This is like the third time it's happened

[OnBake Platinum]

I leave my PC idle, and I come back to find it 50 degrees and compeltley frozen.

Last time it did this, I figured it wasn't getting enough fresh air and choking itself on the hot air it poops out since it's in a cubby hole.

I have an air filter thing in my room, and it sucks in air through the front and shoots out filtered air through the top. I put this behind my PC so it would eat all the hot air the PC poops out.

But it still happened.

omgwtf?

[SuperLuigiBros]

Try sucking less.






Or get a huge fan (like this: http://www.stirlingfans.8k.com/breezefan-2.jpg only less 60's, and more good) and aim it at the computer. Or like, do something else. What the hell does it do that makes it get so hot?

[Zeep]

I assume you mean 50 degrees celsius...

Do you have a screensaver turned on? I'm not sure why, but my laptop always overheated if I left it too long with a screensaver turned on. once i turned off the screensaver, it never overheated.

[OnBake Platinum]

Yes, I do have a screen saver. It's the defualt windows XP one. I use it for the password protection when idle.

[Zeep]

Try turning it off next time you leave it.

[Brandon]

The default Windows screensaver barely takes a hit on the CPU. I don't think that's the issue.

[OnBake Platinum]

I don't think it is either. I have system mechanic and avast, maybe they are both going at once, and then overheat the system. But apparently my System mechanic schedule is empty, and I can't find anything about idle scanning in avast's options...

This only happens when it's been idle a long time. Like 3 hours.

[Brandon]

What computer do you have?

[stanDarsh]

I'd try cleaning dust out of all the fans, psu, basically any moving parts where dust can get stuck, and also the ram slots.

If that doesnt fix the problem, there are various other reasons which can cause this, but try this first, and if it doesnt work we'll go to the next step.

[OnBake Platinum]

It's a special case that only has one exhaust fan; no intakes. It has vents on the front sides that collect dust rather quickly. I guess I'll open her up and use some compressed air.

[Brandon]

Yeah...clean out all the dust. That can cause a lot of issues.

[stanDarsh]

Are you using an Intel or AMD processor, and what type?

[Garfunkel]

make sure the heatsinks are on right.

[MrX]

Well like everyone else has said clean her up and then let the computer sit and see what happens.

[WolfmanNCSU]

Another vote for cleaning out the dust, also like Yes_It's_Me said, check that heat sink.

[OnBake Platinum]

Dammit, it just did it again while I was on the forums, aim, and with winamp playing and was 46 degrees. It seems almost random.

I just bought some more ram. When I open it to install it, I'll use compressed air. There are a few other things I need to do inside it as well.

[MrX]

Its sounding like a psu.

[Benson]

PSU is def failing.

[OnBake Platinum]

PSU?

Power supply?

[Garfunkel]

yes power supply unit, dont forget unit, most important part.......

it may be dead.

[OnBake Platinum]

How could it be the powersupply if there is always power going to it? When it freezes, all the fans and lights are still going like nothing happened.

[Garfunkel]

the rails can fail

[OnBake Platinum]

I hope it's not the power supply.

On my old compaq, it did the same thing. I thought it was the power, so I went out to buy a new power supply. Still happened. Turned out the thermal pad on the P3 burned away and I had to put thermal gel.

Oh, I think I just found a use for this $10 CompUSA gift card I received...

Damn, I need to do alot of shit when I finally get the RAM to install.


Air Dust
Turn off the PS2 on the MB so my mouse will stfu when the machine is off
See if I can get the mic connection from the back to the front
Remove heat sink, apply thermal gel, and refasten
Install the new stick of RAM

[MrX]

Well when you do redo the hsf on your proc use some good past like as5 and be done with it.

[Benson]

Yeah artic silver will work well. But remember, you only need a drop the size of a pin head.

[OnBake Platinum]

Well ass. I just did the operation and now it's hotter than before.

When I took off the heat sink, it looked like a dried up pool. I guess they had thermal grease there before, but it got fried. I applied the thermal grease I got as the instructions said: Evenly under the heat sink. Then I refasten it.

Surprisingly, it was pretty much dust free inside. Only one hard drive has dust on it, and that's cuase it's by the vent. I wiped down most everything anyways.

I installed the ram, checked everything, slid the motherboard tray back in, and put on the case. Hooked it up, turned it on, it recognized the new ram, and was fine.

40 seconds later, it restarts again!

