Hello Overclockers, I thought maybe it would be a better idea to post my CPU problems on a forum dedicated to CPU Issues. I'm moving my post from Anandtech to save some typing time. Also adding the 7 posts by the Anandtech members. Sorry for the length. Thanks.
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Hey guys, I was hoping you could help me out with something that has happend unexpectedly. Sorry if it a bit long, but maybe the extra detail will help out a little more.
The Specs...
Antec SX830 Workstation Tower
Enermax EG465P-VE PSU
ASUS A7M266 Motherboard
AMD TBird 1.4Ghz
256MB PC2100 Crucial RAM
30GB & 60GB Quantum IDE Drives
Leadtek Winfast GeForce3 TD
Creative SBLive! Value
Netgear 10/100 NIC
Pioneer DVD-ROM Drive
Plextor 16x/10x/40x Drive
And the story of the lovely luck I have with computers...
Today, I got up, turned on the computer and did the usual web surfing on my computer that was built in Mid-July. After awhile of surfing I had this strange urge to play a little Q2DM, so I did just that. After about a half-hour of playing, I stopped, then decided to play a little Startopia. The game loaded up as usual, I then loaded a saved game of mine from last night. It finished loading and then suddenly the game crashed, the computer would no longer respond to any keyboard commands or mouse movements, so I hit the reset button on the case. Thinking it was just a fluke, I booted up Startopia again, after 5 minutes the game crashed. Now, I knew something was going on since my computer very rarely crashes. I proceeded to go into the BIOS and check the settings, I then checked the CPU temperature which was IDLING at 52C. I remember that in the previous week, I was checking the temperature out of curiousity to find out that it was at a cool 39C. Something was wrong, obviously, so I opened the case and checked to make sure all ELEVEN fans were in working order, including the Delta 38CFM fan mounted to the ThermoEngine Heatsink. I thought to myself 'Hmm...maybe CPU needs to have a new coat of Thermal Paste'.
I unplugged the computer, turned it on its side and continued to remove the heatsink off of the CPU. Rubbed off the old thermal paste from the heatsink and the CPU. I then put some more paste into the CPU itself and thinned it out using a Barnes & Noble's $15 gift certificate card that I have not used since Christmas 2000. All was done, I put the heatsink back on, put the case together, and hooked up the computer. Entered the BIOS and checked out the temperature. Hitting a cool 35C, which I knew would climb in a few short minutes. I sit at my desk, watching the temperature rise...all the way up to 54C. I decided to boot up Windows for the heck of it, lasted a few minutes then one Explorer crashed everything went along with it. I have not turned on the computer since.
I'm stumped. I have no idea what could have possibly gone wrong, I do not want to mess with it either until I'm completely sure of what went wrong. If anyone could help me or give me some info, I was very much appreciate it. Also, if possible, could someone tell me the warranty of an AMD CPU? Thanks much in advance guys.
Calvin
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Carbonyl
Have you check to see if the HSFan is still working? The fan could be out or the power connection is not connected or bad.
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Bobby Ribs
Are u sure the 39C was the CPU temp and not the mobo temp?
Anyway 52C is fine, nothin to worry about. Run ASUS probe to see if the temps are the cpu temps
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CRod2
Carbonyl - Yes, the HSF fan was working fine when I checked it. As were all of the other fans inside of the computer.
Bobby Ribs - I'm very sure that I was looking at the CPU Temp when I saw 39C, I saw it several times before at that temp when I had built this computer. 56C is the IDLE temperature I get right now through the BIOS. Windows crashes within minutes of boot, so that must mean that the temp is getting hotter as it continues to stay on.
Thanks for your replies guys, I appreciate it.
Calvin
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Whitelight
heat might not be the problem, because asus mobos have a tendacy to report temps higher than they actually are. and your cpu should operate fine even at over 60C. to see if your cpu is at fault, try underclocking it to around 1ghz. if it runs fine at a lower speed, it probably is the cpu then
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JgtDragon
Is this a retail chip or OEM? Do you overclock the chip before? 56c idle seems pretty high even for an AMD chip. Hope the chip is not going bad. If the chip is retail, you got 3 year warrenty. Oem depends on the vendore you bought it from, some only offers 30 days. Good luck.
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CDRSoft
Your max die temp is 90c
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Thephew
My theory: one of the voltage jumpers got accidently knocked to a higher voltage. That would explain an abrupt increase in temp as well as the crashes. What does the Bios say about CPU voltage?
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CRod2
Whitelight - Ok, I've dumbed the CPU down to 1Ghz (10.5x100) and it runs fine right now. Idle temp is steady, but still quite high for this speed (45C). After a few games, full load, it goes up only 2 degrees(47C).
JgtDragon - OEM from Fry's Electronics got it on 7/17. I've have not been able to overclock it yet since I have been extremely lazy about doing that. It looks like I'm in a tight spot though, Fry's only offers a 14-Day warranty from date of purchase for CPU items. I'm still going to send AMD an e-mail concerning this. I paid for this thing with a Credit Card, so I'll probably end up disputing the charge. I can't remember the exact amount of money I paid for the CPU, but I know it was over $220, so I sure as hell am not going to put out that much cash for 40 days worth of use.
Thephew - I haven't really been fiddling inside the computer or with the BIOS to screw up the voltage, but you never know. Here are the stats I get from Asus Probe...
+12V - 12.281
+5V - 5.026
+3.3V - 3.312
Vcore - 1.744
I'll post the Voltage settings from the BIOS a little later, just in case ASUS Probe is telling me different.
Thanks again for the replies.
--------------------
Ok, there we go, all the posts. As of right now, the IDLE temp has gone up from 45C to 49C, still at 1Ghz. Anyway, I'm sorry again for the length. Thanks guys.
