up to 59C while throttling durin the install, but CPU seems to be idling at 45C right now (according to USDM monitor app by Epox).

Tell me, what exactly will happen if I keep this CPU in here for the long run if it's throttling... will I burn out the chip?

 

[hippotautamus]

I still suggest you RMA it if you had to downclock it to install windows...or get your money back and buy another CPU (not prescott).

 

[stevty2889]

If its throttling it's not gonna burn out the chip, but it will make your system run very slow and sluggish. Throttling basicly cuts the duty cycle in half, so it makes your CPU sit idle half the time to try and cool it down...if it's throttling at stock speed, and the heatsink is properly installed..I would RMA the chip..

 

[Overkast]

If I get some AS5 and use it instead of the thermal pad, will there be any hopes as to eliminating the throttling issue? Or is throttling only a problem that occurs completely because of the chip design?

 

[stevty2889]

Throttling kicks in when the CPU reaches a certain temperature. If the AS5 brings the temp down enough, then it won't throttle anymore and you'll be alright, but I wouldn't count on it as even a thermalright XP-120 with AS5 and a 78cfm 120mm fan weren't enough to stop my 3.4 from throttling..

 

[Overkast]

Thanks Stevty, you've been a huge help (as well as everyone else... as usual!)

If I get Intel to replace this CPU, do you think they'll test the replacement CPU before they send it to me just to be sure it doesn't throttle? Or will they just send me any ole' box off the shelf and therefore it is pretty much a crap shoot?

Cuz if that's the case, I'd rather just try my luck and RMA to newegg instead of dealing with Intel. Intel is such a pain in the azz sometimes.

 

[superkdogg]

They won't check the box before they send it to you. As far as they're concerned throttling is a non-issue. You'll get another one just like the one you have. I personally think that you schmoed the thermal pad which eventually melted itself out of the way and that's why your problem solved itself. At first, no heat was getting to the HSF-causing your quick shutdowns, but at a lower level of heat the TIM melted (like it should) and instead of being folded in two or shredded which would block the xfer it eventually ended up in the tiny pores and grooves like it should be.

Just a hypothesis, but it could happen. If you have the retail version, you could sit on it a while and see what happens. BTW, Newegg isn't gonna specially pick a CPU that wouldn't throttle for you either. They're all the same-careful installation is the only thing that could create or alleviate a throttling situation.