Shoutbox

My friend has a computer that whenever she either runs too many applications on her computer, or just lets it sit there, in a while it just auto shuts off, without any warning, without any blue screen. occasionally when the computer turns back on it sometimes gives the "your computer has recoverd from a serious error" message. this problem used to happen about once a day, but now its more like every 15minutes. we've tried reformatting and reinstalling windows. does anyone know what could be wrong? I'm thinking its RAM, or the CPU is overheating, but would there be anyway to check without having to go out and buy new RAM?

i think you're right, it is the cpu overheating

i had the same problem recently (pc died everytime i played cs) so i replaced cpu and mobo

but if u want an analasys, get a program that can measure cpu temp and see how high it gets (Speedfan?)

i was just talkign to her, shes not great at computers but informed me about an overclocking error message saying overclocking failed, and to press f2 to go into setup. this error msg was in the system bios, so i'm guessing i'm gonna have to fiddle around with the bios settings to somehow turn overclocking off, i hope its as easy as it sounds

One thing I would do is somehow get over there, take the CPU apart and give it a really good clean with a brush. I had a friend with a similar problem and you'll be surprised how much that can help. after all dust build up can also be a factor in a CPU overheating.

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Originally posted by TheItalianStallion
One thing I would do is somehow get over there, take the CPU apart and give it a really good clean with a brush. I had a friend with a similar problem and you'll be surprised how much that can help. after all dust build up can also be a factor in a CPU overheating.

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What he said .

i just installed the speed fan, as my computer is experiancing the same things in a way,

but whats the ideal CPU temp?

also i think my CPU is running hot is there any way to bring that down?

Ideal CPU temperature is - 273° C.

Realistic CPU temperatures would be about 25° C to 35° C idle, and 40° C to 55° C under load. Though CPUs are rated to have an operating temperature of a lot higher.

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Originally posted by jordanspringer
in a while it just auto shuts off, without any warning, without any blue screen. occasionally when the computer turns back on it sometimes gives the "your computer has recoverd from a serious error" message

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If "shuts off" = turns off and stays off until the power button is pressed to turn it on again, then the first suspect should be the power supply.  It would be unusual for any other component to cause that without the power supply already being pushed to the edge.

You can first try to blow out all the dust with a can of compressed air and visually confirm the power supply fan is spinning.  However, you will probably end up replacing it and I would do so before wasting too much time trying other things.

On the other hand, if "shuts off" = rebooting, there are other possibilities. 

In virtually every case where I've ran into random reboots without ever getting a blue screen, the ultimate culprit has been CPU cache failure (sometimes a temporary condition due to the CPU overheating).  Bad RAM more often seems to result in a mixture of blue screens and "application has performed an illegal instruction" type soft errors.  However, if the computer is running Windows XP, make sure it isn't set up to restart automatically on blue screens (read this).

As far as CPU overheating on a computer that used to work fine --  it should be sufficient to blow out all the dust and inspect the computer running with the cover removed, to make sure the CPU fan and any motherboard chipset fans it might have are spinning and not stuck, no heatsinks have fallen off, and so forth.  There really are no invisible cooling failures -- other than improper installation (that would've manifested itself right away when the computer was built).

If you still wish to measure the temperature, it is best to download a model-specific temperature monitor program from your motherboard manufacturer's website, but you can also try this.  Remember that the CPU temperature can raise as much as +20C under load, so you should run something intensive while checking it (any 3D game would work well).

How hot is too hot?  There's no simple answer (manufacturers only specify permanent failure point, not "your software starts to crash" point) and it depends on your CPU type, but anything over 60C under load would concern me.  Older Intel processors (e.g. Northwood core P4) often stay under 45C with good cooling; for those even 60C could be considered high.

You can test both RAM and L1/L2 caches (by selectively disabling them for memory tests) with memtest86.  Just burn the ISO and boot from the resulting CD.

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Originally posted by rav0
Realistic CPU temperatures would be about 25° C to 35° C idle, and 40° C to 55° C under load. Though CPUs are rated to have an operating temperature of a lot higher.

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alright, well then my CPU is idling at 53-56°C so obviously i need to do something, i do have a heatsink and a CPU fan, whats the next more cost efficent and effective way to get it to that 25-35°C idle range?

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Originally posted by NiteMare
alright, well then my CPU is idling at 53-56°C so obviously i need to do something, i do have a heatsink and a CPU fan, whats the next more cost efficent and effective way to get it to that 25-35°C idle range?

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Do you have a second temperature reading available, usually called "ambient" or "motherboard" temperature?  If so, what is it?

Most boards have a sensor somewhere on the board, which reports (roughly) the air temperature inside the case.  Since air cooling can't make anything colder than the surrounding air temperature, it says a lot about where your cooling weak point is.

If both CPU and ambient temperatures are high, then the problem is weak airflow in the case and you should consider adding case fans where possible, or getting a better case.

If the ambient temperature is reasonable (less than 10C above what you'd guess your room temperature to be), but there is a large differential between it and the CPU temperature at idle, then your CPU heatsink/fan isn't doing a very good job.  It may be installed incorrectly, or you just may need a more effective one.

P.S. Keep in mind most numbers you will see quoted are based on 20C- 22C room temperature.  If yours is higher, the temperatures inside your computer will be higher, too.   That doesn't make it ok and good for the computer, but is important to consider when you are trying to determine why it's running so hot.