Computer Guru's

Andrew Leigh · Oct 2, 2005

Hi When doing resource intensive work like writing DV files to a DVD, writing CD's or working with digital media my processor maxes out. When performing Ctrl+Alt+Del, Task Manager then Performance the processor soon maxes to 100% and the Ram usage goes up to 750 Megs. Soon after this the over temperature alarm on the processor sounds. On an override the processor temp reaches 85 dec C which to me is excessive. I find this most odd as other PC's I have had never had this problem. Any ideas as to what is going on. By the way the PC is rock solid and never has any problems like lockups etc. Right now I have one application running, Internet Explorer with the iboats forum open, the Ram usage is 322Meg. Sounds crazy to me? Mobo - Abit IC7-G Processor - Intel Pentium P4 3.0 Gig running dual mode Ram - Matched Kingston 2 x 512Megs PC3200 Display Card - MSI G4Ti 4200 TD64 DVD Writer - Sony DRU-510A Monitor - Samsung SyncMaster 910T Drives - Serial ATA, 2 x 160Gig. One drive is only for media storage and runs on IDE1 whilst the other drive is for the OS and runs on IDE0. OS - Windows 2000P SP4 Up to date Nortons Up to date MS Spyware Checker The one thing I have noticed is that I cannot boot up when my HP Photosmart 7960 is connected to the USB port. Ther must be some form of conflict but I cannot find it. Once the PC is up and running I can plug it in and it is fine. The other point is that I have needed to "force" the IRQ on the PCI board I use for video editing as it has to have a priority of greater than 9. The only way to ensure this is by forcing the IRQ. This has been so on other PC's with not problems. Thanks Andrew

Boomyal · Oct 2, 2005

Re: Computer Guru's

Whew! You might as well ask most of us why E=MCsq'd Andrew. Hopefulley that masked Guru Xcusme will be along soon.

cart7 · Oct 2, 2005

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I would get into your bios/setup screen at first startup and reset everything to default. Restart the computer and see if anything changes. If that doesn't do it, I'd suspect a possible bad power supply. I've seen plenty lose their ability to regulate their output voltages or filter capacitors go bad allowing excess AC to get out on the DC lines which can cause all kinds of problems. My son's did that which started with intermittant lock up and then finally the P4 processor melted down. Change power supply's.

Xcusme · Oct 2, 2005

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85C=185F and that is a bit high. Try 2 things... 1. For the heat problem, if it's hardware based, open your computer case and look at the processor fan. Is it gunked up with hair balls and pet hair?? Get it cleaned (use damp Q-tips for the fan blades) etc. Be careful using compressed air on the fan blades. You don't want to throw things out of balance or harm the fan motor's core with a big blast of air. Be sure to clean the fins on the heatsink too. If your processor was factory installed, it more than likely has a thermal pad between the heatsink and processor. This is the factory's way of assembling machines in a short time, but it's not an efficient means of transfering the heat from the processor to the heatsink. It's better to remove the heatsink, clean the mating surfaces and install heat sink compound. There are many sites on the web showing folks how to do this. Most gaming sites show some procedure to help reduce the heat buildup on both motherboards and video cards. 2. As for the boot problem with the USB. Your PC is 'looking' at the USB port for a boot record. Go into your bios settings and look for a section refering to bootup sequence. It might show A drive first, CDrom second, harddrive third etc. Look to see it there's another option to search for other devices. It that option exists, toggle the option off. Your PC should now only try to boot from the floppy,cdrom,harddrive.

BoatBuoy · Oct 2, 2005

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Some of the P4's have a heat problem recognized by Intel. See this page http://support.intel.com/support/processors/pentium4/sb/CS-008537.htm

Bob_VT · Oct 2, 2005

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Can of air duster. Clean out the inside, all ports, all heat sinks, and it will blast the junk off the fan blades too. I clean the computers (about 20 of them) at work about every 2 months that way and they do collect crap inside.

Solittle · Oct 2, 2005

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You also need to make sure that you have adequate cooling fans. 85C is asking for $$$ trouble.

