fan problem is it system fan or cpu fan?

[Nye Clinton]

I have a Pavillion a445c (which is an athlon 3000xp running on a ASUS
A7N8X-LA )

For a few weeks it ran flawlessly, and then the fan started to run more
frequently, and when checking the bios I noticed that the cpu was running
very hot (64-66celsius). The cpu doesn't seem to go above that, but I know
that it's much too hot.

I sent it to HP to fix, and they didn't fix it (just changed the BIOS, which
didn't affect the problem at all). I don't want to send it off to be fixed
again, so I'm thinking about fixing it myself.

My question is how can I tell if the problem is the cpu fan (which runs
almost constantly at the highest setting, yet still doesn't seem to cool
enough), or the system fan (which runs fairly weakly (and doesn't seem to
move much air) even though the cpu is so hot). Or could it be the heatsink
itself? At this point I've taken the side panel of the case off to help
with airflow, and that seems to have lowered the temp only about 2-3celsius.

Any advice as to what I should replace? System fan, cpu fan or heatsink?
And any reccomendations on what a good, cheap and quiet replacement would be
very appreciated.

 

[kony]

I have a Pavillion a445c (which is an athlon 3000xp running on a ASUS
A7N8X-LA )

For a few weeks it ran flawlessly, and then the fan started to run more
frequently, and when checking the bios I noticed that the cpu was running
very hot (64-66celsius). The cpu doesn't seem to go above that, but I know
that it's much too hot.

Check the bios health/hardware monitor screen or the windows hardware
monitor program (might be Asus' PCProbe) to check the CPU voltage...
Confirm that it's correct (typically it should be around 1.65V, or
sometimes Asus boards read slightly high, maybe 1.67-1.69V.

Check the fan RPM, is it suitable? If HP didn't disable the BIOS
"smartfan" setting then the system may be set to reduce fan RPM to keep
noise down, such that it's almost inevitabe that the CPU will get fairly
hot, though IIRC Asus' Speedfan was supposed to ramp up the fan speed to
maintain 60C, not go much above that. 60C is not a problem providing it's
stable... some Asus boards and bios versions even report temp about 5C too
high to begin with, though I couldn't venture to guess about an HP
implementation of that motherboard/bios.

I sent it to HP to fix, and they didn't fix it (just changed the BIOS, which
didn't affect the problem at all). I don't want to send it off to be fixed
again, so I'm thinking about fixing it myself.

Are your room, ambient temps high? That will bear a direct relation to
rising CPU temps. I'm assuming the CPU and case fan are relatively clean,
not clogged with dust.

My question is how can I tell if the problem is the cpu fan (which runs
almost constantly at the highest setting, yet still doesn't seem to cool
enough), or the system fan (which runs fairly weakly (and doesn't seem to
move much air) even though the cpu is so hot). Or could it be the heatsink
itself? At this point I've taken the side panel of the case off to help
with airflow, and that seems to have lowered the temp only about 2-3celsius.

Generally a 60C+ temp with case open is a sign of marginal heatsink or
heatsink fan RPM too low. The most complete fix would be buying a good
aftermarket heatsink like a Thermalright SLK-900 (9xx series) and your
choice of 80x25mm fan for it (suggest a fan spec'd for roughly 2400 RPM,
or higher RPM for higher than average ambient room temp environment).
That should get temps below 50C easily.

The first attempt though should be simply removing the heatsink, cleaning
off the original thermal interface material (use a petroleum-based solvent
if it's difficult to get off) and applying a fresh, paper-thin coat of
thermal compound... it need not be an exotic (Arctic Silver/etc) thermal
compound, just use whatever's handy... many heatsinks now come with a
blister pack or syringe of thermal compound, including the Thermalright
SLK mentioned above).

Any advice as to what I should replace? System fan, cpu fan or heatsink?
And any reccomendations on what a good, cheap and quiet replacement would be
very appreciated.

Since the case fan isn't moving much air, that would be the 2nd thing to
look at, after reapplying thermal compound and considering a better
heatsink. If that case fan has a stamped-in-metal grillwork behind it
then you might cut out that grillwork. Of course that will be a pretty
obvoius mod and potentially void the HP warranty so it's up to you how
much to modify the system towards the end of lower temp.