And here are nude pictures!!!

http://perceptualcs.com/images/OnbakePlatinum/installnew001.jpg

http://perceptualcs.com/images/OnbakePlatinum/installnew002.jpg

http://perceptualcs.com/images/OnbakePlatinum/installnew003.jpg

http://perceptualcs.com/images/OnbakePlatinum/installnew004.jpg

[Dralor]

you should of cleaned the old stuff off first and hoy thick was your layel of thermal paste if should only cover the contanct area very thinly too thick and it prevents the heatsink from working properly.

[Crow]

get a few more fans, you may want to look into getting a more professional cooling device

http://www.coolerguys.com/840556025924.html
memory cooler
http://www.coolerguys.com/840556026181.html
CPU cooler

[OnBake Platinum]

Bitch and a half! I guess I'll do it over again....

Currently 51 degrees....

[Dralor]

Yeah the hermal paste is a touchy issue use only just enough to barely cover he contact area and I mean barely.

[OnBake Platinum]

What the hell? I put like half the packet of paste this time. (I used the entire packet last time) and now it's even HOTTER! 50 degrees at the windows log on screen!! Took like 10 seconds to freeze.

I cleaned the underside of the heat sink and top of the proc. with like 3 paper towels. There was a bunch of gray stuff on the paper towel after I wiped. I wiped until there are no more gray.

Hmm, it seems to have cooled down to 44 now. Maybe it's really touchy the first time.

[Dralor]

You don't want to use nearly that much thermal paste only one or two beads and then spread it with your finger till you have a very thin but even layer.

[OnBake Platinum]

:'(

Screw this. I'll do it again tomorrow.

[Brandon]

Yeah, you're not supposed to use that much thermal paste. That's overkill. Are you sure the PSU isn't having problems? Maybe your heatsink or fan sucks. Time to upgrade?

[OnBake Platinum]

Last night, I did 2 beads and spread it like Dralor said.

Now it goes to 80 degrees on the windows log on. What the Hell? The thinner I make it, the hotter it gets! Could it be that I am using my unprotected fingers and/or paper towels?

I am currently on my dad's PC. God this keyboard sucks ass.

EDIT: I am 100% sure its not the power supply.

[Dralor]

damn I don't know. Day make sure to clean it throughly beforehand and then make sure the heatsink is seated properly. Damn this is one of those problemsthat really works better being hands on then trying to talk them through it.

[OnBake Platinum]

Dudes. I fixed it.

The heat sink is held on the processor by 4 pole things. You pop them, then twist them a quarter turn to lock them. Or so I thought. After that quarter turn, you pop them again! It's a double popper!

That's why shit wasn't working. They were touching, but not pressed hard enough each other to transfer heat. Thank God nothing is broken.

Currently 44 degrees. + rep to everyone.

[Dralor]

Ha ha the most annoying problems are usually the simplest. Picked that one up from messing with programming nothing like looking at a program for two hours to find ya misspelled something or left out a semicolon.

[stanDarsh]

Glad you fixed it! Temperature issues are a pain in the butt. About a month ago, a customer of ours brought in a computer because the fan was making a loud noise. I didn't think much of it at that time, being summer and all, thought he must've just needed a case fan, to support his Prescott.

I ran speedfan, and the processor was at 100 degrees celcius, with the new case fan and all, but since the computer was still working fine, it was just noisy, I gave the computer back to him, and told him we'd get them a new processor from intel.

Anyway a couple of days ago, the new processor finally arrived from intel, so I got the customer to bring his computer back in, so I could install the new CPU. I turn it on and run Speedfan again, but the same thing happened, it read 100 degrees celcius, so I wondered whether it was a problem with Speedfan.

Needless to say I decided to check the temperature in the BIOS, and sure enough it read a much healthier 45 degrees. I put the old processor back in just for kicks, booted up to BIOS and checked the temperature again, this time it started at 66 degrees celcius, and then kept climbing up to about 96 degrees at which point the safety kicked in and turned off the computer.

I was a bit stunned at how hot the old processor got, but for the moment at least the problem is solved.

[Garfunkel]

well i guess everyone has a love-hate relationship with their computers. Glad ya got her fixed!

[WolfmanNCSU]

Awesome, glad its now working. I have done the same thing before. I have installed a heatsink on top of a processor that was not locked down. Even though the sink was holding it down tight, I was having some serious booting issues with a unsecure chip. I had actually removed the entire processor bracket when installing the board, and just forgot to but it back on once I put on the heatsink mount.