Overheating and want to underclock.

[Vodoun]

So, I've been experience computer related problems, such as crashing

during a couple of select game; as well as some errors which I can't explain -

such as the League of Legends installer freezing - but I recently installed

PC Probe and found out that my computer is generally reaching

temperatures of ~65 degrees and more, even though I am using a

Cooler Master case with about six fans inside XD


(temperature seem to start out at ~35 - 40 degrees when my computer

is first turned on, then after a game, stay at ~65 degrees for whatever reason

and the temperature returns to ~35 - 40 degrees if I restart)


I'm using an AMD Athalong 6400+ X2, and there are only options

for my computer to OVERCLOCK the CPU since all of the options

are already set to their lowest level - or at least the CPU Frequency (?) is

and all the other options are set to detect automatically.


What is going on here?! Is 65 degrees and over a dangerous temperature?

Is there any possibility that I can underclock my computer to become more stable?

[RicheemxX]

Exactly which case is it?
How do you have your fans setup?
Have you tried re-seating the heat-sink and fan and making sure that its making good contact? and what is the heatsink and fan, stock or aftermarket?
What else do you have running in this system?

Can you snap some pics of the inside of the case

[Vodoun]

I can do take pictures - I'm not sure what it is - stock of aftermarket

all I know about the case is that it is a cosmos cooler master...

I haven't taken the heatsink out since I don't have a screwdriver with me,

but I remember putting the heatsink in to be a big hastle -

and I ended up bending one of the ridges slightly.


I'm running a geforce 8800 FX, one 2g DDR Ram,

and the ASUS PCIEP Motherboard (I'm sure that's what it is)




Pictures:

Outter View

Fans 1

Fans 2

Fans 3

Heat-sink



I'm fairly confident that the heat-sink is well attatched,

I recall that I had a base wasn't quite compatible with the motherboard,

so my step-dad brought me one that fit -

I can't be too sure of what the base looks like,

as it's hard to get a good look.

[RicheemxX]

Well how are your fans oriented in terms of what is blowing in and out? You can have all the fans in the world but if you aren't getting air flow or a good balance its not going to help. Just looking at the first picture I can see you need to work on wire placement and getting that case cleaned up a bit. That might help and would be a good start.

Does it run ok with the side off, or do you at least see a drop in temps?

Since you are saying this is just recent, and given the age of the parts and likely age of the build. Even though it might have been a pain to put on taking off the heatsink and fan and giving those a good cleaning would be the next place to start. You might even need to buy a new or better combo.

Underclocking is about like putting a band-aid on a gunshot wound. You might cover the issue but you'd be better off finding the source first.

[ShyguyXPC]

65 Degrees, is perfectly fine, its a bit hot, but depending on how hard the CPU is being worked, its well with in the limits and not overheating.

as rich has said, make sure fan orientation is correct, should have front and side panel, as well as bottom placement fans taking air into the case, and rear and top fans exhausting out.

the video card you listed, isn't an "FX" its an 8800 series, but is it a GTS (if so, 320MB, 640MB, 512MB, 1GB?), GS, GT, or GTX?

does it have a Blower fan that mounts at the back of the card, and blows ALL heat out the back of the case?

Or does it have a traditional case fan looking fan on it?

if the latter, it could be venting hot air into the case, besides the rear, and heating up the internal case ambient temps, adding to hotter running CPU temps.



Also do you have your Power supply with its intake fan facing down, taking air in from bottom of case? if so, good, if not, you may want to do that.


Also as rich said, the cable management should be improved for better air flow and less resistance of air flow, and less likely to collect dust as well.


Attached a copy of your pic below, that shows with arrows, the general air flow direction that all fans should be blowing and venting air through your case.

[JPMiller]

Well I'm sure that rats nest of wiring isnt doing you any favors, but I doubt thats the main issue...
Generally 65 isn't a great temp for the long haul, (as far as the life of the CPU), but its also not enough to cause instability, or whats more likely, a slowdown of the CPU, or shutdowns....

[SoloCamo]

Also, what concerns me is the Heatsink, you mentioned your not sure on the model. Some heatsinks are rated for lower TDP CPU's in other words, lower wattage ones.

I made the mistake once in a pinch of putting a stock heatsink rated for low a 65w cpu on a 95w one. Low and behold, idling it was ok, but underload it was hitting 65* plus just like you, which wasn't detrimental, but was causing crashes and instability once it got closer to 70*c. This was on a Athlon x2 as well.

Especially since you are not sure of the model, I would highly suggest at a minimum re-seating it and assuring good contact and not too much thermal paste. (about the size of a uncooked piece of rice on the x2 models)

__

If it still runs hot, i'd suggest an aftermarket one for the socket. A very good one for stock setups can be had for under 30 bucks

[ShyguyXPC]

cooler in their pics is an aftermarket cooler, hard to tell what it is, but its a Tower heatpipe cooler, looks like its might be a Thermalright, or from the first pic could even be a Zalman, but its hard to tell.

if they could post the exact cooler, that'd be helpful in this case.

[SoloCamo]

cooler in their pics is an aftermarket cooler, hard to tell what it is, but its a Tower heatpipe cooler, looks like its might be a Thermalright, or from the first pic could even be a Zalman, but its hard to tell.

if they could post the exact cooler, that'd be helpful in this case.

Thanks, couldn't see. Currently at work and it's not pulling up. Hopefully it's just a case of it not being seated properly, as those x2's run cool.