CPU Temperature starts at 60 C

Hi!

There's this PC that is 3 or 4 years old, sometimes it logs in, works for a couple of hours, then restarts, or just freezes.
Sometimes it won't boot, just restart before the Windows XP welcome screen appears.

I suspected the H.D.D at first, I changed it and I've got the same situation.

Adrynalyne did a great effort and analyzed the Minidump files I attached in a previous thread and suggested that it's a video card driver failure, I uninstalled the drivers and used Windows Publisher drivers, and I didn't get anywhere.

At last I've noticed that the CPU temperature starts at 60 C, or even 64, and sometimes it reaches 70.
This level (60 C), is the minimum level for a CPU Temp warning, as mentioned by the VT8367 chipset of the PC we're talking about.

Processor is AMD Athlon XP 2400+

Is it the cause of the problem?

Awaiting your replies!

Amjad!

 

Athlon XPs run hot as it is...but 60c at idle seems a little high. I assume you've cleared the dust out of it?

 

What is the fan speed?

Question for Adrynalyne, how common are variable speed fans for CPUs?

The other question that comes to mind for Amjad, what is the system temperature? It will influence the CPU temp.

 

I don't think they became very popular stock until the AMD 64. Now they are everywhere. Aftermarket, they've been around for a while.

 

Have you checked that the CPU heatsink is seated correctly? I have seen cases where the heatsink has been seated the wrong way and this caused overheating.

 

Yes I did!

 

The System Temp is normal, about 23 C

 

I'll check it out.

Thank you all guys!

(But please keep checking this thread, I'll keep you informed with all the updates and tests that I make)

Love from Amjad!

 

OK guys, I tried everything I could, I used an air blower (800 Watts) to clean the CPU and fan, I re-checked the fan. Everything is correct.

The temp is still between 50 and 60 C.

The situation is even worse, sometimes there's no booting at all.
I have to restart it more than once in order to pass the XP loading screen

Adrynalyne, here are three recent dump files, but why are two of them 88.0 KBs and the other is only 64.0 KBs?

Awaiting your reply...

:cry:cry:cry

 

I always forget to zip the files...

 

OK, guys!
This is a screen shot of a freeware from MG
it's SpeedFan


http://img78.imageshack.us/img78/1599/speedfanas0.gif


How could it be that the fun is more than 4000 rpms while the temp is above 65 C?

why is the computer running for more than two hours sometimes if the cpu is overheated?

Please tell me what you think ASAP!

:cry:cry:cry

 

Depends on what's causing the overheating. And on how efficient the fan is. And on whether the air the fan is moving is reaching what it needs to. And so on....

Every CPU is a little bit different, at least. It might be something as subtle as the ambient temperature and a question of "the final straw".

I'm also wondering about the accuracy of SpeedFan's reporting. The sensors are not 100% reliable in some makes of motherboard/CPU. For example:

• Your Temp1 (motherboard?) temp is quite normal, but your CPU temp is out of line
• The voltage on the 3.3v rail from your PSU is way under nominal, but your system is still running. Voltages should be within 10% of nominal.

On the other hand, maybe it's your low 3.3v rail that's causing the system to misbehave. If you can, try swapping in another PSU at least long enough to confirm or refute that possibility.

And while we're looking at voltages -- find out what Vcore should be. 1.70v seems high. You'll need to look at the manual for the CPU chip, or get it from the CPU manufacturer's website. The higher Vcore is, the hotter the CPU will run.

Of course, we'd all be doing a lot less guessing if we knew what we're talking about. Like what make and model of motherboard and CPU are we dealing with here? Some CPUs naturally run hot, some don't; which kind is yours?

 

Thank you Rob M.
You really pointed out some technical details that I've missed

I'll try to get another Power Supply Unit and try it
Actually, this was a possibility from the beginning, but you know the stability
of the system while installing XP made me suspect the Hard Disk at first, but then I replaced it and I even tested it with a Western Digital Diagnostics Utility and it had no errors.

While I try the PSU, here are some detailed information (Belarc Advisor)

Processor:
2.00 gigahertz AMD Athlon XP
128 kilobyte primary memory cache
256 kilobyte secondary memory cache

System Model:
VIA Technologies, Inc. VT8367-8233A
Enclosure Type: Desktop

Main Circuit Board:
Board: VT8367-8233A
Bus Clock: 133 megahertz
BIOS: Award Software International, Inc. 6.00 PG 10/25/2002

Memory Modules:
256 Megabytes Installed Memory

Slot 'A0' is Empty
Slot 'A1' is Empty
Slot 'A2' has 256 MB
Slot 'A3' is Empty

Controllers:
Standard floppy disk controller
Primary IDE Channel [Controller]
Secondary IDE Channel [Controller]
VIA Bus Master IDE Controller

Bus Adapters:
VIA Rev 5 or later USB Universal Host Controller (2x)

Display:
NVIDIA GeForce2 MX/MX 400 [Display adapter]
Samsung 15.7 [Monitor] (15.7"vis, s/n HMDR401444, April 2001)


And for the voltage value, I don't have the manuals but I'll look in websites.

Thank you again and I hope we'll be able to diagnose the problem.

 

Glad to have helped -- if I did. This is one of those places where two (or more) heads is usually better than one. Each one sees something different; at least one of them is bound to get lucky.

I think you'll find what you need at <http://www.amd.com/gb-uk/assets/content_type/DownloadableAssets/K7_Electrical_Specification_Rev_ENG.pdf>. It looks like your Vcore should be either 1.60v or 1.65v, depending on which model of Athlon XP processor you have.

If that's the case, try reducing your Vcore voltage and see what impact that has on your CPU temps and overall stability. You should be able to find a setting you can change in your BIOS.