Calvin
--------------------
Hey guys, I was hoping you could help me out with something that has happend unexpectedly. Sorry if it a bit long, but maybe the extra detail will help out a little more.
The Specs...
Antec SX830 Workstation Tower
Enermax EG465P-VE PSU
ASUS A7M266 Motherboard
AMD TBird 1.4Ghz
256MB PC2100 Crucial RAM
30GB & 60GB Quantum IDE Drives
Leadtek Winfast GeForce3 TD
Creative SBLive! Value
Netgear 10/100 NIC
Pioneer DVD-ROM Drive
Plextor 16x/10x/40x Drive
And the story of the lovely luck I have with computers...
Today, I got up, turned on the computer and did the usual web surfing on my computer that was built in Mid-July. After awhile of surfing I had this strange urge to play a little Q2DM, so I did just that. After about a half-hour of playing, I stopped, then decided to play a little Startopia. The game loaded up as usual, I then loaded a saved game of mine from last night. It finished loading and then suddenly the game crashed, the computer would no longer respond to any keyboard commands or mouse movements, so I hit the reset button on the case. Thinking it was just a fluke, I booted up Startopia again, after 5 minutes the game crashed. Now, I knew something was going on since my computer very rarely crashes. I proceeded to go into the BIOS and check the settings, I then checked the CPU temperature which was IDLING at 52C. I remember that in the previous week, I was checking the temperature out of curiousity to find out that it was at a cool 39C. Something was wrong, obviously, so I opened the case and checked to make sure all ELEVEN fans were in working order, including the Delta 38CFM fan mounted to the ThermoEngine Heatsink. I thought to myself 'Hmm...maybe CPU needs to have a new coat of Thermal Paste'.
I unplugged the computer, turned it on its side and continued to remove the heatsink off of the CPU. Rubbed off the old thermal paste from the heatsink and the CPU. I then put some more paste into the CPU itself and thinned it out using a Barnes & Noble's $15 gift certificate card that I have not used since Christmas 2000. All was done, I put the heatsink back on, put the case together, and hooked up the computer. Entered the BIOS and checked out the temperature. Hitting a cool 35C, which I knew would climb in a few short minutes. I sit at my desk, watching the temperature rise...all the way up to 54C. I decided to boot up Windows for the heck of it, lasted a few minutes then one Explorer crashed everything went along with it. I have not turned on the computer since.
I'm stumped. I have no idea what could have possibly gone wrong, I do not want to mess with it either until I'm completely sure of what went wrong. If anyone could help me or give me some info, I was very much appreciate it. Also, if possible, could someone tell me the warranty of an AMD CPU? Thanks much in advance guys.
Calvin
--------------------
Carbonyl
Have you check to see if the HSFan is still working? The fan could be out or the power connection is not connected or bad.
--------------------
Bobby Ribs
Are u sure the 39C was the CPU temp and not the mobo temp?
Anyway 52C is fine, nothin to worry about. Run ASUS probe to see if the temps are the cpu temps
--------------------
CRod2
Carbonyl - Yes, the HSF fan was working fine when I checked it. As were all of the other fans inside of the computer.
Bobby Ribs - I'm very sure that I was looking at the CPU Temp when I saw 39C, I saw it several times before at that temp when I had built this computer. 56C is the IDLE temperature I get right now through the BIOS. Windows crashes within minutes of boot, so that must mean that the temp is getting hotter as it continues to stay on.
Thanks for your replies guys, I appreciate it.
Calvin
--------------------
Whitelight
heat might not be the problem, because asus mobos have a tendacy to report temps higher than they actually are. and your cpu should operate fine even at over 60C. to see if your cpu is at fault, try underclocking it to around 1ghz. if it runs fine at a lower speed, it probably is the cpu then
--------------------
JgtDragon
Is this a retail chip or OEM? Do you overclock the chip before? 56c idle seems pretty high even for an AMD chip. Hope the chip is not going bad. If the chip is retail, you got 3 year warrenty. Oem depends on the vendore you bought it from, some only offers 30 days. Good luck.
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CDRSoft
Your max die temp is 90c
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Thephew
My theory: one of the voltage jumpers got accidently knocked to a higher voltage. That would explain an abrupt increase in temp as well as the crashes. What does the Bios say about CPU voltage?
---------------------
CRod2
Whitelight - Ok, I've dumbed the CPU down to 1Ghz (10.5x100) and it runs fine right now. Idle temp is steady, but still quite high for this speed (45C). After a few games, full load, it goes up only 2 degrees(47C).
JgtDragon - OEM from Fry's Electronics got it on 7/17. I've have not been able to overclock it yet since I have been extremely lazy about doing that. It looks like I'm in a tight spot though, Fry's only offers a 14-Day warranty from date of purchase for CPU items. I'm still going to send AMD an e-mail concerning this. I paid for this thing with a Credit Card, so I'll probably end up disputing the charge. I can't remember the exact amount of money I paid for the CPU, but I know it was over $220, so I sure as hell am not going to put out that much cash for 40 days worth of use.
Thephew - I haven't really been fiddling inside the computer or with the BIOS to screw up the voltage, but you never know. Here are the stats I get from Asus Probe...
+12V - 12.281
+5V - 5.026
+3.3V - 3.312
Vcore - 1.744
I'll post the Voltage settings from the BIOS a little later, just in case ASUS Probe is telling me different.
Thanks again for the replies.
--------------------
Ok, there we go, all the posts. As of right now, the IDLE temp has gone up from 45C to 49C, still at 1Ghz. Anyway, I'm sorry again for the length. Thanks guys.
Calvin
