EntropySink

Technical & Scientific => Hardware => Topic started by: A Bit of Fruit on June 29, 2005, 02:29:08 AM

Title: Random overheating
Post by: A Bit of Fruit on June 29, 2005, 02:29:08 AM

Yesterday my (non overclocked) CPU overheated and my computer shut down to prevent damage...my cpu fan (http://www.overclockers.com.au/techstuff/r_volcano_7p/) was on low and the heatsink was way hot when i touched it. So i set it medium after all that happened and it all seemed fine but today my graphics card shut off for the same reasons im guessing. The computer had been running with the side of the case open just cause im lazy (i closed it just then)...any thoughts as to why its suddenly getting really hot? Especially as its the coldest month of the year

Title: Random overheating
Post by: ober on June 29, 2005, 10:12:49 AM

I can only imagine it is either an inadequate fan or your cooling setup isn't quite up to spec.  By the way, I'm not sure what CPU you have, but normal running temps for my P4 are 160+F so of course it's going to be a little toasty if you touch it.

Did you have a case fan fail or anything recently?

Title: Random overheating
Post by: ygfperson on June 29, 2005, 02:24:49 PM

maybe the fans are slowing down due to old age?

Title: Random overheating
Post by: Major_Small on June 30, 2005, 02:39:40 AM

are you sure it's the heat and not an electricity problem?  my system was running without enough juice for about a month before the PSU finally started to give out and my system (or parts of it) would shut down... this usually only happens when you add too much hardware...

I wouldn't take touching the heatsink as any valid measure of temperature, because even a CPU running at 30°C is 86°F pretty warm to the touch... and like ober's, my CPU (P4) usually runs at somewhere near 140°F (60°C)

Title: Random overheating
Post by: ober on June 30, 2005, 08:43:04 AM

I was going to suggest the PSU as well... but I assume he got some kind of heat warning (which I suppose could be related to reduced fan speed).

What are the specs on your PSU?  I just burnt up a 480W Thermaltake PSU because the rails weren't carrying enough current.  And it ran fine for about 4 months.

Title: Random overheating
Post by: A Bit of Fruit on June 30, 2005, 08:57:50 AM

ive got a P4 2Ghz cpu...i doubt its the PSU because the heat alarm went off for the cpu. Its all good at the moment, yesterday the whole thing felt hot but now its pretty cold. Hopefully this was juts a random one-off thing. At the moment I have my case fans on full and my cpu fan on medium.