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General discussion

Overheating AMD

Feb 4, 2004 11:09PM PST

I have a computer with an AMD 2.2 Gig processor which turns itself off. I notice if I block the air vents it hardly makes it through the boot. So it is obvious that it is the excess heat is doing this. I found in bios a section where i can monitor the temp of the processor, it reads around 70

Discussion is locked

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Don't do that.
Feb 4, 2004 11:26PM PST

Those systems are already stressed enough as it is. You can actually cause the chip to FRY if you keep that up.

"Now I could up the auto shutdown to say 100

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Re:Overheating AMD
Feb 5, 2004 12:00AM PST

You got a heat problem and with a AMD cpu that's bad news. Verify *all* fans are 100% and running. I did say, ALL. If they appear to be running, OK, then check the heatsink is properly seated and can do its job. Something just isn't doing that or maybe you need to clean out the system case. In short, replace any bad fans, install more fans(if possible) or the damage is already done and the cpu is showing the effects, thus replace. Heat monitoring s/w isn't the best to use, but it is what many have, so trust them only within reason. With the bios shutting the system down, trust it, its doing its job and NO! don't reset the temp value, up any, I believe above 90C is the top value it can handle, period anything else is crispy world but you don't set it that high, usually is the 40-55c is considered normal, but 60+c is ok. Check, http://www.tomshardware.com for reviews on cpus.

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Re:Re:Overheating AMD
Feb 8, 2004 9:54PM PST

Willy is right!! Trust the mobo to protect itself and the processor. If I were you the first thing that I would check (after making sure that all the fans are working properly) is remove the heat sink from the processor and make sure that there is some thermal paste between them, and that it is not too thick or patchy. Some heat sinks have been known to have non flat bottoms which prevents good heat transfer away from the core. These can be flattened before refitting.

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Re:Overheating AMD
Feb 7, 2004 12:18PM PST

here is a link to a case which can hold 7 maximum case fans, and they come pre installed.
if you try to upgrade the CPU heatsink
and possible the GPU heatsink (that cools the graphics card if you have a high end one like a Radeon 9800 pro or an nVidia GeForce FX 5600 Ultra)
another thing to look at is a hard drive cooler which is a heatsink fan device for a hard drive, or you could get a "bay freezer" which is esentially a pair of 80MM case fans stuck into a plastic shell that fits a 5.25 inch slot (like a DVD-RW drive) and cools that area.below are those links

http://www.newegg.com/app/ViewProductDesc.asp?description=11-133-104&catalog=7&manufactory=BROWSE&depa=1

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Re:Overheating AMD
Feb 9, 2004 1:54AM PST

I'd say trust the Bios. Don't know the CPU but imagine it needs a heetsink and or fan. Try AMD and look for the spec sheet. Should have operation temp range.

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Re:Overheating AMD
Feb 11, 2004 2:59PM PST

I've recently put together a PC with an AMD Athlon XP 2400+ CPU on an MSI motherboard. The MoB came with a utility called PC Alert 3 which has a cooling function in software. My CPU temp is quirky at times too. It goes to 65C but when I activate the software cooling function it drops to 30C to 42C range. It's my understanding that AMD XP's have special cooling capabilities. Maybe that's why the MoB had the software. I get a little icon on the icon tray that when hovered over says "CoolerXP Cooling".

I have come across some items that are supposed to help CPU cooling but I don't know if they really work. One is a thin pure copper piece that goes directly over the processors edges, it's supposed to dissipate the heat over the greatest area. Anyone know if that works? I saw it on TigerDirect.

Hank

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The BIOS!
Feb 11, 2004 5:58PM PST

And please just do anything to cool it down or you will end up without processor! What case do you have? And what HS and Fan do you have? Did you buy the processor OEM and thus without HS and Fan? Let us know a little more, but DO cool it down immediately, or you will see a computer steak very soon!

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Re:Overheating AMD
Feb 15, 2004 8:14AM PST

after reading this artice on toms hardware I thought it could help you (if you don't mind changing cases and shelling out $600+)
I would only use this a last resort first I would find a good heat sink like the ones from thermaltake and coolermaster below)

1st choice Coolermaster Jet (you need a Socket A for an AthlonXP which would be a Jet7) http://www.thinkgeek.com/pcmods/cooling/652e/

The step up from that is this
http://www.thinkgeek.com/pcmods/cooling/603e/
before ordering if you want this I would try to send them an e-mail to get the AMD cooling one.

the last resort is to cool your computer with a compressor (it drops the CPU to around -35 C)
http://www.tomshardware.com/howto/20021230/index.html
I don't think you will need something this hard core since its main application is highly overclocked systems (such as the one THG did, they ran a P4 up to 4.1 GHZ using this system)

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Re:Re:Overheating AMD
Feb 22, 2004 12:21PM PST

Try installing a fan in the side cover blowing directly on the CPU fan & heatsink. I did this and it solved all of my AMD heating problems. Most builders or tinkers know about the AMD and HEAT.
Gordo

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Re:Overheating AMD
Feb 22, 2004 3:32PM PST

I had a similar problem with my XP2200 +, and come to find out I had installed the processor fan backwards which was easy to do with the fan I had, and my processor almost fried! So check and see if this is the case. You never know.....

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Re:Overheating AMD
Feb 22, 2004 8:23PM PST

You have good advice so far but maybe I can put some order into it and explian whats going on:-
1) Make sure you have a suitable heatsink and fan for the AMD CPU. This is important as it is the only way to get the heat away from the CPU. The cooler software someone mentioned just slows the CPU clock down therfore generating less heat. The faster the CPU runs the more heat it will generate.

2) All this heat that is now removed from the CPU has to go somewhere. This is just the laws of Physics. This heat is now inside the case. The only way now to get the heat out of the case is to ensure you have a good airflow through the case. Not all cases work the same so you will have to look at yours and understand the direction of the airflow. Does air enter at the bottom and exit at the top or at the top and exit thro the bottom. Whatever the direction is you may have to have extra assistance in increasing that airflow thro the case by adding extra fan/s or opening up some extra holes to let fresh air in. The important principle here is to increase the existing flow through the case in the direction it is currently flowing. You may be surprised how just a little extra will solve your problem.
3) A rule of thumb is that you will get about 20C differences between room temperature, internal case temperature and CPU temperature. ie. if the air temperature is 18C the internal case temperature will be 38C and the CPU temperature 58c. If you are getting these stable temperatures you are on the correct path in solving your problem.

Hope this helps

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Re:Overheating AMD
Feb 22, 2004 10:02PM PST

I had a similar problem (though not to your degree) when the room temperature was around 90 f. the cpu temp would just keep climbing. As suggested in prior posts, a new cpu cooler (one that is copper based) with a good thermal paste (I used Artic Silver III) helped get it under control. I clean the cpu, pans, and grill every summer, of dust and what have you. I also have an indoor/outdoor thermometer to keep track of ambient air temperature inside the case. One last thing that I did was to increase the case size. More air-better cooling.
I use motherboard monitor 5.3 in the task bar to monitor the temperature.
one more thing, try resetting to the default values in case the settings are strange or See if there is a bios upgrade for your motherboard.
good luck.