HELP PC Overheating

[pulsar]

Hi,

I am having a serious issues with my system. Basically after playing games for a while the pc just switches itself off instantly like the power cable was pullled out. I cant restart it again until i turn the power on/off at the wall. When i do boot up again, the cpu temp according to the bios is 73 centigrade which i think is far from healthy.

Normally my cpu temp (according to MotherBoard Monitor) is around 55-60 and the case temp is normally around 40. The cpu is def overheating and i'm not sure what to do about it. Right now i have the pc on the floor with the side off and the cpu temp is down to 44 and the case temp is 36.

Any ideas as to a) whats causing this to happen bearing in mind the pc was running fine for months before hand, and b) what i can do to cool down the pc, would be much appreciated.

Cheers

My system spec is as follows:
Athlon xp 3000+ 400mhz fsb
zalman CNPS7000A ALCU
asus a7v600
2x 512mb truemos pc3200 ram
sapphire 128mb radeon 9800 pro
creative sb live player 1024

[Devils00Champs]

Try removing and reseating the heatsink, you might have installed it incorrectly. Make sure it contacts the chip fully, and dont use too much thermal paste because that also inhibits cooling

[dantheman]

Also try cleaning out the dust in your fans and the case itself. 40 degrees is pretty damn high for a case temperature, assuming thats correct. I would also try cleaning up the wiring in the case and add some more fans if posible. I'm sure if you got some more air circulation going, you could drastically drop those temperatures. Remember more exaust is better than more intake.

[bluegreenshxt]

with that heatsink things should be better...

well reseat the heatsink...just make sure you clean off the existing thermal paste and apply a new layer...

also do you have case fans? if you do you have to orient them properly...the fans at the back and top should be exhaust...fans on the side and front should be intake...if you dont..i would invest in atleast one exhaust fan...(better to have more exhaust)

now apart from that dust can also be a problem...clean it off :)

also run the zalman at the fastest fan speed...

and if you still have problems...let us know :p

[pulsar]

Thanks for the help guys i've been busy with work lately and only just got round to havin a go at sorting my pc out.

I basically stripped the whole pc down, took everything out of the case, wiped all the dust off the components etc. The amount of dust on the case was pretty worrying, especially on the filter at the front which was entirely clogged up. Cleaned that all up, put new thermal paste on cpu, tied all the cables out the way (first time i've *ever* done this) and put everything back together again. My case temp has now has gone down to 32 degrees (with the side of the case on) which i guess is a decent improvement. The biggest change though is my cpu temp which is now only 40 instead of 55-60 so hopefully no more shutdowns. :)

I've yet to try any of the games which caused the shutdowns to happen before as i dont have time right now got a lecture to go to but i thought i'd just keep you up to date :)

- uros