# CPU Overheating



## wasiu0607

My CPU keeps overheating and I don't know what to do about it. I've cleaned the CPU fan and it still overheats now and then.

The temperture is at 52c for CPU and 37c for case. When I play games, the CPU goes to nearly 70c.

I have a Pentium 4 3.0E ghz with 768 MB ram. The CPU fan is stock BTW.

Can I increase the CPU fan speed? Or do I need to buy a new fan/replace the old one?

If so, please guide me through it step by step. Thanks a lot.

Chris Fisher.


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## PC eye

You came to right place to get information on how to cool down your cpu. Besides grabbing a can of compressed air to get all the dirt and dust out of your case and fans you may want to consider a new heat sink/fan combination that will "chill" your cpu temps right down. Having had some fun with cpus heating up and even some saying bye bye let's take a look at some options. http://www.sharkacomputers.com/cpucoolprod.html
http://www.bizrate.com/hardware_softwareunder60/products__keyword--cpu coolers.html
http://www.crazypc.com/products/cooling/cpu.htm
http://www.newegg.com/ProductSort/SubCategory.asp?SubCategory=62
http://www.coolerguys.com/so42pe4.html
 Some good advice can also be read at: http://www.dansdata.com/coolercomp.htm

 As you can see the list of cooling products can be extensive. With the stock HSF the fan could be bound up with dust and debris along with the thermal pad(preformed thermal compound) now starting to give away. If you clean the fan and see it running faster it's still in working order. If worn you could easily replace the stock or elect to look into a more effective cooler. With the thermal pad letting go you would have to reseat the HSF with a good compound like Artic Silver 5 or even look into the new Liquid Pro that has a metalic base over the silicon type. http://www.svc.com/coolab.html In fact the article seen at this link was first seen posted on this forum.


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## wasiu0607

Can you tell me what the purpose of the thermal paste is for? I skimmed through the CPU and found that the thermal paste is basically dry... 

Also, how do I tell the difference between a good heatsink/fan and a bad one?


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## Yasu

Thermal paste is used to increase the, for lack of a better term, connection between the CPU and the HSF.  If you don't use thermal paste then it will be harder for the heat to be transfered from the CPU to the HSF.

If you want to know which HSFs are good then just go around and read reviews about them.  Newegg has user reviews which may be helpful to you, but I don't know of any other sites that give in depth reviews of HSFs.  Two of the best that are available right now are the Zalman CNPS 9500 and the Thermaltake Big Typhoon(there's also a mini typhoon).


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## PC eye

The term for heat transfer from the cpu chip to the mounted heat sink is called "conductivity" much like something can be electrically conductive. When you have a good bond between the cpu and sink it is continuity to be added to that. For other reviews other then seen at a vendor's site you can look over a few links here to see if any model works for you.
http://www.heatsink-guide.com/
http://www.ap0calypse.com/showthread.php?t=2304
http://www.virtual-hideout.net/reviews/swiftech_mcxc370/print.htm
http://www.heatsinkdatabase.com/
http://www.tomshardware.com/2001/09/17/hot_spot/index.html
http://www.overclockersclub.com/reviews/dp-102_heatsink_review.php
http://www.virtual-hideout.net/reviews/swiftech_mcxc370/index.shtml
http://www.tweakers.com.au/articles/cooling/cm_aero7/page1.asp
http://www.frostytech.com/25hsf_6.cfm
http://www.a1-electronics.net/Heatsinks/2005/7th/SilverStone_NT02_Oct.shtml
http://www.gruntville.com/reviews/heatsinks/xp_120/index.php
 As well as reviews on HSFs you can even find a few on thermal compounds like the one seen at: http://compreviews.about.com/cs/cooling/a/aaTCompounds.htm


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## wasiu0607

Well since the thermal paste it all dried, Im guessing that is part of the reason why my CPU overheats... Can I just buy some cheap thermal paste and glue it together?


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## PC eye

If you want it to last you wouldn't an inferior cheapie but rather spend a few dollars more for some Artic Silver 5 in a small tube to have a good reseat. If the stock fan is still good the reseat will make the difference for the time being. The $25-40 option gets into real cooling to keep temps lowere then stock for an even longer duration. When you continue to heat a system by gaming or even OCing you want temps as low as you can get them. Here the simple reseat and working fan is essential right now however so you save the cpu from worse.


