Cooking my processor?

  • Thread starter Thread starter Me myself & him
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Only on the processor.If you spread a layer on both the processor and the heat sink,you essentially apply so much compound that it becomes an insulator,instead of a heat dissipator.You want a very thin layer that has full coverage on the surface.Since AMD chips dont have the same thermal protection that an Intel chip does,this becomes extremely important.I saw a fried AMD chip that had a very small spot that wasn't covered in compound,and it fried within seconds.You dont want enough on the surface that it squishes out when the heat sink and fan is applied either.
As far as OC (overclocking)goes,it is just a manipulation that allows the cpu to operate at speeds above its stated rating. AMD's are widely regarded as the best choice of CPU's for OC guys.Keep in mind that this will void the warranty on the cpu.Hope this helps..:)
 
Me myself & him said:
Tex, how would I do a process of elimination to find out which one is the actual problem?
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If you have several sticks of RAM try taking one out and testing them one at a time. If you only have one stick try to return it for another. Unfortunately the only way to test the mobo and CPU are to use them in different systems. It's a pain and that is the biggest challenge when building your own box.

I guess it could be the heatsink (anything is possible) but in my experience it is usually the RAM, MOBO or CPU (in that order).

There are programs out there that check all your components. Anybody know the names of those?
 
If I had a warranty on the CPU it ran out by now.

From what I could see, there was nothing on the CPU, and the pad on the heatsink had an empty rectangular chaped space in the center( I think where it was directly above the die on the processor) That means there is no protection right?

Tex, I can't move the Memory chip from slot to slot? The only other stick of ram I have is DDR, this one is PC133 (I hope)

I would really appreciate anyone who knows of the programs that check my components.
 
The CPU should be fine, else the system wouldn't restart at all. The rectangular cutout is completely normal, relax. It's what the processor squeezes out between the heatsink and itself once the clamping pressure is applied. You will have to re-apply compound as above, before reinstalling the heatsink. Remove the goopy pad from underneath the heatsink.

You can use benchmarking programs like SiSoft Sandra or PC mark 99 to check your PC but I doubt they'll tell you anything new, if your CPU is getting hot it can only be due to two reasons, the heatsink is inadequate, or the CPU is getting too much voltage, or both, or the CPU is overclocked, which I doubt. Well, that's more than two reasons anyway. I'm discounting all other possibilities asssuming you got the PC from a reliable source.

Anyway Sandra will tell you the CPU type, speed, voltage, the FSB, basically everything. Do NOT benchmark with these proggies, it's a set of separate options, you have the risk of damaging your machine if it's unstable in the first place. You've been warned. Incidentally to run these you will need some kind of Windows installed, so I dunno how you're gonna figure that one out if you can't even load Windows.

You could check your memory sticks using memtest86, which will basically test your memory for you but I doubt that will help. You have a problem with high CPU utilisation, which is the basic problem as far as I can tell. Unless it's limited to PT free, and doesn't occur in any other program. Which is not true, since you can't load Windows I would suspect you have a hardware problem. A Volcano 7+ is about 50 dollars, I think it's a good first step.
 
Actually I'm using win98, it just won't load anything higher.
I don't have PT free, LE 5.1.1

I'll go after the Volcano 7+

What would be the cause of too much voltage to the CPU?
 
My oppinion:

The original problem does indeed sound like overheating, irrespective of what software you are running. You have received some good advise about getting a new CPU fan and mounting it correctly. However I would go one step farther and add a few fans to the PC itself

First, an internal fan blowing across the CPU. This helps carry away heat from the heatsink that the CPU fan doesn't get. You can get several different designs that do this, the one that will work best depends on your case.

Second, and MOST IMPORTANT, a fan mounted in the case carrying the heat OUT. Many people add case fans to suck in cool air from the outside. It is far more important to have a good fan pulling the hot case air out, and getting it out of your PC.

As for your motherboard beeping a heat alarm, not all motherboards have this feature. If your board does this may not be enabled. You have to go into the computers BIOS to check. Even if it is enabled, it may be set to too high of a temperature to be useful. If you have the feature you can probably lower the threshold in the BIOS.

That vintage of AMD chips (1.2) are known for running hot. This doesn't mean they can't be reliable, it just means you have to take extra care to cool it properly. I have a T-Bird 1.2 running in a game machine, three fans (plus the power supply fan), and no problems.

And as for the voltage being set wrong, ususally the only way this can happen is user error in setting it up. Many people when trying to overclock a cpu will kick the voltage up a bit. Overclocking is something that has been much written about, so I won't go into it except to say that I decided some time ago it was just not worth the hassle & risk for a marginal speed increase.
 
Thanks, I have an ATX case, I think it's medium.

I don't care much about overclocking, I want to stay as safe as possible, I'll look for the fans and thermal paste.
 
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