Intel Pent. D 820 2.8GH CPU Overheating

Hi Group,

I'm not intending on overclocking my system but I thought this would be the best place to get advice on my problem.

System:
bought in November 2006
Intel D975XBX motherboard
OEM heatsink/fan
running 3 WD Caviar SATA 250GB HDs on RAID5
430 Watt power supply
2 LG DVD/CD burner combodrives
dual booting Win Multimedia Edition and Vista

PC worked well until Friday night when it shut down without warning. Upon reboot, process reported it had shut down due to a CPU overheat problem.

It continued booting part way into XP then shut down again. I let it cool for a while then F2ed into CIMOS. Temp was 63C and soon went to 97C.

Shut down, cleaned what little dust there was out, removed heat sink/fan, lapped top of CPU and bottom of heat sink, cleaned mating faces with alcohol, applied a thin film of Heat Sink Silicon Compound, reassembled, added a 120MM case fan and restarted.

I'm still ranging between 63 and 97C at idle. Any ideas?

Thanks in advance ,

Randy

you've basically done all the things i would suggest...reseat, clean out dust etc..

i don't really understand how you could be having this problem, tbh. one day, your temps were fine, the next day your temps are 97c? what were your temps before they went crazy? if you don't have a mountain of dust built up, and you have applied TIM correctly, then it just doesn't make sense.

what does the temp in the bios tell you?

btw, welcome to the forums.

Thanks for the quick reply Human,

I didn't think there was a reason to check the temp befor there was a problem. It just might have been hot fron the getgo.

I know I said CIMOS but I probably meant BIOS. It says I'm ranging between 63 and 97C at idle.

Wow, looks like you may have a problem... That's very strange considering you did everything which would fix this problem. Maybe it's the sensor? Doubt it, but you seem to have done everything correctly. Maybe if you have an after-market cooler lying around you could try that?

Hey GolfKing,

I don't have one but thanks for the thought.

i'm just curious, you said that you lapped the cpu and the hsf. what process did you use? i only ask, because it seems like a bit of overkill. granted your temps are insanely high, but if they were fine before then really lapping should be unnecessary.

I used 400 grit paper upside-down on granite surface plate (in the machine shop where I work) keeping part as flat as possible on the paper, moving in a figure eight pattern.

I agree it's probably overkill but being at my witts end I followed someone elses suggestion in another group.

MDG computers have been getting a fair amount of bad press across Canada from the threads I've read here and there but I must say the Whitby Ontario store came through for me last night.

I didn't realize that my warranty had run out when I took my PC in to them and their policy is if you open the case you're basically f&*^ed. With all the hardware I've added I thought I was.

They took it in the back room and came out 10 minutes later telling me they changed the heat sink and fan and it's running cooler (62C). They also recommended I add 2 more box fans to get rid of the heat from my 2 added hard drives.

What do you think they charged?.... Zip Nada Nix!!! What's up with that?

They don't sell fans so I went to BestByte across the road and got them, went home, fitted the fans, fired it up and....Cool!!!

Much thanks to hUMANbEATbOX and golfking222

Randy

throttlewatch is the best bet to see when netburst chips are overheating.

Its a good thing your not overclocking... the PSU needed for smithfeild overclocking is 32Amps 12V single rail min.

randymcdermott said:

MDG computers have been getting a fair amount of bad press across Canada from the threads I've read here and there but I must say the Whitby Ontario store came through for me last night.

I didn't realize that my warranty had run out when I took my PC in to them and their policy is if you open the case you're basically f&*^ed. With all the hardware I've added I thought I was.

They took it in the back room and came out 10 minutes later telling me they changed the heat sink and fan and it's running cooler (62C). They also recommended I add 2 more box fans to get rid of the heat from my 2 added hard drives.

What do you think they charged?.... Zip Nada Nix!!! What's up with that?

They don't sell fans so I went to BestByte across the road and got them, went home, fitted the fans, fired it up and....Cool!!!

Much thanks to hUMANbEATbOX and golfking222

Randy

Click to expand...

WOW!

consider yourself VERY lucky. i have heard nothing but pure HORROR stories about MDG. they are pretty much worse than any OEM i've heard of in the U.S. as well.

i can't believe that they swapped the hsf for you for free. i guess the problem was a very simple one...the fan on the heatsink was toast, or on its way out. i don't think i can properly express my shock that they helped you....usually they won't even do that while your warranty is intact!

in the future, i would suggest that you never buy from them again. i've read posts from MDG employees that were good guys, trash talking MDGs internal and public policies. what those guys did for you could probably get them fired.

take a look at the forums at www.pricenetwork.ca...you'll find lots of trash talk on MDG (although it already sounds like you know what kind of company they typically are).

glad your temps are in check tho. when you are in the market for a new computer, swing by here and ask for some advice. we'll have you building your own rig in no time.