Pc lag due to overheating

[Thumbelina]

Hi guys, I'm having problems with my pc overheating pretty much any time, with or without major programmes running. I have got several fans inside, and quite sure they are all blowing in and out for maximum airflow. I have resorted to using a normal household fan, to cool the pc down. Obviously this is inconvenient, and was hoping you guys could maybe help me with possible solutions or things to check. With this external fan the lag does stop. So obviously it is heat related. I just don't know whether it is the CPU causing the major lag, or graphics card. They both run quite high without the external fan on. I'm using an AMD dual core 6000+ Cpu, with an xfx 8800Gtx. I'm am also using windows vista ultimate. I have loaded one of those gadgets to tell me cpu and ram usage, and have noticed that when it lags like it does, the usage for both, goes extremely high, to the high 90%

 

[C00lIT]

Not a very green machine but that's ok, mine hurts nature a tiny bit more.

I would recommend downloading CPUID HWMonitor
http://www.cpuid.com/hwmonitor.php

The following can give you the temperatures of the different components.

Your CPU can run at idle 45 and 65 with load, your videocard can idle at 50+ and go up to 80 with stress... nvidia cards tend to go real hot... I have seen some 8800's go up to 90+

If the CPU is running in the 60 degrees at idle, you need to get a better air cooler such as Artic Freezer 7.

For overheating issues, considering those components aren't very new and have a mad amount of fans hitting them...

Have they ever been cleaned ?
I would recommend removing the fan off the heatsink and clean out all the dust in between the fins using a fairly good vacuum or take the pc outside and shot compressed air to clear the heatsink.

As for videocard, those cards are a real b**** to clean. Lazy way is again compressed air to blow out most of the crap.
The kosher way is to carfully open it but that required good hands and patience.

Other then that I can't understand why the ram usage would go up to the 90% for overheating, that would indicate an other issue like a spyware.


If you have cats in the house, try to clean the computer surroundings as clean as possible... if you can keep the cats from going in the computer room, Cat hair is a fan killer.

 

[Thumbelina]

Well i did some deep cleaning yesterday and noticed a build up of junk behind the fans which was quite hard to clean with the fans in place. I tested the performance again and it seemed fine, but then again, the weather was quite cool and the bigger fan just wasn't needede.

 

[enzo matrix]

If it doesn't work, try reseating the heatsink for the CPU.

 

[Byros]

As Enzo said try cleaning & reseating the heatsink for the CPU, as time goes by the fan and heatsink can get a lot of dust and dirt on them, I learned this today I have a stock Q6600 G0 that was idling at 47ºC (hottest core) and after cleaning everything and re-applying some cheap thermal paste now it idles at 39ºC (hottest core).

Make sure your heatsink is firmly secured to your CPU.