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Athlon processor over-temp protection question

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Brocktune

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Do late-model Athlons have an internal sub-routine running that shuts down the processor when its temperature goes too high?

A friend's computer is shutting down every 15 minutes. Not gracefully or anything, it's not going into supsend, it's literally shutting down completely like you held the button in.

It's only started happening since it's been getting hot out. It's consistently 10 - 15 deg. warmer in his house than in the winter or spring, so we were thinking it was an emergency shutdown due to high temp. He's running XP, and it doesn't log a shutdown when it happens, so we're pretty sure Windows has nothing to do with it.
 
What chip exactly are you using?

I don't know if the cpu chip itselft has heat protection, but a lot of motherboards do... You should check the specs of the motherboard and see if it has heat protection...
 
you should go into the BIOS setup and check there...it has an option to shut down the computer at a given temp. i can choose from 60 to 80, with 5 degrees intervals.
also you could have a problem with the cooler. dust can cause the cooler to loose efficency.
 
bogdanfirst said:
you should go into the BIOS setup and check there...it has an option to shut down the computer at a given temp. i can choose from 60 to 80, with 5 degrees intervals.
also you could have a problem with the cooler. dust can cause the cooler to loose efficency.
I think he told me that he disabled all the temp. stuff in the bios. I'll ask him which exact processor he's using.
 
i am not that documented about the amd processors, but i think that some processors have also got an over temperature protection circuit, wich is independent from the software.
also, i want to ask something. does the computer simply turn off, or it acts like you clicked on shut down command.
i suspect that some psu's have temperature protection, but i don't know how this acts.
what about another problem about shutting down in 15 minutes. it could be just a coincidence that it started happening when it got hot.
also i suspect that this shouldn't have suddenly, but the shutdown time would be smaller and smaller.
maybe you got a software problem. also, is it 15 minues an exact value, or it is aproximate.
you should try to run the processor hotter, by keeping it working with something, and see of the time descreases.
 
Actually I just remembered that when he ran an arithmetic benchmark program on the processor it shut off as soon as the test started. It just shuts right off completely. Like you pulled the plug. He's going to try a bigger heat sink and more powerful fan, I think.
 
i think that the problem is not from the heating preocessor. it has to be somethinkg related to the power suply of the processor or maybe from the main computer power suply.
he shoud try opening the case and see if the fan is still working propely.
also he should check fot the siliconic paste that lies between the processsor. i heard about sombody that build his own computer and forgot about it and had quite a hush finding the solution to this.
 
try this

Try running the machine in a very cool environment (blast the a.c.) and run an extra fan on the machine. Time the machine's shutdown compared to the environment you are currently runnig it in. If there is any increase in time before shutdown you can be sure the override is powering down the unit.

I just read something about there being a safety switch for Athon overheating so you're on the right track. You didn't stuff that processor into a tiny plastic case, did you? I've heard Athlon runs hotter than Pentium in an attempt to keep up speedwise with Pentium's chips. Make sure you get yourself an big aluminium case with at least two fans. What kind of video card are you running? High end video cards add tons of additional heat inside the case which would kick in the override in a hurry if the ventilation is poor - in which case you better not shut the safety feature off in the bios or your board will look more like molten slag than electronic equipment.
 
i know this sounds stupid, but can you try to use the computer in a coller place, like the fridge......im sure you will not try this, but it is a solution.
how about in the basement.
maybe there is a problem with the sensor temperature, not with the processor ovearheating itself.
 
Identify the Problem

It may not be a heat issue at all. If the computer is shutting down
instantly at the start of the program, it maybe a number of things.
First thing to do is get Motherboard Monitor @ http://mbm.livewiredev.com/.
Observe the CPU temps that you recieve while running a few programs.
The values won't be accurate die temps and they could be totally bogus.
But this may give you an idea of what temps your computer is running.

If you find that the cpu temps are nearing or exceeding 60 C try different
cooling methods. The problem could also lie in bad RAM, an insufficient PSU
bad driver installs and some other things as well. To test these take out everything and start with the bare essentials and place things back piece by piece till you identify the problem.

dM
 
All current intel / AMD chips have a thermal protection built in as do the motherboards. On earlier AMD chips (about 1.4Ghz and below), the protection was only provided by certain motherboard manufacturers, and not on the chip.

