Green plastic shielding over my CPU unit

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rodzilla

rodzilla

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I have a Dell Optiplex GX260 machine. I often noticed while cleaning computer that between CPU and the radiator there may be some thermal paste but I can't tell because the CPU is covered with some kind of green plastic material which is thin and looks like some sort of shielding designed to keep the thermal paste in place.

Is it normal to use these plastic shieldings between CPU and the radiator, and is it good for my CPU or should I rather remove the green sticker, clean the old thermal paste, and put a drop or two of the best thermal paste I can get? I guess you already know it is almost impossible to learn CPU temperature when using a Dell machine, maybe the newest desktop PCs can show CPU temp but mine never did.
 
Solution
JimF_35
"Intel Pentium 4"

Ah some of the P4s did not have thermostats built into the CPU. They used the Motherboards sensors. This is why it is not working.

" I could upgrade my CPU choosing a new 2600-2800 MHz P4, Northwood or something close, also with 400 MHz FSB, but I don't think this way I'll be able to read the temperatures for the new CPU. But in 10 years we become best pals, me and my ancient Dell PC, and I can tell when the CPU is mad at me only by listening so I close a program or two to release the steam :) ."

I would not upgrade the CPU being that it is going on 10 years old and you are living on barrowed time with that system. It might be time for a new system. How much of that old system is still original? Motherboard...
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JimF_35

JimF_35

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Yes replace the thermal paste. I have fixed so many of my friends Dells by simply replacing the thermal paste and cleaning the heat sink.

"I guess you already know it is almost impossible to learn CPU temperature when using a Dell machine, maybe the newest desktop PCs can show CPU temp but mine never did"

Um why? I never had a problem running Real Temp or Core Temp on them.

http://www.techpowerup.com/downloads/SysInfo/Real_Temp/


 
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rodzilla

rodzilla

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Wow, very quick reply. Thank you for your advice, Jim, I'll give it a try, and will be using some new thermal paste. As for the cpu temperature, neither Real Temp nor Core Temp can show cpu temperatures. They can read all data concerning my cpu except for the temperature. My cpu specs are Intel Pentium 4, alias Northwood, 2000 MHz, socket 478, 512 KB L2 Cache, 400 MHz FSB.

Both programs mentioned before, and many others that I tried in the past under Windows and/or Linux get the cpu specs and voltages, but can't find any sensors to be able to actually read some temperatures. This is how the machine was delivered to me from the start, in 2004, with no sensors for the CPU or even for the motherboard, and there is no official support for some "sensors" upgrade on Dell website either. I could upgrade my CPU choosing a new 2600-2800 MHz P4, Northwood or something close, also with 400 MHz FSB, but I don't think this way I'll be able to read the temperatures for the new CPU. But in 10 years we became best pals, me and my ancient Dell PC, and I can tell when the CPU is mad at me only by listening so I close a program or two to release the steam :) .

The only piece of hardware that allows me to read the temperatures is the HDD. When it gets close to 40 degrees Celsius, in a hot summer day, I know it is time to shutdown my computer for at least half an hour.

 
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JimF_35

JimF_35

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"Intel Pentium 4"

Ah some of the P4s did not have thermostats built into the CPU. They used the Motherboards sensors. This is why it is not working.

" I could upgrade my CPU choosing a new 2600-2800 MHz P4, Northwood or something close, also with 400 MHz FSB, but I don't think this way I'll be able to read the temperatures for the new CPU. But in 10 years we become best pals, me and my ancient Dell PC, and I can tell when the CPU is mad at me only by listening so I close a program or two to release the steam :) ."

I would not upgrade the CPU being that it is going on 10 years old and you are living on barrowed time with that system. It might be time for a new system. How much of that old system is still original? Motherboard, Memeory, Video Card, PSU, and Hard Drive.
 
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Solution
rodzilla

rodzilla

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Mar 23, 2014
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It is a 10 years old machine, it is true, but I haven't done many changes. Of course, I had to add a new RAM module, so I have a minimum of 1024 ram memory, had to make use of some agp video card,nothing fancy, nvidia fx 5200 with active cooling, and of course a new and larger HDD, and some compatible DVD-RAM/CD-RW drive. Other than these, all the original hardware (psu, motherboard) is .. original. The integrated network card is capable of speeds up to 1000Mbps, and it really is an energy efficient machine, one of the reasons I sticked with the old PSU which is capable of a max. output of 180w.

I tested Vista and Win7 with this hybrid configuration, and, after getting rid of Aero and all the other unnecessary services, both systems were pretty fast.But since I never liked NTFS partitions I decided Win7 is not worth the efforts. Games like Half-Life 2, COD2, Far Cry, Conflict Global Storm run pretty fast once configured for low-end machines. I also tested Ubuntu 12.04.4 LTS on my machine, and after getting rid of Unity and replacing it with the xfce4 session it was more than ok.

I am planning to buy a new computer but this is still a puzzle for me because of the many issues new computers have with multi-boot configurations, and the driver issues and so on. I bet that very few of these new computers will still be functional 10 years from now.

 
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JimF_35

JimF_35

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"I am planning to buy a new computer but this is still a puzzle for me because of the many issues new computers have with multi-boot configurations, and the driver issues and so on. I bet that very few of these new computers will still be functional 10 years from now."

Yep. Welcome to the world of being a computer owner. :(

Look at it this way, do you keep a car for more than 10 years? Most people do not because the costs of keeping that car running start to justify a new car.
 
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