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## Motoxrdude

Yeah, getting good thermal compound is very important. Running crap compound doesnt that work to begin with, and just gets worse. I would go with AS5, very nice stuff.


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## PC eye

One cpu at this end almost cooked when the stock stuff let go after the first year of use. The temps shot up from about a 47C idle 51-52C load to 61C idle with the 73C temp reached causing a number of issues like sudden restarts. When I asked specifically for Artic Silver 5 at one retail store THEY KNEW just what it was. Surprisingly it was sold under Antec for the larger tube. But you knew it was AS5 in different packaging. Even AS3 is far better then some cheapie brand.


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## wasiu0607

Thanks for all the suggestions. I've purchased AS5 so it should be coming in a few days. Just wondering, do I have to wipe out the dried thermal paste before I apply the new one? Also, when I apply the new thermal paste, how much do I apply, and do I apply the whole surface area of the CPU?


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## Motoxrdude

Take a dry paper towel and wipe away the old thermal compound from the heatsink. THen take a few cotton swabs and gently wipe away the old compound from the processor. 

With the new compound, dont over do it. Since the compound is going to compress, if you have too much, it will smear off the processor and go everywhere on the chip. So just enough to cover then processor.


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## PC eye

That would usually be about the size of a small green pea on your dinner plate. Maybe just a hair over a bb to allow it to spread evenly when your HSF is set down evenly.


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## wasiu0607

Motoxrdude said:
			
		

> Take a dry paper towel and wipe away the old thermal compound from the heatsink. THen take a few cotton swabs and gently wipe away the old compound from the processor.
> 
> With the new compound, dont over do it. Since the compound is going to compress, if you have too much, it will smear off the processor and go everywhere on the chip. So just enough to cover then processor.




i tried doing that but the paste is too hard and it's almost impossible to wipe away with cotton swab. And if i use paper towel, i don't want to over-rub it and leave marks on the processor.

Edit:
I have 1 more question. By how much will AS5 decrease my CPU temperture by?
It's normally at about 65C. Also, when I apply the thermal paste, do I apply it on the circular metal of the heatsink or the square CPU processor itself? Thank you.


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## computermaineack

wasiu0607 said:
			
		

> i tried doing that but the paste is too hard and it's almost impossible to wipe away with cotton swab. And if i use paper towel, i don't want to over-rub it and leave marks on the processor.
> 
> Edit:
> I have 1 more question. By how much will AS5 decrease my CPU temperture by?
> It's normally at about 65C. Also, when I apply the thermal paste, do I apply it on the circular metal of the heatsink or the square CPU processor itself? Thank you.



You should use a small bit of rubbing alcohol on the cotton swab to remove the thermal compound...the higher the concentration, the better. 70% is alright, 90% is good, 99% is ideal. This will clean off the thermal compound, and will evaporate quickly.

Arctic Cooling claims that AS5 will decrease CPU temps by 3-15ºC.

As for putting it on, put it right on the processor.


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## Christian Darrall

can i just say heatsinks might come with the compound allready on it, amd certainly do, but not sure bout intel.


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## PC eye

All new heat sinks come with what is called a thermal pad which is nothing more then preformed thermal paste. There you simply pull off the thin plastic sheet covering it when going to use it. If you get a third party HSF without a pad on it which many do come that way you then buy a compound like Artic Silver 3, 5, the next number when it comes out or some other quality brand to  see it is put on correctly. A good compound offers the best heat transfer ability.


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## wasiu0607

Ok I've cleaned the previous paste and applied AS5 as it says on the instruction. When I went to BIOS, my CPU cooled down from 60C to 48C. However, after a minute of starting up, it still auto-shuts down due to thermal event (Overheating).  Now I am truely clueless regards to why it does that... Please help, thank you.


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## Yasu

You might want to buy a better HSF.  Something like the Zalman CNPS9500 or the Thermaltake Big Typhoon.  Any one of those would be much better than stock.


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## wasiu0607

Yasu said:
			
		

> You might want to buy a better HSF.  Something like the Zalman CNPS9500 or the Thermaltake Big Typhoon.  Any one of those would be much better than stock.




But this has never happened before. I mean I've been using the stock one for nearly 8 months and this is the first time I'm applying new thermal paste... I mean at least after I apply a better quality thermal paste, it will get me another 8+ months right? Im not overclocking or anything.

...Or have I fried my processor or something? But I can still get past windows and start applications...


