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Question

My PC always showing overheated

Mar 9, 2018 8:42AM PST

Just after starting the PC, it's getting overheated. If I try to run a game or heavy software the computer is shutting down automatically. I have AMD Fx4100 processors with Gigabyte Motherboard. So what are possible reasons behind this overheat?

Post was last edited on March 9, 2018 8:50 AM PST

Discussion is locked

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Clarification Request
You may have left out part of the story.
Mar 9, 2018 9:33AM PST

Since I have to take this as it's new, you have a warranty issue with the maker.

if this is old, then we do see heat increase with age. It has to do with heatsink compound cracking as it ages and dries along with fans that degrade, dust, dirt and blocked vents.

There are also other factors like case air temp that is driven by room air temp and fans.

Nothing's really new going on here but how to solve is in so many priors. If it's new, it's a warranty issue and you make trouble with maker or builder. If old, you do the usual compound work, clean and such.

As these get years old you may have to change fans, power supplies, motherboards or other parts to get it under control. Nothing wrong with moving to a better heatsink too.

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Core Temperature problem/fix
Mar 9, 2018 8:32PM PST

I upgraded my mother board and put in a higher performing CPU.

Immediately afterward I noticed very high temperatures.

Turns out my 'guy' forgot the layer of conducting paste between the CPU and the heat sink.

I use CORE TEMP 1.11. It is free and nice to watch it stay cool.

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That's it.
Mar 10, 2018 9:01AM PST

I've run across builders that thought the heatsink compound was optional. It's not as you proved again.

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Answer
Possible Fixes
Mar 9, 2018 7:33PM PST

The first thing to check for is dust buildup which can cause overheating.
Obtain a can of compressed air from a computer store or office supply store.
Shutdown the PC and REMOVE THE POWER CORD.
Remove the side panel. (Usually, there are two retaining screws on the rear edge of the panel).
Take the PC outdoors if possible, and direct the compressed air into and around the cpu fan/heatsink. Do not shake the can! Also spray air at all other fans in the case. Check if there's an air filter or screen at the front of the case, and clean that, too.

The next thing to check is the cpu fan. After cleaning is done, restore the power cord and turn the PC on. BE CAREFUL NOT TO TOUCH ANYTHING INSIDE THE CASE. Observe the cpu fan. Is it spinning fast? Is it making any strange noises? What about the other fans in the case? Are they running normally? If any are mechanically noisy or obviously running slow, replace them. Does the PC keep running after you cleaned it, or does it still overheat?

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Answer
Additional possibilities
Mar 10, 2018 3:50PM PST

I concur with the others--make sure there is good heat sink compound, good air flow, any filters are clean, clean any dust.

You don't mention if this is a new PC or it worked awhile and then this started. Obviously, that would be a huge difference.

Are the CPU's overclocked? Even if they're not, you might have to scale back a bit.  I see that two of the cores are running at max.

Did you build this or buy it? If you built it, the stock fans that come with CPU/cooler-fan combos tend to not have good flow rate. Replacing the cooler can make a huge difference--double the air flow.  (Factory-built PC's, e.g., Dell and HP have all sorts of custom-shaped hardware. I don't know if aftermarket upgrade hardware is available for those.)

I worked as an electronic tech for a decade, including several years at audio amp manufacturers--so power transistors and heatsinks. A lot of "advice" about heatsink paste says to use an absolute minimum. That is not correct.  The paste is chemically designed for heat transfer.  Too little will not give good transfer.  Conversely, too much also won't do transfer adequately.  If you can read the etched text on the processor, you don't have enough.

Awhile back I was running into overheating problems trying to copy 200+GB backup files from one hard disk to another.  I was quite surprised to find out that I was getting sustained disk-to-disk transfer rates of 120MB/s!  That's with physical disks, not SSD's!  After awhile the disks were hitting 120 degrees F and I would have to abort the transfers.  (I now deliberately use USB cases that won't transfer more than 30MB/s.)  Those high rates also raised CPU temperature quite a bit--and I had to replace the cooler/fan plus back off a bit on maximum CPU speed, even though the system was not overclocked.

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Hot Hard Drives?
Mar 10, 2018 4:38PM PST
" .... After awhile the disks were hitting 120 degrees F and I would have to abort the transfers."

Umm, aren't front intake fans supposed to cool the hard drives? At home we sometimes transfer multiple 25GB to 50GB Blu-ray videos from a WD 2TB 7200 rpm to one of those fancy Toshiba X300 6TB models, and sustained speed is usually in the 130MB/s - 140MB/s range. Even when there are up to half a dozen of these large sequential video files the hard drive temps. never go above 98 F. (observed with HWMonitor utility from CPUID i think). The PC has 2 x 120mm front fans cranked down to about 550rpm which is about as slow as they'll go. I've always assumed the steady airflow directly onto the drives carries the heat away effectively.