Cooling Problems

[Razors Edge]

Alright, In my lan party, My computer kept shutting off after liek 20 minutes. I tried new powersupplies, editted bios settings, window spwoer settings, I basicley got to the point where I figured out it wasnt the power. It was the CPU getting to hot. So I bought a Thermaltake Smart Case Fan, and ti works great, but it only holds for around 1 hour. I have an exhuast 80 mm on the case. I don't know what else to do.

I am aware that water cooling can solve my problems, not to be a nudge, but I don't want to get into that.

I need suggestions if anyone has any.

[.Maleficus.]

New/better heatsink?

Hehe, you probably won't want to do this, but you could keep your case open and have a room fan blowing on it. Hehe, but I personally wouldn't do that.

[Razors Edge]

The heatsink is brand new thermaltake too.

This is my Lan-Party machine, Basicley eveyr week it goes to a differnt house. I can't have a room fan hooked into it. Although that seems like a great idea for a mod *cough* paul *cough*...i didn't say anything

[Silenced_Coyote]

Could the bottom of the heatsink be uneven which would cause the thermal paste to not spread properly?

Would you possible be able to return it and buy a Zalman HSF?

[nil8]

First, install motherboard monitor 5, run the box with a game for an hour or so and tell us the temps. That will give us an idea of what your problem is.

[Razors Edge]

How do I do mother bboard moniter 5?

[dgrmkrp]

"Lan-Party Rig
Pentuim D Celeron @ 3.01 GHZ. 512 Baffalo Ram. Biostar P4 series mobo, Nvidia Geforce 6800 GTX, Liteonit DVD burner, 120 Gig WD HD, 200 Watt Micro-ATX PSU, Completley Modded Future Power case, IBM Flatscreen Moniter."..ok
your having temp problems with this? i think the cooler isn't seated optimally on the cpu... i did see a similar problem with a 2.8 celeron (stood at 70+ in idle and went 80+ in use.. then throtlling kicked in and it sucked even in windows..) i just took it apart, did some wire managementm put an extra 120mm exhaust near the cpu.. and changed the thing between the HS and cpu.. i put arctic cooling mx-1, as it was what i had at hand.. temps dropped to 40-45 degrees :) but even with the big fan stopped, temps remained 40ish.. basicly, i'm wondering.. when did u start having problems? in what conditions? 'cause u shouldn't have thermal problems.. the psu looks very underpowered tho.. but u tried something there,right... hmm... i say take the rig apart and put it back :) usually that fixes things


Could the bottom of the heatsink be uneven which would cause the thermal paste to not spread properly?

Would you possible be able to return it and buy a Zalman HSF?
although i don't necesarily like Tt or Zalman, chances are waaay slim that it's a defect in the HS ..and one so bad :) probably a nudge "relocated" the HS and made the cpu angry ;)

still, even in torture-filled conditions, the pc shouldn't shut down because of heat issues.. it should just turn "slo o o o w e r" :)

a Q: is the cpu a pentium or a celeron? this would make a huge difference on the heat output...

[yousuredo]

did you use anything between the heatsink and what you placed it on...?
if not, there is your problem...

[slaveofconvention]

Also, did you properly clean the existing thermal compound from the top of the chip when you changed the heatsink? You may actually find that the 6800 is emitting a lot of heat too - you might want to consider a cooling upgrade for that - there are a couple arctic cooling units you can get for the 6800 - it'll cool it more efficiently - might bring your overall temps down...

One other thing to think about. The vast majority of power supplies have a fan which pulls heat out of the case - you MIGHT get a better result if you put the 80mm exhaust fan at the front of the case, as an intake - it'll then suck cooler air into the case instead of just waitin for cooler air to work it's way in....

[Razors Edge]

I have a PCI slot 80mm fan under it blowing up toward its fan and sink.

Yes, I the thermaltake had the greesy stuff under it, it was white.

I have one fan in the front, that blows in, an exhuast fan that blows out, a pci fan that blows towards the 6800, and a cpu smart case fan working at 4800 rpm.

The 6800 is accually pretty cool to the touch. its just the cpu.

[MitaPi]

New/better heatsink?

Hehe, you probably won't want to do this, but you could keep your case open and have a room fan blowing on it. Hehe, but I personally wouldn't do that.

THATS WHAT I AM DOING RIGHT NOW! lol My fan is like this super industrial floor fan... and as far as CFM goes.... I would say a billion .....and a half. lol Idk, its REALLY high and it moves MASSIVE MASSIVE MASSIVE AIR! But the DBA is VERY high. Its so high that when it is on in my room you cant talk to anyone or hear anything.

ANYWHO... I dont know what your problem is? Maybe the heatsink is defective? My guess is that it isnt connecting right or something that is resulting in non efficient heat transfer. lol I bet that was a huge help huh!? ^_^

[Razors Edge]

Nope, sorry guys. Today i went down to radioshack. Bought a new heatsink, Put a brand new smart case fan. Same thing happens.

[.Maleficus.]

Did you put on new thermal paste when you put on the new heatsink? You should get paste remover and remove the old stuff and put on new paste. Speaking of which, I will need to do this :(.

Maybe your processor just runs hot? (I didn't see any temps. when I skimmed this, so if there are any and this sounds wrong tell me.)


Edit: Here is some info. on taking off old thermal grease from the Arctic Silver website.

ONLY Arctic Silver thermal compound should be between the processor core and the heatsink. Remove any thermal pads or other interface material from the heatsink before applying the Arctic Silver. Thermal pads can be scraped off with a plastic tool that will not scratch the bottom then the remnants can be removed with a xylene based cleaner, (Goof Off and some carburetor cleaners) acetone, mineral spirits, or high-purity isopropyl alcohol.

[nil8]

I've found that some medical grade isopropyl alcohol, q-tips and a razor blade work wonders for getting thermal paste/pads off.

Then again I also have a tendency to smooth the contacts on my heatsink down with 2500 grit sandpaper...


What exhuast do you have for the processor heat? Are you sure the processor fan is running?

[CanaBalistic]

isopropyl alcohol actually leaves a glycol like film for a few hrs. You notice the viscosity of it if you dip your fingers in it. I use methanol personally but there are far better solvents you could be using than ISO. Rubbing Alcohol, Zippo Fluid, Mineral Spirits, Xylene, MEK (Methyl Isobutal Keytone). There are some which you should watch out for. They could potentually disolve your mainboard.

So check your garage for any of thoes solvents. If you've ever painted the house you live in now, chances are that you've got some methanol kicking around somwhere.

[Razors Edge]

Yeah the fan is always working at 4800 RPM. I have tried cooler master thermal paste aswell. The thing is just too friggin hot. It reachs up to 72 C.

[Silenced_Coyote]

I don't know if this is far-fetched, but maybe your BIOS settings got messed up and too much voltage is going to your CPU.
I don't know if you want to do this, but maybe you can underclock your CPU.
OR, I'll buy you a new CPU! :p

[Razors Edge]

Nah screw it. Im ganna sell the computer for 200 or so dollars. I decided to build a dual core. This is a good gaming computer but just doesnt get the job done enough.

[Silenced_Coyote]

Which dual core CPU are you going to buy?

[slaveofconvention]

As much as it pains me to admit it - being a long time AMD fanboy - the new intel Core Duo chips look like the way to go - overclocks off the scale from what I've heard!

[Razors Edge]

There is a sale at newegg For a Dual Core Pentuim D, its I belive $95. Its 2.6 Ghz, and that doesn't seem to bad for me. Long as it can handle burning a movie, playign a game, downloading stuff, and All that stuff at the same time.