The AMD chips maximum safe operating temperature is between 85-90 degrees Celsius. Obviuosly running a chip this hot will severely shorten it's life and can cause lock-ups in windows / linux. There's also a higher risk of the chip going Ka-put.

Ideally you want to be seeing temperatures of around 40 - 50 degrees celsius. (60 should be the absolute maximum you should allow). If the computer was homebuilt then the heatsink may not be efficent enough for the processor. (the same could also be true for PC's bought from shops). So you could try changing the heatsink/fan for one designed to cool a faster AMD chip then the one that your running. But before doing that you may just want to disconnect the heatsink and then reconnect it. Just to make sure that it hasn't come loose. It happens very easily, especially if the Pc has been moved recently.


You also want to check for adequate airflow through the computer case. Their should be at least one intake fake (at the front of the case - sucking cold air in), one exhaust fan (blowing air out the back). And also the one on the heatsink itself.

If the temperature is still too high then you can try using a product called artic silver. It's a thermal conductive paste. You just apply a very small amount to the die (the raised black bit in the middle of the AMD chip). You only need enough to cover the suface of the die, so that you can spread the paste wafer thin. You must be very careful not to use an excessive amount. The idea of the paste is that it gets sandwhiched between the heatsink and the CPU die, and the paste then fills in all the microscopic indentations of the heatsink / die. Because air is an insulator it doesn't conduct the heat to the heatsink very well, but because the artic silver has filled in all the gaps where the air would hide, you get a better heat transfer.

Hope that all makes sense. Let me know if your still having problems.
 
Thanks for the info, Craigey. My friend who was having the over-temp prob. has since realized that it was probably an air-flow issue. The case was open, and that doesn't let the fans do their real job, so he's going to close the case up and put two better fans in. For the time being he rigged up a large peripheral fan to help the open case flow better, and since then he hasn't had any problems. Once he shuts the case up, he'll be golden. Thanks for all the info.
 
Brocktune said:
Do late-model Athlons have an internal sub-routine running that shuts down the processor when its temperature goes too high?

A friend's computer is shutting down every 15 minutes. Not gracefully or anything, it's not going into supsend, it's literally shutting down completely like you held the button in.

It's only started happening since it's been getting hot out. It's consistently 10 - 15 deg. warmer in his house than in the winter or spring, so we were thinking it was an emergency shutdown due to high temp. He's running XP, and it doesn't log a shutdown when it happens, so we're pretty sure Windows has nothing to do with it.


i think this may help you,before i upgraded my motherboard and cpu,i was having the same problems,i was using a 800 amd processor and it kept shutting down too.so i took the side cover off my case it does help if the cpu is overheating,if that doesn't work use a house fan and face it at your computer with the side cover off.as long as noone touches the inside of the computer you should have no more problems .if it still occurs .you need a new cpu.but this worked for me
 
Yes, plenty of people I know (I'm a computer nerd, as are most of my friends) have had a similar problem with overheating CPU's though most of them are due to overclocking the computer.

What you may want to do is create a wind tunnel by creating a vortex by sucking air into the computer on one side, and spitting it back out the other, this will help by making sure heat doesn't stay in the computer for too long, and since heat rises you may want two fans mounted at the back, on the lowest mounting area on the frame, and another at the highest, if that doesn't work, try getting a larger heatsink, you could probably pick up a large heat sink online for cheap, I'd suggest an old 200Mhz heat sink, when the 200 first came out it had serious heat issues that were solved by a 1.5"x1.5"x4" heat sink, that's right, 4" long spikes, this gives plenty of heat dissapation.

Or if you could afford it, get a freon pump and run one of the pipes through the computers case.

Also consider cooling the entire computer by adding a drive cooler too.

These were also created because of heat problems, when the first 10000 RPM drives were created they needed a seperate coolant, if you can pick it up cheap, see how it works, if it works by shooting air out of the computer, try reversing the fan and blowing cool air into the computer.

Or if you could afford it, you could get a freon based heat sink, similar to the one discribed above, and running a freon pump in between all the little spikes, so they stay supercool, and and the cpu never overheats.
 
I can't say suckin* ????
 
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