Cooking my processor?

  • Thread starter Thread starter Me myself & him
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Me myself & him

Me myself & him

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I notice my computer rapidly heating up when I use PT, I want to check my CPU and make sure the heat sink is on right as well as the conductive pad, But I'm not sure of the safest way to do this.
Any help would be appreciated.
 
What CPU and how do you know that your computer is heating up while running PT?
 
Seeing a 5-15C increase in temperature as your CPU usage increases is quite normal.

Regardless of the CPU, if you're under about 60C you're probably just fine. Case temperature should be 20-35C. Go online and get the specs for your CPU.

Slackmaster 2000
 
I have an Athlon T-Bird 1.2 ghz

And I know it's heating up because....... well, ok, here's the story.

When I run PT my computer freezes every now and then, everything freezes, I can't even press CTRL ALT DELETE, I just have to turn it off. Recently someone told me they use conductive paste instead of the Pads that come on the processor and heat sink, and that it keeps their computer from freezing when they record live outdoor concerts with PT. That got me to thinking, so the next time my computer froze, I felt it and it was extremely hot compared to our other computer(which is not used for music) So I opened up the case and felt around inside to see what was to hot, alot of stuff was, including the power supply, but the heat sink was so hot, I could not have handled it for more than a few seconds barehanded. Later, after everything cooled down I turned the computer back on and left it. THe next day I checked it and it was moderately warm, like the other computer, then I pulled up a PT file and started mixing. Soon after, I felt the case and it had increased in temperature, later on it got even warmer, Eventually it froze and I had to turn the computer off again. When I opened up the case, the heatsink was hot like before.

My friend put it together, so I don't know if the CPU is in wrong or the heat sink is on wrong. I wanted to look at it to see if it was damaged, but I'm not sure what's the safest way to do it. If that's the problem, I can cancel on the new MOBO. DO I need a case fan too?

I'll check out the stats on the CPU, but I'm sure that it's getting way too hot.
 
Normally when a CPU chip is overheating you will get a beep from your PC internal speaker warning of possible damage. There are software programs for certain Mobo's that will monitor temp. threshold and many other things. Perhaps the speed of your CPU is underated for PT ? Your not overclocking are you ?
You can easily remove your cooling fan and check the chip to see if its seated right and proper heatsink in place.
 
Me myself & him said:
When I run PT my computer freezes every now and then, everything freezes, I can't even press CTRL ALT DELETE, I just have to turn it off.
Click to expand...

If you are using Pro Tools free than that is pretty normal.

I really doubt heat is the problem unless it's 90degrees in your room. Heat sinks usually are too hot to touch during normal operation.
 
What exactly is overclocking?:(

When I first got the Motherboard, the bios wouldn't even show up on the screen, until someone came over and switched the setting from pc133 to pc100, then it worked.

I'm in the CMOS now and the CPU temperature has (in a few seconds) climbed up to 58C and I've done nothing so far, I'm on the other computer right now.
 
I did'nt see on the 1st reading that you have a 1.2gig CPU
But overclocking would be done thru the bios, If its a jumper free Mobo it allows the user to overclock the CPU. If it were set to push 1.8 gig instead of its rated 1.2 it would result in overheating with intense apps.
 
The motherboard has jumpers:(

It just froze and the temperature read at 64 and dropping now.
 
I find it odd that a 1.2gig could'nt handle PT. should be plenty of proc. power. Did all this start to happen after using PT ? Were you locking up and freezing prior to the install ?
 
Actually, it would freeze up when I tried to load windows 2000
 
Me myself & him said:
Actually, it would freeze up when I tried to load windows 2000
Click to expand...

That's a very bad sign. That usually means bad RAM or Mobo but a bad processor or power supply could contribute.
 
I just listened to a couple of songs and then checked the temp again, it was 62C.

Tex, how would I do a process of elimination to find out which one is the actual problem?
 
WIN 2k for recording ??? Yuk !
I smell more than 1 problem.
My suggestion....
Reformat...wipe it out clean...start with a fresh install
Install XP if you can get ahold of it {like for free}
This will more than likely take care of the freezing.
The heating up may be another problem.
Take her apart and redo your heatsink sticky and put in a high quaility heat sink fan and add an extra good case fan...their cheap.
 
Stealthtech said:
Reformat...wipe it out clean...start with a fresh install
Click to expand...

done that 3 times already:(

Stealthtech said:
Install XP if you can get ahold of it {like for free}
This will more than likely take care of the freezing.
[/B]
Click to expand...

I'll try, if it won't load win 2k, I'm not sure how it'll do with xp:(

Stealthtech said:
The heating up may be another problem.
Take her apart and redo your heatsink sticky and put in a high quaility heat sink fan and add an extra good case fan...their cheap. [/B]
Click to expand...

Is Thermaltake a good quality heat sink?

I can't figure out how to unclip the heatsink, I don't want to break anything, I can get leverage if I move the memory to a nother slot.
 
Not sure on the heatsink, have'nt had to buy one in a year since I built my last system.
Might want to check PT for compatibility with XP, dont know if they have the drivers available yet.
Im not a PT user, I use Logic 5.3 with XP.
Since I installed XP about 8 months ago, I have'nt had a single crash yet.
ROCK SOLID ! and I only have a PIII 800mhz

I hope you can get it straight....PC problems are such a pain
 
Okay, I got the heatsink off, now I don't know what the hell my friend did here, but the CPU looks okay. The greenish/yellowish(colorblind) stuff on the bottom of the heatsink has some missing in the center where the little rectancular chip is on the cpu. Some of the stuff got on the CPU or seems to have...melted onto it?

oh yeah, the mother board can't fit large heatsinks, capacitors in the way or something.:(

I just checked the DUC, I don't think My mOBO is supported:(
 
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You need a new heatsink. You're having a definite heat problem.

A Thermaltake is not really the best option but it'll do. Go for a Volcano 7+ (note the +). It'll be a noisy little bugger, but you could quiet it down using the supplied three position switch. IT should fit your mobo, it's not extra large, just 70x70 mm - it'll fit tight spaces.

You should chuck off the thermal pad on the HSF after you buy it and apply some Arctic Silver. Apply a little bit, and spread it out evenly in a thin, uniform layer in the approximate area around the contact patch. Clean off the processor before doing this. Wipe it off with some acetone. Remember these compounds are conductive and the AMD procs have some of their innards on top of the processor, so you could actually short out something if the compound spreads over the processor. That's why you need a thin layer. The other reason is that the thin layer will be more effective at dissipating heat than a gob of the stuff.
 
Spread the stuff over the bottom of the heat sink? or the little rectangle on the processor? or both?
 
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