Hi all, I have been experiencing a strange issue lately where my CPU will be happilly idling at ~26C, but the second there is load >50% i hit 90C+, instantly. I originally thought that the heatpipes on my cooler had died, therefore not transporting the heat away fast enough, so bought a replacement heatsink, applied my AS5, as I have done a billion times before, but the issue still crops up! The problem is not consistent though, and i've had days (several in a row) where it has not exhibited this behaviour, and I've happilly been playing away. and then BAM, im stuck without a game fix for 2-3 days. I have noticed that when the CPU alarm is blaring, the Heatsink remains cool, but also so does the edge of the CPU below the heatsink. My temperatures seem to be going on a tangent, where you'd expect an increase in 5 or 6 *c i get 20/30! I thought that it was a voltage problem, but coretemp shows a stable 1.3v, and the error still persists if i remove my 4890, and stick in my old x700, as well as removing all other devices. I have double checked the seal on the heatsink/cpu and it demonstrates ideal contact patterns, I have blade and light tested for curvature/depressions on my IHS, and nothing noticeable, so i'm kind of stumped. and upset, i need a cookie. Any Ideas? Specs: CPU: Athlon X2 (2.5ghz) Motherboard: Obscure ASUS P3-AE5 (Salvaged from a pundit!) Ram: 2gb DDR800 Geil GFX: Radeon 4890 1gb PSU: OCZ GameXstream 700w HDD: 2/4 Sata/IDE Coolers used: Stock AM2, Arctic Cooling Freezer 64 (x2) Thermal Compound: Arctic Silver 5, Thermaltake grease, Ceramic Based Any thoughts will be greatly appreciated! (can't afford new hardware at the moment as we've just had the car serviced!)
Sounds like a dodgy sensor to me. If you're sure that the heatsink is properly attached and the fan is running fine then I'd just ignore the problem and disable the alarm. As long as the system remains stable, then just enjoy and don't worry about it.
I must admit that i had thought about that, but I can't be without a pc if it all goes pear shaped, and the closest thing i've got to a pc here is my n96 with putty installed! just for kicks i bought a zalman cooler today on the way home from work, and lo-it's still the same. Regardless of heatsink/configuration it's allways the same now. I'll put this problem down to faulty voltages/temp sensors for now, and just have a shopping cart filled at my local e-tailer incase. In Coretemp, its the temp of both cores, one seems to be 1-2*c offset from the other. I actually wonder if this is a sign that my vregs are dying, as i've noticed a strange issue. In bios, I set CPUV to 1.2v, disable cool/quiet etc, yet in coretemp i'm seeing 1.4v. I might try rolling back the bios version to 2 revisions prior (Happy memories of this bios)... It's late, and friday night vodkas have determined my bed time....
Ok, so a clear head, a lie in and a bagel later... I disabled the alarm, and started playing. 10 minutes in the system locks up, forces reboot. Jumping straight into the bios shows a temperature that was unbelievable! 112*c, after reboot, waiting for post, then bios... Ouch! so the lock up confirms that the cpu is infact overheating... I nipped out to the local hardware store and got myself a nice new shiny razor blade, rubbing alchohol, sham cloth and some foam. ripped apart the pc and began a rigorous clean of the cpu/cooler. an hour later, i was satisfied with the semi shiny finish that i had produced, and did the light and blade test again. to my suprise i noticed something odd. it appears that from using the Freezer64, i have "Saddled" my heatspreader, but only so slightly. I think that this is due to the fact that the freezer64 does not cover the entirety of the cpu, so over the years i've been using it, it has deformed the IHS. Not to worry though! I painstakingly over several hours found an ideal "Sweet spot" for mounting the cooler, and with the slightest dab of AS5 spread thinly and evenly on the cpu have managed to maintain temps below 80*c for at least 20minutes of prime95. Unfortunately, whilst mounting my top fans, i nudged the cpu cooler, and im back to stupid temperature ville. At least now i know what i'm looking to fix on this one. I might look into lapping the cpu in order to smooth out the saddle, which is infact < 0.5mm. Much joy! Thanks for the suggestions guys.
Have you been overclocking said CPU? Cores often do exactly what yours is just before the chip dies. Might be time for a new CPU.
unfortunately this mobo does not allow for OC'ing, Did notice some more strange behaviour though. The lever for the retention clip on the heatsink, when fully applied makes the clip skew at about 10-15* from horizontal, and this causes the temp spikes. When left partially applied, my temps return to normal, but not low, as there is not solid contact. i really do think that its due to damage on the IHS now, i might just by a new system and be done with it to be honest. an old x2 isn't worth the hassle when i can get a c2d cpu/mb for about £200 now. I've got the ram, the gpu, psu, case, hdd's so i'm good on that front. it's a shame however as this little beasty was going to be my new htpc when i upgraded :'(