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## PC eye

When the original pad went on a stock setup on that old Atholon XP3200+ the next step was to try one of the third party HSFs. The temps went down from a 61C at idle and upto 73C with a good load to 39C idle with 46C with a heavy load on it. But you may also have a Windows or memory issue if you are still not getting to the desktop normally. It wouldn't hurt to run a good memory tester like memtest.


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## wasiu0607

PC eye said:
			
		

> When the original pad went on a stock setup on that old Atholon XP3200+ the next step was to try one of the third party HSFs. The temps went down from a 61C at idle and upto 73C with a good load to 39C idle with 46C with a heavy load on it. But you may also have a Windows or memory issue if you are still not getting to the desktop normally. It wouldn't hurt to run a good memory tester like memtest.



No i can get to desktop safely, but it just seems like my computer auto-shuts down after a minute of starting (It takes me less than a minute to get to desktop). I could idle the computer in BIOS for a minute, and it would shut down by itself due to *Thermal Event (Overheating)*. Since it clearly states that, Im assuming it has nothing to do with memory, because this is the error I get when my CPU overheats. However, I could be wrong...

But I really need a solution, this overheating is driving me CRAZYYY.

Thanks a lot!


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## PC eye

Since your cpu temps have dropped down to a reasonable amount for a stock HSF while far from ideal your shutoff settings in the bios itself could be set too low where you are seeing it shutdown at 48C instead of a higher temp like 55C. Besides a look at the setting there one method often used is pointing a small fan at the inside of the case with the side panel off. If you see a noticable difference then you may have an overheating chipset or simply a clogged or dead fan on the sink itself. Did you blow the dust and dirt out of the case and fans when you had it open?


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## wasiu0607

PC eye said:
			
		

> Since your cpu temps have dropped down to a reasonable amount for a stock HSF while far from ideal your shutoff settings in the bios itself could be set too low where you are seeing it shutdown at 48C instead of a higher temp like 55C. Besides a look at the setting there one method often used is pointing a small fan at the inside of the case with the side panel off. If you see a noticable difference then you may have an overheating chipset or simply a clogged or dead fan on the sink itself. Did you blow the dust and dirt out of the case and fans when you had it open?



Yep, right now I've got the side panels off and I do not notice anything. The fan is working properly, ive dusted off the dirty particles from the fan and heatsink. I've added a drop more AS5 but it's not doing the job, still overheating.


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## PC eye

What are you seeing now for an idling temp? Once you put about a pea sized drop of AS5 on the center of the cpu itself that's all you should need. The drop in temps shows that reseating the sink already did it's job. It's starting to look like another problem besides the cpu itself maybe causing this. If you have a cap going bad in the supply that would cause shutdowns but not high temp readings. So that would be ruled out.
 Do you have a small window fan if not smaller to get air moving through it? If that doesn't cool it enough to run normal either your cpu or chipset maybe failing. On one case the cpu actually ended up cooking the board itself. Shut it down for the night! Let it cool overnight to get back into the bios to check the shutdown temp setting there first when before everything gets warmed up. Just before firing it up make sure you got the HSF back on correctly with no liftup on any side just to be sure it didn't pop up on you.


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## wasiu0607

How do i check the shut-down temperture before i warm things up? Also, what do you mean when you said I have a cap going bad in the supply? 

I only have 1 fan, and that is the fan for CPU. It's been like this for about 8 months now.


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## wasiu0607

How do i check the shut-down temperture before i warm things up? Also, what do you mean when you said I have a cap going bad in the supply? 

I only have 1 fan, and that is the fan for CPU. It's been like this for about 8 months now.


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## PC eye

When you first powerup after letting it cool down overnight you enter the bios right away to look at the advanced or other section to find if the board has a manual setting for a max temp. Most newer boards have an automatic overheating protection circuit there to protect the system by shutting when any temps go too high. This protects the system from permanent damages.

