Major CPU overheating problems.

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WHOAguitarninja

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Posting this for a friend since his account hasn't been activated yet (his screen name is arsonry), but he's been experiencing what seems to be some major CPU overheating problems. His cpu (AMD XP 2600+) idles around 70*C and crashes within 15 minutes of starting a game. The cpu was fine until a few months ago when it began locking up. Half-Life2 seems to lock it up the fastest. The heatsink is very hot to the touch when it freezes, but somehow heat is not being well dissapated. I'm sure someone here has experienced such an issue before.

Any help is greatly appreciated.
 
What type of heatsink is it, what material, and is it passively cooled or is there a fan on it. Also, how's the airflow through the case and what're ambient temps in the room and in the case like?
 
Ambient temp in the case is about 38C, room temperature is cool but comfortable, not sure of the exact temp. It's cooled via a heatsink and fan(on the heatsink), it's the standard heatsink for the processor. Airflow in the case seems okay, theres not much obstruction and the panel on the side isn't even on, so heat should have plenty of chance to escape.
 
Reseat the heatsink with a small dollup of Arctic Silver 5 or similar thermal compund. Do Not Use Too Much! Make sure to clean the CPU and underside of the heatsink before the application of fresh compound. You should probably lap the heatsink while you are at it as well. It is not difficult, and brings down temps quite a bit. If you don't know how, there are some threads in these forums on how to do so. After that, if yo uare still getting high temps and locking up, you should check the BIOS settings to see what the CPU vcore is et to. If it is higher than what is stock for your particular CPU, then of course lower it. If it is normal, you might try undervolting and/or raising the FSB while lowering the multiplier.

BTW, what chip did you say he was running?
 
You said the heatsink was getting pretty hot, so I would think that the contact between the heatsink and the chip is ok, but that you're not getting enough airflow to get the heatsink to dissipate the heat. Make sure you're getting good air through the fan onto the heatsink and that you're exhausting air well. It's better to under rather than over pressurize the case.
 
Is it an old processor? Its possible that the thermal paste on the HSF has just gotten old (not sure if thats possible) but try doing the following.

Take off the HSF
Remove all thermal paste from both the surface of the HS and the processor
Do what i believe is called lapping the HS. Basically, if you dont already know, you take a peice of glass, put a piece of 400Grit sandpaper on it, and with even pressure rub the heatsink over it in the same direction, not a back and forth or circular motion, only one direction. After you do that about 200 stokes, up it to 600, then 800, then 1000, finally ending up at 1500Grit at this point you should only need to do about 100 stokes. Once you do that, flip over the 1500grit and use the other side, this is about 2000grit, on that side do it maybe 50 times. Check the surface of the HS and make sure you didnt make any huge scratches by a piece of dirt or a rock or something and then DO NOT TOUCH THE HS BOTTOM! Any excess oil from your fingers could ruine it, you should never touch the bottom of a HS.
Finally, get a hold of some AS5 cooling compound and cover the surface of the processor with a thin layer.
Carefully replace the HS on the processor, ensuring that it is tightly secured on the processor.

Boot up the computer and check the temps. If that didnt help, then its a problem with either the fan on the HS, or the processor may be at the end of its life, or if its new, just a lemon from the factory.

Good Luck
 
I'm actually having almost this exact same problem with a similar processor, AMD Athlon XP 2800+. Similar timeframe too.

I think there are two simple and relatively inexpensive things to do initially. Check the heatsink, and possibly add fans.

Even if the heatsink is getting really hot it may be the case that the thermal compound between the proc and heatsink has gotten worn out and needs to be reapplied to improve heat transfer.

I would take out the heat sink, clean the entire thing very well, get rid of any residue from the previous thermal compound, and re-apply a new layer.
Most overclockers swear by Arctic Silver. I would think this is guaranteed to lower temps by several C.

The other thing is how many fans are in that case? Airflow is really important. Even opening up the case won't necessarily equal better airflow. You need some decent fans pulling fresh air into the case and onto the components, as well as fans sucking the hot air out. Adding fans (maybe larger ones) that blow more cfm (cubic feet per minute) could help.

My case didn't come with any fans for the front of the case so it currently has
no incoming air. I'm assuming your friend's case doesn't have as serious an airflow problem though.

Out of curiosity how is the ambient temp in the case being measured? Is that just the reading for the motherboard temp?

Anyway like people said check the heatsink first.

If everything fails a larger heatsink with a larger fan could help, more surface area on the heatsink = better dissipation, but proper contact between the heatsink and processor is just as important.

So those points are what I'm following to solve my own issue, a couple fans as well as some Arctic silver are on their way.

good luck
 
Thanks for the suggestions.3 fans in the case, one on the front blowing in, one on the processor blowing towards the big hole where the side panel used to be, and one blowing out the back. And yes, ambient temp was measured just by the system temp in the setup screen. Not sure when he'll get a chance to pick up the artic silver but we'll give that a try and we'll lap the heatsink if we have the sandpaper for it.
 
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