Overheating 80c+ !!!!

Associate
Joined
16 Mar 2005
Posts
68
I am having trouble with this rig overheating. It is a very basic machine but I was wondering what is likely to be causing these 80+ temperatures. I am a noob but i know that is extremely hot and dangerous. It is a 1800+ AMD XP

1. I have reseated the CPU, Cleaned the processor and set new silver thermal paste

2. The heatsink fan is directly behind the PSU, this could be causing the problem as there is a lack of airflow.

3. I haven't overclocked anything

4. Could the motherboard be causing these temperatures in anyway as I have had problems before when using a 2800+ AMD Barton XP

Any advice is greatly appreciated!
 
The motherboard won't cause an increase in temperatures in a case with good airflow. Have you got any case fans? A fan on the front and back is ideal (with air being drawn in at the front and exhaled at the back) and could be improved with more powerful fans. Dust clogged up in the heatsink and fan can really cause havock with airflow so a good clean can work wonders.

Either that or the temperature sensors are faulty.
 
Wouldn't the chip have melted by now, Old AMD chips are known for overheating anyway ...

Basically what case have you got ? and is your PC directly in the sun or next to a radiator (but to have that turned on in this weather u must be mad :P)

Probably faulty sensors...
 
I haven't got the pc next to a radiator or in the sun (its actually raining :( ) but I must check if my house is on fire! lol

I am not sure if it is faulty sensors, the top of the case feels very warm whenever it is switched on. The CPU fan is running at around 2000rpm which seems quite slow to me, maybe this coupled with the fact that the case has no airflow whatsoever is causing the problem. If I bought a new case, HSF it might solve it (Hopefully!)

Thanks for the help and if you have any other ideas please don't hesitate to post

Spec:

CPU : 1800+ Amd Athlon XP
MoBoard : Asus A7N8X-Deluxe
Memory : 256mb DDR
Case style: Micro
 
Put a finger on the heatsink when it says 80c and is it hot to touch? If not you can be pretty sure this is an incorrect reading. You could also try and test using a thermometer of some kind if you have one in the house.
 
Touch your PSU, is it roasting? Could be that thats faulty and passively heating up the nearby CPU heatsink and surrounding air. Otherwise, do you notice slow performance? When you do a heavy duty task do the temps go up even more or are these idle temps? If you have another mobo or a friend with the same socket, you could try your CPU in his/hers and see if the same thing happens.
 
The heatsink is absolutely boiling when it is touched which makes me believe it isn't a faulty reading. If I hold it too long I could imagine it will burn. Good idea about the thermometer but I don't think I have one. Cheers anyway
 
What are you using to measure the temp - have a check in the bios (good for idle temp) and use Asus probe - get it from their site - works well on these boards (sniff - how I miss mine, that audio boot up is awesome!)
 
Idle temps average around 82 degrees celcius

Load temps seem to be around 86 degrees celcius (This is only using the pc to surf the internet, I don't dare play any games on it)

The PSU isn't too warm and I have tried using 3 different ones so I don't believe it is causing the problem

Edit :

I have been using the Bios and Asus probe. On the bios the temperature seems much lower around 60 ish . On Asusprobe the temps are 80ish

Oh and the audio bootup is the most annoying thing ever, American gibberish
 
Last edited:
It is a coolermaster silent one. I have no idea about the model, I bought it back in the good old days before I used the internet
 
Something is very wrong there - what vcore have you set for the cpu? If you've got a big deskfan type thing try taking the side off the case and pointing it straight at the Heatsink - this chip should not be anywhere near that hot - it won't last long at those temps! Try *carefully* touching the Heatsink to see if it really is that hot - if it's just warm to the touch then it's a sensor error, if it's scalding (I accept no responsibility for burned fingers ;) ) then it's a genuine problem - try reseating again, follow the instructions on the Arctic Silver website - they're very good!
 
I haven't changed the Vcore and I don't know what temperature it is at. I have nearly scolded my fingers on it, im quite sure the temp sensors aren't lying but I will try the fan idea to see if it makes a difference. I have reseated the processor quite a few times over this past week whilst trying to fix this computer. I followed the Arctic silver instructions as well making sure that the layer of thermal paste is as thin as possible etc..

HSF

http://uk.search.yahoo.com/search/i...+amd+socket+a&type=jpeg&no=30&tt=202&ei=UTF-8
 
Yep - that's a pretty nasty HSF you got there - but it should still be giving you better results than you have - especially as it's all running at stock - What temps were you getting with the Barton? Should have been hotter than what you've got now as it runs quite a bit quicker. Might be worth splashing out on a newer HSF - plenty of Good'uns out there for <£20
 
I get similar temps with the barton which makes me think it is a bad combination of small case and rubbish HSF. As it is a mini case instead of a midi it has no airflow of any kind. I just put a desk fan onto the pc with the psu out of the case (so it could get at the heat sink) and the temps dropped to 39 degrees.

Could you please recommend a Socket A cooler that will be suitable if I replace this processor with the barton 2800+ that runs even hotter.
 
Last edited:
That's a huge relief - get yourself a decent HSF and all will be well - there are plenty available - have a look in the OcUK shop for ideals - there are some nice Zalmans there!
 
I honestly don't think that just replacing the HSF will make such a huge difference as you have said that there is no airflow whatsoever. If there is no airflow in the case then the fan is just blowing hot air over the heatsink causing the very high temperatures.

Try and get some fans on the case and see how you go.
 
Back
Top Bottom