 On some newer boards still the system shutdown can still be set manually. Before the cpu reaches that you would brring that setting up to higher temp. But setting it higher then 55C would not be advised. If you get that high then you know that temps are going up too far again. As far as caps those are capacitors(round cylinders often in supplies next to ttransformer) that temporarily holds a charge temporarily until the main current drops. The cap then discharges by seeing it charge of electrons flow in the opposite direction.
Without giving a long speech that's the basics.
 The concern here now if the setting for shutdown was well above your temps or the shutdown is controlled only by the overheat protection you may have one of two main problems. Your cpu is failing causing temps to rise due to it now failing or the temp sensor on the board itself is throwing everything off. 
With the reseat and cleaning of the HSF seeing the temps fall within reason you should have seen an immediate improvement. If something on the board itself is failing. Do you have the manual handy? That will show if there is a manual setting for overheat shutdown settings. With the sink correctly reseated with AS5 and the fan cleaned and running strong the only other thing that could goof up the works here is the loss of programming information in the bios where the battery is letting go early or a chip itself is on the way out. Shut it down, let it sit for at least a few hours, inspect the HSF for any lifted corners, and read the manual to see if you have a manual shutdown setting before powering it up again. Having a $2- spare battery won't hurt either in the rare event that is weakening.


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## wasiu0607

Thank you for helping me all the way through, I really appreciate it.

Im not sure if my PC has the manual shutdown setting, as it was hand built by my friend. It's an Intel D865PERL motherboard with the P4 3.0E ghz processor. What do I do if I don't have the manual shutdown setting and I can't change the max temperture? Is there an alternative way of changing the temperture?


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## PC eye

http://www.intel.com/support/motherboards/desktop/sb/cs-010590.htm offers a few things to look into on that model board. But another thought comes to mind about voltage settings as well as a few other things including something possibly going on the board itself if not the bios programming now giving off a false reading. The best thing in the meantime is let it cool down if it is actually building heat and review the advice seen at the Intel link.


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## wasiu0607

Well i've let the PC cool off with the side panel off near a window... Now when I first turned it on, the processor temperture was at 29C (according to BIOS). Then it slowly got up to around 45C. I thought everything was going great since i could get to desktop, so I downloaded PC Wizard 2006, and it read less than 35C for processor temperture. I started a game just to see how much the temperture will raise to, but it freezes, so I restart computer and went to BIOS and found that the processor temperture was at 50C. Then a second later, it automatically shuts down again.

It seems that the computer auto-shuts down when I play games. Is there a way to override this setting (Auto-shutdown at X c) and change it to a higher temperture? I'm using the Intel BIOS. My other comp is AMD Anthlon and it has the Phoenix BIOS which has the feature.

Edit:
I think PC Wizard 2006 shows some inaccuracy... Right now, the Chasis fan is at 10384 rpm, but when I refresh it, it turns to 3000 rpm, then 5000 rpm, it's always a different digit. Also, the processor is at 28c, mainboard at 41c, and Power/Aux at 34c. Could it be something else that is causing it to over-heat instead of the processor?

Edit:
Now another problem is coming up. I turned it on for about 5 minutes, and all of a sudden, the screen turns blank. I tried resetting the PC and it still turned blank. I hit the power switch and turn off the PC and then start it again, then it worked for about 10 seconds, then turned blank again.
Thanks


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## PC eye

At this point you could be running into a cpu or board failure. With it shutting down when loading the cpu with a game and now not even booting to the desktop with immediate shutdowns you could try a different even older processor if you had one available to see if the system would run normal. If you saw the same problems that would point at the board itself giving faulty readings through it's sensors. Right now it's a toss up between board and cpu. If it is the cpu you could easily damage the board as well.


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## rars222

wasiu0607 said:
			
		

> Thank you for helping me all the way through, I really appreciate it.
> 
> Im not sure if my PC has the manual shutdown setting, as it was hand built by my friend. It's an Intel D865PERL motherboard with the P4 3.0E ghz processor. What do I do if I don't have the manual shutdown setting and I can't change the max temperture? Is there an alternative way of changing the temperture?



Did I read earlier that you don't have any case fans?  That processor (if it's a Prescott) is well-documented to run hot. 

I have the same set up w/ 4 case fans & I still run hot w/ the stock setup & was actually reading this post to find advice on what to replace the stock heatsink & fan with.

Get some case fans & replace the stock before you fry the thing....

Great advicee on AC5 btw


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## magicman

Wasiu0607 contacted me via Messenger last night, and asked me to troubleshoot with him. It turns out he used almost a whole syringe of AS5, very messy stuff (he showed me pics). We reapplied the correct amount and tried to rule out heatsink problems.

It is hard for me to work out which, but I agree it could either be a cpu or a board faliure. The board was crashing in the bios, but after unplugging all optical and hard drives, it successfully entered the bios, and we were able to see the temperature rise to 40, 50, 60, 70, 80, then it died.

