Extremely High CPU Temp Readings (over 90 Celsius) 2

[ardengiz911]

Hi guys, alright this might be kind of long so THANK YOU in advance for looking at my problem. really weird stuff happening to my computer these days...okay so heres what happened. I've had my computer for over a year, but one day around January (this year) my computer randomly shut off when I was playing Counter-strike Source. I immediately checked the temperature to see if it had over heated, and it read 70ish Celsius. I was scared. For the past few months or so, whenever I play games the same sort of things happen, although recently, its happened even when I'm just web browsing, and most recently it has read above 90 Celsius. I stopped using my computer all together. All of the times, I open my case and feel my heatsink, and it is definitely NOT 90 degrees. I purchased a new heatsink/fan (ThermalRight XP-90C) hoping it would somehow fix the problem and no luck. I've read up on people getting 20ish idle and under 45 with full load. still, ended up with 70s only after a half an hour of games.

I'm running everything stock; an AMD X2 3800+ (2 x 1 mb cache) on an ECS NFORCE4-A939 motherboard. Other peripherals: Sapphire X800 GTO2 graphics card (BIOS flashed to X850...but that wouldnt affect it, right?), 2 gb Corsair Value RAM, some random sound card, seagate 160 gb hard drive, standard microsoft mouse/keyboard, aspire 500 watt power supply, 2 cd rom drives and a floppy. oh and a wireless network card. I'm REALLY confused and frustrated with this problem; I consider myself pretty computer competent...but I have NO idea whats going on here.

I'm thinking it might be the motherboard....faulty sensor? but why would one day it flip out...I can't rationalize. but I REALLY do not want to change my motherboard. is there any other fix? windows seems to have some sort of an auto shut down when the temperature gets too high...is there a way to disable it? ive disabled the BIOS temperature shut down but it still blanks out on me...

I'm perplex and unhappy...someone please help? any ideas how to disable windows shut down or make my motherboard think it really is cooler? (im 100% sure its not at 90 Celsius...) thanks a million in advance!

 

[maxthedork]

First off, get yourself a cheap meat thermometer, the kind with a digital readout, and verify 100% that your CPU is NOT hitting 70ºC. If it's not, you can usually disable the shutdown in BIOS. Temperature sensors are low-cost items, and they are prone to being wrong, but that doesn't mean you're not actually hitting higher temperatures.

According to the Heatsink Guide, the maximum temperature for the X2 is 65ºC, so like I said, make doubly sure you're not hitting 70ºC or you could do real damage to your system.

 

[paparazi]

Try a bios flash for your motherboard.
It is not unheard of for a flash to fix an over reading problem like this.
Just to be sure! have you applied paste to the CPU/heatsink for proper heat transfer? it is possible "without paste" that the CPU can overheat but the heatsink remain cool (this is because the heat is not being transmitted to the heatsink from the CPU spreader plate)
Martin

We like members to GIVE and not just TAKE.
Participate and help others.

 

[ardengiz911]

Thanks a lot max and paparazi;

max:unfortunately, the cpu is actually around high 30s (taken after idling for a few hrs) to low 50s (after full load), which to my understanding is a safe temperature range. I did disable my shutdown in BIOS, but I think there is some sort of shutdown in Windows (computer runs fine until it tries to load windows, in which case it immediately shuts down).

paparazi:I think I got frustrated and went overkill on the thermal paste (im using arctic silver 5) and coated my CPU, which I read in a different thread could cause insulation and may lead to higher temperatures. So I took off some and have a thin layer now. I took your advice and reflashed my BIOS to the newest version; no improvement there (well...not on the temperatures anyway).

I'm stumped. But I really appreciate the help, and I'll definitely take your advice paparazi to both give and take =P

I downloaded a program, SpeedFan, which monitors cpu temperatures, and the odd thing is that my CPU temp spikes up and down, back and forth from mid 30s (which I think is the correct temperature) to mid 60s, in a matter of seconds. Motherboard sensor flaw? That's my only guess. Anyone know of a Windows temperature auto shut down or a way to disable it? Thanks you guys. Don't know what I'd do without you.

 

[maxthedork]

Sounds like a sensor issue. Quite honestly, I have no idea where you'd disable the shutdown in Windows, unless you have another temp sensor app running that does it for you. I know there are some (I forget if SpeedFan does) that will shut the PC down when a temperature threshold is reached. But I really don't think it's a Windows control. Try booting into safe mode and check out what apps are loading at bootup, disable any that have to do with temperature monitoring.

 

[paparazi]

ardengiz911
I'm still a little concerned about your thermal paste application, it could well be a faulty sensor but I still think you should take the heatsink off one more time and re-apply the paste again.
The reason I say this is your last statement, quote: "the odd thing is that my CPU temp spikes up and down, back and forth from mid 30s (which I think is the correct temperature) to mid 60s, in a matter of seconds"
This is very typical of "poor thermal contact" between the CPU and heatsink base and exactly the fault you would expect if this contact were poor.
You have one of the best coolers on the market and to be frank your idle and max temps shouldn't be deviating more than 5 to 8 degrees C and considering how Athlon64's run so cool I would be suprised you would even see 45C max from this setup (I'm running an 4200 X2 and it's never been higher than 46C even on the hottest of days)
Martin



We like members to GIVE and not just TAKE.
Participate and help others.

 

[ardengiz911]

Thanks both of you! You've been graet help; I tried a paste reapplication and it seemed to stabilize the temperatures at around 42 with load, and in the 30s idle. I took advice from another forum and ran open case with a normal desk fan blowing into my tower and it seemed to lower it quite a bit. I guess the paste application and a poor airflow in my case were the culprits. Problem solved =) Once again, thanks you two. It's members like you guys that help make this site what it was intended to be: helpful.

 

[kmcferrin]

Thermal paste can be a killer like that. Even Apple got "burned" on that recently, when they were over-applying thermal paste to the chips in their new line of laptops, which caused abnormally high (though not out of spec) CPU temps. There was an article recently where a user of one of these machines opened it, removed the heatsinks and cleaned off all of the thermal paste, then applied fresh paste in an appropriately thin layer, which caused the laptop to run much much cooler.

I think that sometimes people who are new to it instinctively apply too much compound thinking that "if some is good, then more is better". But the compound is basically designed to ensure that the small, almost microscopic, nooks, crannies, and other irregularlities in the surface of the heatsink and CPU do not affect heat conduction. The thin layer is actually more like a thin film than an actual layer.