computer hardware blues

[javasaurus]

Hot 'Puter Woes

A few months ago, added a new vid card to the 'puter, NVidia 6600GT, nice card. 'Puter started keeping the room really warm, and started crashing every once-in-a-while. Probably too warm. So I added a new case fan. Didn't help much. I started running with the case open. That helped a bit. Still radiated heat, but didn't get too hot, didn't crash. But I'm worried about the heat, so I posted to a video-game group, and they fairly unanimously suggested keeping the case closed (better air flow across the MoBo), and reversing the fan direction so it blows into the case, not out of. Did that last night.

I start the computer, playing City of Heroes (MMORPG, very graphics intensive), when system shuts off, auto-restarts, fails to restart. Monitor is black, but speakers are chanting, "System failed CPU check" over and over. WTH? I end up doing a hard shutdown. Wait a few minutes, take cover off again. Note that the power supply is really really warm.

Start computer again, but now monitor won't turn on. It's not in sleep mode, it's completely off. Tried the switch a few times. It's securely plugged in, the UPS is not showing any errors or other problems. So I again have to do a hard shutdown, since I can't see the mouse cursor.

Wait fifteen minutes. Start it up again, all is fine. Cover is off at this point (by which I mean the side panel is open, not the entire case cover). Start the temperature monitor, it shows about 44C for the CPU and decreasing. it goes down to about 40, and I put the cover back on. Temp immediately starts going up. It gets to 49 and I remove the cover, and the temp goes down again. 49 or even low 50s is not a big deal (at least, shouldn't be), but I'm trouble shooting, and noticing a definitive drop in CPU temp with case panel open.

My current thoughts are that the problem is not really system temp (which I originally thought). Could be the power supply is too weak (but it's 400W, so probably not), power supply fan is not working properly (it blows, but maybe not enough), so power supply is overheating, or something is screwy with the monitor. The last option sounds wacky, but I can't imagine why the monitor would fail to turn on at all, and I don't know how much power-related feedback occurs between the monitor and 'puter.

My best guess: power supply overheat, with feedback to monitor. Barring any advice to the contrary, I'll probably try replacing/upgrading the power supply. Groan, grumble, the part that really hurts is that it's generally cheaper to get a case with power supply than just a power supply, but I really don't want to transfer everything to a new case.


sigh.

Comments

[dacuteturtle.livejournal.com]

Hmmm....

This sounds like a heat sink issue. Make sure that your heat sink has good contact with the die. When I made my last PC, the heat sink manufacturer made a mistake and one screw was a micro-millimeter above the contact plane. My PC wound up having bad heat problems. Once I tightened the screws and made sure that I had a good contact, everything settled down. Make sure that your heat sink fan is actually spinning. Maybe buy a different heat sink, especially if you have a "stock" heat sink. Those after-market ones really do work better.

I installed push and pull muffin fans to move the heat. That made a difference.

Consider a different case. You might just need one with fancy venting or a top-vent.

[javasaurus.livejournal.com]

Thanks for the response!

CPU and vid card heat sink fans seem to be working well. You could be right about heat sink/CPU contact, but I want to exhaust other possibilities before playing with the CPU chip.

The heat didn't become a problem until I installed the NVidia card - one of my early thoughts was that the card was generating the heat, then that the vid card was forcing the CPU to work harder causing it to generate heat (but newer vid cards are supposed to relieve some of the processing from the CPU, right?), and maybe the vid card is drawing too much power from the power supply.

[dacuteturtle.livejournal.com]

I think you are right. It's the video card running hot, and that's having a spillover effect on your CPU.

- Video card raises ambient temperature
- Heat sink for CPU works less well in higher ambient temp. Can't dump heat fast enough.
- Warmer weather

There's a killer combo for you.

Try opening the case and pointing a floor fan at the innards.

Also, try "underclocking" your PC. That should produce less heat.

Neither of those is a great solution. I know. It's all air flow at this point.

I keep considering WoW. If I hop on the bandwagon, I'll ask what server you are on. However, being newly married to a girl that does not computer game, this may not be the wisest course of action at this time.

[javasaurus.livejournal.com]

Update.

turned the fan back to the "blowing out" orientation, took the cover back off, and played for a few hours last night with no problems. CPU temp was 40 when not playing game, 49 when playing game. Mobo ranged from 43 to 46. All very safe. Room got sauna like (as always), but computer had no problems, and monitor worked well.

I found a "power supply calculator" and computed that my 'puter needs about 339W, a bit lower than the 380W my 400W power supply will supply (PSs reserve 20W for voltage variation and the like). I still think the culprit is the PS, producing too much heat in the closed case, but I can put off making changes if it continues to work well.

[(Anonymous)]

Java

The issue you are experiencing is heat-related.

Do you have an extra 100 bucks to spend? I could get your pc to operate an additional 20 degrees cooler using a closed system alcohol or chilled water system. Let me know.

Terry

[javasaurus.livejournal.com]

Thanks, but I'm OK. Current configuration has been problem-free for about a month, so I'm not going to mess with it.

Thanks!