I suggested trying a replacement cpu, I think it may be damaged, I have been having similar overheating problems with a damaged GPU at present, damaged by a voltage issue with a faulty mobo. I think he's going to get a technician out to see him as well.


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## rars222

Ouch...CPU failures hurt.  Good luck w/ it.


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## wasiu0607

Ya thanks a lot to Magicman for staying up late at night with me on trying to fix my own issues and told me that I was applying way too much AS5, or else I wouldn't have know. 

However, I'm trying everything to convince my mind that it's not a cpu/motherboard failure. This morning, I tried turning it back on with only a DDR400 512 Ram (I had a DDR333 and DDR400), and it froze in BIOS, so I tried putting in the DDR333 as well and it didn't freeze this time. I was able to get to desktop, so I downloaded Intel Active Monitor, and it monitored about 45c for my processor, which is in the healthy zone according to the program. I think it's pretty accurate because it read about the same temperture in PC Wizard 2006, BIOS as well.  Well after about 10 minutes, the PC automatically shutted down in desktop while I was running memtest. I rebooted and the Thermal Event (Overheating) came up again. Could it be my grafics card that's overheating? Or is it still cpu/mobo failure?

*Edit
The temperture at which the PC died was no more than 50c (cpu).
Cheers =)


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## computermaineack

While 50ºC is a little warm, it won't shut your computer down. So your CPU definately isn't overheating (on this occasion, anyway). Your memory may be overheating, I'd look in to that. You say you got in to desktop before, then it shut off. You started it right up again, and it told you it was overheating. Try letting it cool down for say 30 minutes, and starting it up again. Do that each time you have to start up again, and see if it makes a difference. If it does, something's definately overheating. If it doesn't, you have a faulty component.


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## PC eye

An overheating video card can easily knock you out of the game with a sudden lock or restart of the system. But that generally happens when a good load has also been placed on the cpu like gaming or another big app. At this point it points more at the chipset or memory since you saw a difference when dimms were swapped out. It could also be one then one thing causing this. I've seen faulty memory as well as an overheating cpu cause these kinds of problems. The 50C at idle is a little above what you would want to see. But with no big load on it something else is at fault here.


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## wasiu0607

Ok I tried booting it up until it shutted down again, then waiting for about an hr and rebooting it. It says CPU is overheating. BIOS reported about 47c for processor. Will buying a better fan fix this problem? Or do I have to replace the CPU? I doubt it's anything else that's causing this problem since it clearly stated that the CPU was causing the overheating.


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## magicman

The fan you showed me in the pics was more than sufficient to cool the chip. My best guess is that buying a new fan will make very little difference.


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## wasiu0607

Then how come temps arent dropping below 40s? Most temps ive seen on this forum said below 40s were better.


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## magicman

I explained the other night that I have a damaged GPU, which is showing temps in the 80's and 90's under load despite a top-of-the-range cooler. So it is feasible that a damaged chip can overheat on its own. Seriously, thousands of pc's are running a cooler like yours with no issues. It's definately not the cooler. But working out what it isn't is a lot easier than working out what it is.


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## PC eye

I have strong doubts at this point that there are any problems with the cpu while issues with the board itself like false temp readings and a failing chipset are the most likely. The board is where to look since memory was swapped.


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## wasiu0607

By chips do you mean the chipset that is on the motherboard?


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## magicman

wasiu0607 said:
			
		

> By chips do you mean the chipset that is on the motherboard?


By chip I meant cpu. It seems PC eye are of different opinions at this point, he thinks it's the motherboard, which is very possible because of the differences in performance with various memory configurations, and I think it's the cpu, since altering hardware configurations seems to me to have random results. Either way, a replacement of hardware of _some_ description would seem the only step forward at this point.


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## Motoxrdude

Can you feel your cpu heatsink? Basicly, when its over 50C, it is almost to the point where you can't hold your hand on it for over 10 seconds.


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## PC eye

Although a failing cpu can't be ruled out the voltage setting could either be too high or not stable due to a problem on the board itself. I'm just wondering if clearing the cmos to bring back the default settings would help.


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## wasiu0607

PC eye said:
			
		

> Although a failing cpu can't be ruled out the voltage setting could either be too high or not stable due to a problem on the board itself. I'm just wondering if clearing the cmos to bring back the default settings would help.




Ya MagicMan mentioned about resetting the CMOS before, but Im not sure how to do it. If it's possible, can anyone list the steps on how to reset the CMOS? Thanks.


