overheating problem

[Manish]

Hi all

i have a AMD athalon XP 2400 processor
my system justs shuts down by itself.
no virus found.. no spywares
i am thinking it is a overheating problem
cuz it was doing that few months ago and i had changed the PS to 400 W
now it has started doing it again

i checked my CPU temp and it is around 73 C
my CPU fan shows a figure of 4870.. something

i also ran MemTest and RAM was ok
do u guys ahve any idea as what might be wrong?
do i need to purchase anything extra?
if possible can u guys give a brief idea as to what fan or heatsink-fan
combo i have to purchase?

i appreciate ur help

 

[Norm]

Manish, you may get a better response at one of the amd newsgroups.

 

[Tom]

Manish,

I had a heat problem and found out it was dust and pet
hair clogging up the back of the machine where the air
flow is. I cleaned it inside and out and have no problem
now. 73 degrees doesnt seem too hot.

Tom.

 

[purplehaz]

You should always have a heatsink/fan on the processor, fan on the power
supply, and at least one case fan although when I build a machine a always
try to put two case fans. More fans can't hurt. I'm no amd expert, but 73C
seems high to me. My intel PIII's never get over 55C, and that's even during
intense game play. I know the amds run hotter, but 20C seems like a big
difference. If you suspect heat, add some fans, and run with the case
cracked open or the side off and see if that helps. If not at least you can
eliminate heat as the problem and go from there.

 

[Manish]

Thanks guys.

but if u think overheating is not a problem, then why is my system shuting
down on its own
my ram is good
there are no virus..no spywares
i just changed the PS

i am at a loss

 

[purplehaz]

Possible a bad power supply or a short somewhere.

 

[Norm]

It's 73 C, that's around 163 F. Seems pretty darn hot to me.

 

[Steve C. Ray]

I think it IS overheating. 73 C is too hot. Open the case and clean the fan
and heat sink. Check to see if the heatsink is seated properly. You may want
to buy a better heatsink/fan unit. You can get a good copper heatsink with
fan for about $30.00. It will keep the CPU cool.

 

[Les Herrman]

Thanks guys.

but if u think overheating is not a problem, then why is my system shuting
down on its own
my ram is good
there are no virus..no spywares
i just changed the PS

i am at a loss

It is overheating. While AMD says the chips will go to 90C that is
not an area that I would want to get into.

The reason it is shutting down even though it has not reached the max
that AMD says it will take is because your BIOS on your machine is
probably shutting it down. The BIOS is probably set to shut it down
if it reaches 75C.

But you defenitely need to check the heatsink on the CPU. 73C is not
a normal operating temp for that chip when it has a decent
heatsink/fan on it.

My 2500XP runs at 40C when idle and maxes out around 45C when under a
heavy load.

 

[Manish]

It is overheating. While AMD says the chips will go to 90C that is
not an area that I would want to get into.

The reason it is shutting down even though it has not reached the max
that AMD says it will take is because your BIOS on your machine is
probably shutting it down. The BIOS is probably set to shut it down
if it reaches 75C.

But you defenitely need to check the heatsink on the CPU. 73C is not
a normal operating temp for that chip when it has a decent
heatsink/fan on it.

My 2500XP runs at 40C when idle and maxes out around 45C when under a
heavy load.

thanks

so what do u suggest i do?
i checked the heat-sink fan .it looks ok
the cpu fan shows some number around 4800
do u recommend any particular heatsink-fan combo?

 

[Robert Tyler]

thanks

so what do u suggest i do?
i checked the heat-sink fan .it looks ok
the cpu fan shows some number around 4800
do u recommend any particular heatsink-fan combo?

I recently had a customer with the same problem. The machine would
freeze and then shut down, as if overheating. I suspected the CPU fan,
but... the system ran a lot longer with the side of the case off. It
turns out the power supply fan was completely dead, and there was no
case fan - so no air was moving around in the case. Check your power
supply fan - see if the PS is getting hot. Also, get an $8 case fan
and install it.

Good luck!

Bob Tyler...
Tyler Systems

 

[Manish]

Thnaks a lot guys for all ur help.
the problem was indeed overheating

i opened the case and cleaned the heatsink-fan.
the temp now has dropped down to 57 C

what a tremendous difference