PC woes

[Dave Plowman (News)]

It's not switchable.

All this talk about it being the motherboard - wouldn't the actual sensor

- and possibly much of the electronics - be in the CPU?

[George]

heatsink/fan

Thats one neat thing in a PC, I got broken into about 15 months ago and the gits were tampering with the computer,anyway it was still on when I came home but had frozen/crashed. I gave the police the time they were in the house and they asked how I knew this...simple I says,they were tampering with the computer and the computers event viewer gave me the time stamp it crashed.

[George]

Have you got the fan the right way round? ie the cool air from the fan should blowing onto the heatsink,also check the heatsink fins for dust clogging them?

[Dave Plowman (News)]

Heh heh. It mysteriously turned itself round?

[George]

Well it worked for me because the last time I cleaned this computer out (if only dust was a comodity I'd have been rich) I put the fan the wrong way round and was getting exactly the same symptoms you're faced with. After much head scratching it suddenly dawned on me that the cool air from cpu fan was blowing outwards,a quick change around and we were back to normal. Funny though I have two big fans in the case one on the front chassis metal for blowing cool air around the other fan on the back of the chassis for drawing out any warm/hot air.

[Dave Plowman (News)]

The symptoms only started after about a year of it working perfectly. That's why all these suggestions of poorly fitted heatsink or fan etc don't cut much mustard with me. Plus the fact it now happens so quickly - within a minute or so of switching on from cold. I got this reply on a RISC OS group (I asked for a more suitable newsgroup) where they are understandably iffy about PC posts :-

*********************

I had a similar problem. I think it was a fault in AsusProbe reading the temperature wrong & shutting down as an emergency. Probe V2.24.10 works ok but I am not entirely sure it wasn't another monitor??

**********************

but no reply to an email asking for clarification as I don't really understand the solution if any.

[George]

I presume you have done an elimination process? ie just the graphics card,mem in place with all drives,periphials,and addon cards disconnected? at least this would narrow it down to mobo,graphics,cpu.

[Dave Plowman (News)]

My initial thoughts when it first started was the PS shutting down so substituted it with a known good one. Then removed all the various peripherals except the graphics card. Still happened. Tried a different graphics card too.

[stuart noble]

Aren't there any PC anoraks advertising in your local paper? Time to admit defeat I'd say

[Dave Plowman (News)]

If no one on here (or elsewhere) has suggestions would such a type do any better? I can obviously fix things by the shotgun approach of replacing MB and CPU. Get a 'man' in and all I'm doing is paying extra for his labour to do what I can myself.

[stuart noble]

But he probably has all the bits to hand, so at least you won't pay for the ones that weren't the problem. Think yourself lucky that the fault is reproduceable, and not some intermittent can of worms.

I think I might test the water by ringing round and describing the symptoms. IME the good guys will usually say, "It sound like...." rather than "Bring it in and we'll look at it". The latter usually means they know nothing and will be farming it out to a local engineer

[dennis]

Unless he works for peanuts its easier and cheaper to buy the barebones and cpu I posted a while back. Then you get a nice new faster machine too.

[andrew]

that the sensor is in the motherboard under the cpu for amd.

AJH

[Dave Plowman (News)]

Interesting. Having the computer completely stripped down with a view to replacing the MB and CPU with a later type I've had a good look at the underneath and surrounding parts of the socket. And there don't appear to be any components directly underneath the socket - although of course being multi-layer could be inside the MB, I suppose. I also removed the plastic slide on the socket with a view to cleaning everything. Cleaned everything locally both sides of the board with contact cleaner. And did a basic reassemble. Only one HD and the graphics card. Fired it up and it's fine. Put everything back together and it's still fine. Left it on all night - working ok. Probe reports a CPU temp of 45C. But I've been down this route before - disturbing things seem to sort the fault for a while.

[Andy Hall]

A PCB track is probably aufgeficht.

[Dave Plowman (News)]

They don't normally heal themselves?

Seems the sensor (diode) is inside the CPU and the other electronics for temp sensing on the MB.