The stock heatsink for an Intel Core 2 Duo E800 has been working perfectly for my rig for the last 6-7 months of running it. Over the 6-7 months I went from an idle 50-51 degrees celsius to a 64-65 degrees celsius. The most logical reason I came up with was that the heatsink was coming loose due to movement of the tower and I simply needed to reposition it. So, I attempted to reposition it, and now it seems impossible to retain a good connection. I thought since I had taken the heatsink off a couple of times, the thermal paste probably wore off a bit. So I went down to the local parts store and picked up some Antec Silver 5 and cleaned the CPU/Heatsink and re-applied the new paste, with no effect. The CPU is still overheating. I've had the push pins down so tight that I couldn't even budge the heatsink, and from what I could tell by the matching texture created by the thermal paste on the CPU and heatsink, the connection seemed fine. One more note, recently my hard drive failed for an unknown reason. It simply died while my computer was idle and I had to replace it. I still don't know why this happened, but I'm just throwing it out there. I don't know if this is still a heat problem or possibly something else. Can a heatsink actually break? When I put my hand over the fan on top of the heatsink I don't really feel hot air coming out. That of course might signal a bad connection, but I'm at the point to where I'm willing to bet money my connection is pretty solid. Why all the sudden would a heatsink that's been working for so long just fail? It leaves me to think the CPU is overheating for another reason, but I have no way of telling. Has anyone ever had a problem like this before?
Two things come to mind. First, how is the fan on the heatsync doing? Is it even turning at all? The reason I ask is that the bearings can become contaminated with dirt, which can cause the fan motor to seize. The other might be the power supply. It would explain the drive dying and the overheating, actually. If a PSU is inadequate, they will run quite hot as they try to output the proper level of power. And the hotter they get, the less efficient they run. Eventually, once they are completely saturated, they will start feeding your components dirty power. Further, the build up of heat can even travel down the copper wires (copper being a very good conductor of heat) into your components. So you get a) dirty and/or insufficient power and b) lots of heat, both of which can harm your sensitive electronics. What is the make and model of your PSU?
Seasonic SS-550HT The PSU was actually the first thing that came to my mind. However, I'm still inexperienced with computers (this was my first rig) and I'm not sure what would be wrong with the PSU. Too much power, too little power? The CPU fan is fine. Like I said I took the whole heatsink out and cleaned it up very well. FYI, here is the rest of my specs: CPU: Intel Core 2 Duo e800 wolfdale GPU: 2 X Asus EN9600GT GeForce (512mb) Mobo: Asus Rampage Formula LGA 775 PSU: Seasonic SS-550HT RAM: 2 X 2GB G.Skill DDR2 Tower: Alienware EATX Server Workstation Chassis Case Logo (Grabbed this off ebay)
That's a good PSU, but it's actually slightly underspec'd for the sum of your components. SLI is especially hard on the PSU's 12V rails, so you should even give it a little extra leeway. Keep in mind that this may not solve all your symptoms, but it is certainly a potential problem that should be dealt with in any case. For your current rig, I recommend a 650 -750 watt PSU. 650 is overspec'd by about 98 watts, which will give you plenty of legroom for your current build. That's enough to handle extra heat (e.g. warm room in the summer) without sagging under what your system can potentially draw from it. 750 will give you almost 200 watts of excess, giving you room to upgrade some components later on if you wanted to. P.S. - Is your chassis populated with fans? Also, what diameter is your CPU fan, and at what RPMs is it running?
My chassis isn't the best for cooling, and I have planned on upgrading it to a CM HAF 932. If I did do this upgrade, and introduced at least 4 more fans than I am currently running, will I need to take this into consideration with the PSU as well? Meaning the extra fans running will require more output from the PSU? I'm planning on upgrading the PSU and HS first since that's all I can really afford, but I want to make sure I don't make the same mistake again with the PSU. Also, I'm not sure how to check the RPMs.
You can check the RPMs with hardware monitoring software in your OS, or in the system health section of your BIOS. As for the PSU, you might want to look at a Corsair 750. They're about the same price as a 650 watt PSU anyway. Newegg.com - CORSAIR CMPSU-750TX 750W ATX12V / EPS12V SLI Ready CrossFire Ready 80 PLUS Certified Active PFC Compatible with Core i7 Power Supply - Power Supplies
Well as of right now I can't even run my computer for fear of frying the CPU What about the fans? Like I said I'm thinking of ordering a PSU, HS, and chassis all at the same time. Right now I'm looking at that corsair 750 (found it before you suggested it actually), a CM HAF 932, and a megahalem (still deciding what fans to put on this beast). Will this influx of equipment be fine for a 750?
Yup, that PSU will be fine, even if you SLI it later. As for the chassis, it looks like the cooling is quite good, and it appears to come fully populated with large-bore fans. The bigger the diameter, the lower RPMs they have to spin to move lots of air, therefore the quieter they can run.