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## magicman

The location of the required jumper is different in each board, if you can post your motherboard model (I don't think it's been posted before) then we can tell you where it is, and then the procedure. If you don't know it, you can read the motherboard manual, that should say where it is. There's usually a model number printed on the motherboard itself, near the PCI slots, as well.


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## PC eye

On most newer model boards with the lower number of jumpers that should be right near the battery itself. That is where to look on Socket A and later at least. Taking the battery out first and moving the jumper over to the next pin for a few second and then back to the default position is all that is needed. Once you have done that the battery can be replaced on the spot. On the next powerup you will have to set time and date at that time to then save and exit to save the correct settings. Before leaving the bios however any preknown bios setting changes can be done following the time and date correction there.


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## wasiu0607

Ok PC Eye. 

My model is Intel D865PERL


Edit:

Could you guide me step by step on how to reset the cmos so I dont screw up? Thanks

edit:



> Resetting CMOS
> As the system reboots, watch the BIOS identifier to make sure the new BIOS version was properly installed.
> 
> During boot, press the [F2] key to enter the BIOS Setup Utility.
> Return the CMOS settings to the factory defaults by pressing [F9], then press [ENTER] to load setup defaults.
> NOTE: If you saved your CMOS setting as custom defaults before the BIOS upgrade, then go to the Exit menu and choose the “Load Custom Defaults“ option to return it to your previous custom settings.
> Go through each screen of options and return the CMOS settings to the values that you wrote down prior to upgrading the BIOS.
> Press [F10] to save the settings, then press [ENTER] to accept the changes.



I got this off the Intel website. Seems this is either a different kind of reset though, since I dont have to do anything to the motherboard...


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## PC eye

If you made changes in the bios prior to clearing the cmos what this does is instruct you how to proceed to make the same changes again after the default are seen upon restart. This tells you which keys to press in their respective order. On many boards you can simply move the jumper back and forth to clear the cmos itself without even removing the battery. But to insure this is done completely plan on taking it out until you move the correct jumper.
 Generally that stands out from any others due to how close it is to the battery location and distance from the others. With the information here it simply instructs on how to load the bios defaults not clearing the cmos itself. Plus this is general info on how to proceed after a bios update that still applies after you clear the cmos and reset both the time and date.


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## wasiu0607

Can you guide me step by step on how to reset the jumper on D865PERL? I really don't want to cause more damage then what I already have done. Also, what's a jumper? Is it near the battery?


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## PC eye

A jumper is usually a black colored plastic cap sitting on two of three or more
metal pins facing upward from the board. The user's manual that came with the system itself will also outline how to locate and clear the cmos. Hopefully you still have that onhand due to needing a support request just to download a copy of that from their support site. That's a big annoyance there for the simple task of clearing the cmos. Once you have done this just once you will laugh when looking back at it as to how easy it was. Look within about 1/2" at most away from the battery socket for a little black rectangle with a plastic cap or tab covering two out of three pins. Remember it is now in the default position. All you do is move over one pin and then right back to default.


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## wasiu0607

Nope, resetting cmos didnt fix the problem


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## magicman

wasiu0607 said:
			
		

> Nope, resetting cmos didnt fix the problem


Well in that case you're back to where you were before, in need of new hardware.


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## PC eye

It's certainly pointing in that direction after the amount of things tried already. Swapping out the video card along with the cpu may be the only way to isolate the problem. If another cpu and video card goes in and sees the same problems the board is toast by the way of chipset. If you see a sudden improvement with the pullout of either the cpu or card you will have yanked the bad hardware.


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## wasiu0607

Turns out the ATX 12v 4-pin socket is at fault.


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## PC eye

*Just Everloving Wonderful!*

Something had a short to see that! You may have a contact to ground through the mounts or something decided to pull some amps through. There's no doubt now that the board is toast. Even if you swapped out the chipset the damage there is a clear indication of a direct short even briefly to see the plastic scored like that. AAARGGHH...!


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## magicman

Oh, and it seems you were right with your gut instinct about it being the motherboard, PC Eye.


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## PC eye

It's certainly a rotten shame. But this is just what will happen at times. I've seen capaciters go "kaboom" while testing other types of hardwares as well as seeing what dead shorts will do. It's a gut something alright!

 wasiu0607 start looking around the board with a magnifying glass and small flashlight as well as the underside. Look for any type of black or dark scoring on the board itself. It won't necessarliy be that large in size.


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