computer intermittently overheats?

FuNPoLiCe001 · Post by **FuNPoLiCe001** » Thu Jan 02, 2003 10:41 am

hey guys, have a bit of a problem with an old k6-2 system

my brother says that the computer will reboot and say that the CPU has overheated every 15 minutes or so. I ran it through a burn in wizard and the CPU temp got up to around 50 Celsius, which is about normal for that old thing. It idles around 40.

So is the fan cutting out every now and then or is this a board problem? The CPU does not seem to be damaged, but when the system reboots, the BIOS will say that the CPU temp is at 75C.

I m using it as a internet gateway, and I left it on all of last night because I needed to download something big, and it worked fine. My downloads took at least 9 hours but the comp did not freeze. However, my brother woke me up this morning saying the comp overheated again.

Any ideas? Should I swap the fan? Clean up the inside? Buy a new system?

blade · Post by **blade** » Thu Jan 02, 2003 2:27 pm

You can try cleaning out the dust, especially between the heatsink fins and the fan. But if it didn't reboot for you, what was he doing when this happens? Sometimes reboots are a driver issue.

wvjohn · Post by **wvjohn** » Thu Jan 02, 2003 2:32 pm

what blade said and see if you drop the voltage on the cpu - those things run hot - if its burned in you might be able to drop .1v or more

Post by **FlyingPenguin** » Thu Jan 02, 2003 4:24 pm

Those CPUs ran VERY hot. I can't see the motherboard giving false temp readings, although it's possible. I'd tend to believe it really is overheating unless proved otherwise.

Since this is an old system it's possible the heatsink paste or thermal pad has dried up - not uncommon on K6 systems since the CPU tends to run so hot.

I'd pull the heatsink of fand check the condition of the paste or pad. Replace it with some fresh paste (ideally Artic Silver if you have some, but a $1 tube of heat sink compound from Radio Shack will do the trick). If there's a pad you'll need to remove it first with some goo-off or acetone.

Check the heatsink fan - is it spinning freely? Might seem to be but maybe it's stalling when you're not looking. Stop it briefly with your finger and see if it spins right up again or stalls.

Are you running a temperature monitor program like Motherboard Monitor and is that what's giving the warning, or does it seem to be the BIOS giving the warning? Sometimes those 3rd party temp display apps will mis-report the temperature or interfere with the temperature sensor.

It's also VERY peculiar that there's a CPU temp sensor in there at all - most Socket 7 boards down't have one.

FuNPoLiCe001 · Post by **FuNPoLiCe001** » Sat Jan 04, 2003 12:00 pm

it seems to be running fine now and i've been too busy with other issues to deal with it, but i'll try your suggestions

the board is a Asus P5A-b, AT form factor, CPU is a k6-2 400.

I really hate working in this thing because it is an AT case and I gotta pull apart EVERYTHING to get at the CPU and RAM. argh, the layout is so much worse than current boxes.

Thanks