- Jul 19, 2013
- 36
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- 10,540
I'm not sure if my problem is simply overheating, or if I have a component needing replacing before it fails completely. Some of the symptoms point to temperature being the problem, others don't.
My PC is locking up rapidly (generally before its even booted). Symptoms are a frozen screen and no response to anything except holding the power button for several seconds to turn it off.
I've had occasional lock-ups for a few days when the system has been running for a while, but it has gradually gotten worse and has now reached the point of total usability. This has coincided with unusually warm and rising temperatures here in the UK. I can still make the PC boot if I take the extreme measure of removing the side panel and placing a portable air-con unit next to the PC, though obviously this isn't a long-term solution (particularly since the vent for the air-con won't reach the window when next to the PC, so I'm seriously warming up the room to cool the PC).
So far this sounds like a cooling system which isn't coping with the weather. However reported CPU and motherboard temperatures are fairly low:
As I type this my CPU is at 32C and the motherboard at 31C (measured using PC Probe II - supplied with motherboard). If I was to switch of the air-con unit the temperatures would rise to around 40C (exact number varies) before locking up a minute later.
These don't seem like particularly high temperatures. Certainly the CPU can go higher - I tried running Prime95 to warm it up (with the air-con unit on) and got to a CPU temp of 55C (Motherboard still in low 30s) without problems.
So if its a temperature problem then the obvious remaining candidate would be the graphics card. I've tried swapping this for a borrowed card (something much smaller and lower powered than my usual one) and still have the same problem, so I doubt its that. I did actually expect this to work, since I have in the past had problems where I've had to manually increase the GPU fan speed to run certain games (otherwise I got a frozen screen lockup). I'm actually wondering if when that worked in the past the GPU fan was actually increasing airflow over some other component? Unfortunately I can't try increasing GPU fan speed at the moment, since catalyst control center won't currently start.
Given the above I can see two possible problems:
The one other things I've tried are:
Finally a picture of my system:
Arrows show the direction fans are blowing in:
Fans without arrows:
Case is a Silverstone TJ-07. Inside I have:
Any trouble-shooting hints to identify the problem component and/or improve cooling (I'd rather avoid water-cooling) will be much appreciated. The most obvious change I can think of is a better fan in the drive bays, since the graphics card and lower part of the motherboard seem to be the parts with least air-flow at the moment.
My PC is locking up rapidly (generally before its even booted). Symptoms are a frozen screen and no response to anything except holding the power button for several seconds to turn it off.
I've had occasional lock-ups for a few days when the system has been running for a while, but it has gradually gotten worse and has now reached the point of total usability. This has coincided with unusually warm and rising temperatures here in the UK. I can still make the PC boot if I take the extreme measure of removing the side panel and placing a portable air-con unit next to the PC, though obviously this isn't a long-term solution (particularly since the vent for the air-con won't reach the window when next to the PC, so I'm seriously warming up the room to cool the PC).
So far this sounds like a cooling system which isn't coping with the weather. However reported CPU and motherboard temperatures are fairly low:
As I type this my CPU is at 32C and the motherboard at 31C (measured using PC Probe II - supplied with motherboard). If I was to switch of the air-con unit the temperatures would rise to around 40C (exact number varies) before locking up a minute later.
These don't seem like particularly high temperatures. Certainly the CPU can go higher - I tried running Prime95 to warm it up (with the air-con unit on) and got to a CPU temp of 55C (Motherboard still in low 30s) without problems.
So if its a temperature problem then the obvious remaining candidate would be the graphics card. I've tried swapping this for a borrowed card (something much smaller and lower powered than my usual one) and still have the same problem, so I doubt its that. I did actually expect this to work, since I have in the past had problems where I've had to manually increase the GPU fan speed to run certain games (otherwise I got a frozen screen lockup). I'm actually wondering if when that worked in the past the GPU fan was actually increasing airflow over some other component? Unfortunately I can't try increasing GPU fan speed at the moment, since catalyst control center won't currently start.
Given the above I can see two possible problems:
■ Something is overheating at way lower temperatures than it should and needs replacing before it fails completely. I'm not sure how to work out what though and would really rather not replace everything if I don't have to.
■ Something I've not been able to measure the temperature of is not getting enough airflow and is reaching high temperatures. Again I'm unsure what, the only thing that feels particularly hot is the graphics card, and I've tried replacing that already. After that there's a blue component on the motherboard under the graphics card (see picture below) which feels warm, but not hot.
The one other things I've tried are:
■ Running with only one RAM module to eliminate the possibility of a failed module (no change in symptoms). All three tried separately.
■ Disconnecting the hard drives and using the splashtop web browser in the BIOS. This also locks up rapidly, so its not a Windows driver issue.
Finally a picture of my system:
Arrows show the direction fans are blowing in:
■Top 2x120mm fans, blowing in. As supplied with the case.
■Back 2x80?mm fans, blowing out. As supplied with the case.
■120mm fan, blowing back on CPU cooler (Titan Fenrir).
■Graphics card fan - on bottom of card, exhaust through rear.
■Front 1x120mm fan mounted in drive bays (actually an empty hard-drive rack). Doesn't seem to shift much air.
Fans without arrows:
■Power supply (1KW Enermax - probably overspecified for the components its running).
■2x120mm fans behind hard disks (at the bottom), blowing from far side of the case across the drives. As supplied with the case.
Case is a Silverstone TJ-07. Inside I have:
■ASUS PT6 deluxe motherboard
■6GB Corsair domminator ram (1600Mhz DDR3)
■Core i7-960 CPU 3.2GHz (not over-clocked)
■Sapphire ATI 5870 graphics card
Any trouble-shooting hints to identify the problem component and/or improve cooling (I'd rather avoid water-cooling) will be much appreciated. The most obvious change I can think of is a better fan in the drive bays, since the graphics card and lower part of the motherboard seem to be the parts with least air-flow at the moment.
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