Andrew Leigh · Oct 2, 2005

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Thanks all, PC is clean, fans have no dust or gunge. I originally fitted the processor to the heat sink and used the special white heat transfer compound that was supplied with processor, followed the instruction to the letter. All components line up and appears to be seated correctly. Apart from the power supply fan there is an additional fan in the case to extract air. The processor fan is the one issued by intel. The power supply is O.K. I have checked this out with the diagnostic utility supplied by Abit which shows all voltages to be in the required range. I have in the past unscrewed that additional fan and directed the air flow on to the processor. That has cured the problem. Perhaps I need to upgrade my heatsink on the processor. Will check the bootup sequence. Andrew

Xcusme · Oct 3, 2005

Re: Computer Guru's

Are you talking about the little square of 'chewing gum' (heat sink media) on the bottom of the boxed CPU fan from Intel? You would have had to peel off a protective tape before you fitted the fan to the processor. If this is the case, re-do the fan install. Remove the fan, clean off the remnants of the factory compound and clean both the heatsink and processor with acetone. Apply a thin coat of Arctic Silver compound and reseat the fan. In a pinch, use Radio Shack thermal compound. The important thing to remember is not to use too much compound, a very thin coat is all that's needed.

briannh1234 · Oct 3, 2005

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Make sure the fan on the cpu is actually spinning when the power is on. Cheap fans don't last long. - Brian

ZodFutMk2 · Oct 3, 2005

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Is the power supply fan blowing air out the back? I spun a fan a while back and didn't realize it unit the CPU shut down and beeped like crazy. I've now got one of those temperature guages mounted on the front of the case. Depending on your Bios setup, you may be able to adjust the IRQ, but it depends on the board. You may consider an auxilliary fan mounted inside the case and direct it so that it covers your video card and memory banks. Those two items create a lot of heat. Good luck!

Realgun · Oct 3, 2005

Re: Computer Guru's

I have in the past unscrewed that additional fan and directed the air flow on to the processor. That has cured the problem.

There are any number of issues with heat and a fast processor. If there is a fan control in the bios disable this first. Remove the fan heatsink from processor and clean the gunk off with q -tips dipped in alcohol. Clean the heatsink too. Get some good heatsink paste form a computer store. place a rice sized bit in the corner and drag it over the top of the processor evenly with a credit card. Placew the hreatsink on trying not to twist it just put it on then clamp it down. If you still have problems contact intel as the proc is not working in specs. Or do what I do and toss the old fan heatsink and get a good copper based heatsink with a fan not run from the motherboard but from a drive connecter. Either 80mm or 92mm.

Realgun · Oct 3, 2005

Re: Computer Guru's

I have in the past unscrewed that additional fan and directed the air flow on to the processor. That has cured the problem.

There are any number of issues with heat and a fast processor. If there is a fan control in the bios disable this first. Remove the fan heatsink from processor and clean the gunk off with q -tips dipped in alcohol. Clean the heatsink too. Get some good heatsink paste form a computer store. place a rice sized bit in the corner and drag it over the top of the processor evenly with a credit card. Placew the hreatsink on trying not to twist it just put it on then clamp it down. If you still have problems contact intel as the proc is not working in specs. Or do what I do and toss the old fan heatsink and get a good copper based heatsink with a fan not run from the motherboard but from a drive connecter. Either 80mm or 92mm. I trust these PEOPLE.

Andrew Leigh · Oct 4, 2005

Re: Computer Guru's

Hi, First inspection of the heat sink showed it to be clean. However on removal, with the cover off, and in the light of day it was gummed up more than I had realised

. The heat transfer paste had gone hard through the heat and obviously was not conducting the heat away. Cleaned the heat sink fins, used some new heat transfer paste and reassembled. Running my most resource intensive application which uses 100% of the processor power and the full one gig of ram the processor does not get warmer than 64 degree C in an ambient environment of 31 degrees C

. Thanks a lot for all the help. I will check more carefully next time. Cheers Andrew

Realgun · Oct 4, 2005

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Andrew the heatsink paste still conducts heat even when hard. IT was the dirty fins that caused the problems then. 64 is still near the top limit on those processors.

Andrew Leigh · Oct 4, 2005

Re: Computer Guru's

Realgun, It runs at 64 when the processor is fully maxed out for extended periods like 30 minutes plus. I use this application on an infrequent basis. Normal usage like browsing, MS Word and Excel spreadsheets the temperature is down at 52. Thanks again Andrew

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