Dimension 8400 w/intel 670 3.8gig processor "Thermal Event"

Yesterday I left my computer on, I normally don't shut it down when
leaving the house for an hour or two. When I got back it was off and
when I booted it up, got the "Thermal Event" Message. I had noticed the
fan running louder the last few days and the web browser locking up.
I usually have TDAmeritrade streaming on it every day, and several other
browser windows running. I had figured it might have a virus, so I
started SUPERAntiSpyware quick scan, before it could finish the computer
shut down.
It would not reboot till it had cooled down some. So I opened the
clam-case to get more air into it, again it would run anywhere from a
few minutes to an hour and keep shutting off, no screen warning, just
goes off. I decided to run Malwarebytes Anti-Malware software, because
it doesn't take as long as SuperAntiSpyware, It found 2 Trojans
But the computer still continues to run for awhile and shut down.

I noticed with the case open that it would shut down if i touched the
green heat sink cover, it would also shut down if I connected a usb
cable to it or cat-5 ethernet cable.

I vacuumed the dust, and blew the rest of it out with a can of air,
cleaned and replace the arctic Silver on the processor and heat sink.
Noticed no bad capacitors on the Mother board. Still did not help.

Do I have a bad mother board? Power supply? any suggestion would be
appreciated.

brad

In ,
Brad wrote:
Yesterday I left my computer on, I normally don't shut it down when
leaving the house for an hour or two. When I got back it was off and
when I booted it up, got the "Thermal Event" Message. I had noticed
the fan running louder the last few days and the web browser locking
up. I usually have TDAmeritrade streaming on it every day, and several
other browser windows running. I had figured it might have a virus,
so I started SUPERAntiSpyware quick scan, before it could finish the
computer shut down.
It would not reboot till it had cooled down some. So I opened the
clam-case to get more air into it, again it would run anywhere from a
few minutes to an hour and keep shutting off, no screen warning, just
goes off. I decided to run Malwarebytes Anti-Malware software, because
it doesn't take as long as SuperAntiSpyware, It found 2 Trojans
But the computer still continues to run for awhile and shut down.

I noticed with the case open that it would shut down if i touched the
green heat sink cover, it would also shut down if I connected a usb
cable to it or cat-5 ethernet cable.

I vacuumed the dust, and blew the rest of it out with a can of air,
cleaned and replace the arctic Silver on the processor and heat sink.
Noticed no bad capacitors on the Mother board. Still did not help.

Do I have a bad mother board? Power supply? any suggestion would be
appreciated.

Brad! First of all, why are you not reporting the CPU temperature? There
are lots of them out there if you don't have one. That is the very first
thing I would check. And I don't know if the Intel 670 has SpeedStep (I
think it does). You should be using a power scheme that it allows it to
underclock. Thus before it gets too hot, it just shifts the CPU to a
lower speed. This itself is usually enough to keep the computer running
all of the time without shutting down.

Although this isn't a permanent fix or something, as you still have a
problem. Arctic Silver is a fine thermal paste, but how did you clean
the old off and apply the new paste? There are wrong ways and correct
ways to do this.

And just because everything looks clean (free of dust and dirt) and the
thermal paste is ok, the coolant could have escaped out of the coolant
tube. This happens sometimes and can cause this same problem. But
reporting the temp and setting SpeedStep to work would be something I
would do first. Then I would go from there.

--
Bill
Gateway M465e ('06 era) - OE-QuoteFix v1.19.2
Centrino Core Duo 1.83G - 2GB - Windows XP SP3

BillW50 wrote:

In ,
Brad wrote:

Yesterday I left my computer on, I normally don't shut it down when
leaving the house for an hour or two. When I got back it was off and
when I booted it up, got the "Thermal Event" Message. I had noticed
the fan running louder the last few days and the web browser locking
up. I usually have TDAmeritrade streaming on it every day, and several
other browser windows running. I had figured it might have a virus,
so I started SUPERAntiSpyware quick scan, before it could finish the
computer shut down.
It would not reboot till it had cooled down some. So I opened the
clam-case to get more air into it, again it would run anywhere from a
few minutes to an hour and keep shutting off, no screen warning, just
goes off. I decided to run Malwarebytes Anti-Malware software, because
it doesn't take as long as SuperAntiSpyware, It found 2 Trojans
But the computer still continues to run for awhile and shut down.

I noticed with the case open that it would shut down if i touched the
green heat sink cover, it would also shut down if I connected a usb
cable to it or cat-5 ethernet cable.

I vacuumed the dust, and blew the rest of it out with a can of air,
cleaned and replace the arctic Silver on the processor and heat sink.
Noticed no bad capacitors on the Mother board. Still did not help.

Do I have a bad mother board? Power supply? any suggestion would be
appreciated.


Brad! First of all, why are you not reporting the CPU temperature? There
are lots of them out there if you don't have one. That is the very first
thing I would check. And I don't know if the Intel 670 has SpeedStep (I
think it does). You should be using a power scheme that it allows it to
underclock. Thus before it gets too hot, it just shifts the CPU to a
lower speed. This itself is usually enough to keep the computer running
all of the time without shutting down.

Although this isn't a permanent fix or something, as you still have a
problem. Arctic Silver is a fine thermal paste, but how did you clean
the old off and apply the new paste? There are wrong ways and correct
ways to do this.

And just because everything looks clean (free of dust and dirt) and the
thermal paste is ok, the coolant could have escaped out of the coolant
tube. This happens sometimes and can cause this same problem. But
reporting the temp and setting SpeedStep to work would be something I
would do first. Then I would go from there.



Do you know of a good CPU program? that will handle a P4 running on XP
Pro? CoreTemp wont work, and have been trying to google to find a good one.

Im not sure about SpeedStep or settings, where do you find them?

I cleaned the old Arctic Silver off the cpu with a soft cloth and
alcohol, I cleaned the bottom of the Heat Sink with a multi purpose
cleaner that cleans brass.

In ,
Brad wrote:
Do you know of a good CPU program? that will handle a P4 running on XP
Pro? CoreTemp wont work, and have been trying to google to find a
good one.

Oh that's a P4? Oh I never looked for one with a P4 before. Maybe
somebody knows of one if one even exists.

Im not sure about SpeedStep or settings, where do you find them?

Same as the above and I don't think any P4 has SpeedStep. Somebody else
might know for sure though.

I cleaned the old Arctic Silver off the cpu with a soft cloth and
alcohol, I cleaned the bottom of the Heat Sink with a multi purpose
cleaner that cleans brass.

Well what kind of alcohol? Some kinds don't work too well as they can
contain stuff that leaves a residue. And a metal cleaner (like for
brass) also leaves lots of residue as well. Not good at all.

And never touch any of these parts with your fingers after it is clean.
As the oil from your skin will ruin the thermal connection. There was a
trick in a clean room we used to use that allowed you to work with your
fingers for up to 10 minutes. That was to wash your hands in acetone.
Although today this is known as a big no-no and I don't recommend it. As
acetone gets absorbed into the skin and gets into your bloodstream and
is not good.

Acetone is one of the best cleaners for clean rooms and for this
purpose. Although don't get it on your skin (it washes all oil and
moisture out of your skin for one), some plastics and some rubber
things. So use carefully if you go this route.

Methanol I have no idea. It probably would be a bad idea. Ethanol works
good (not as good as acetone), although not all ethanol are pure enough.
Some contains things you don't want. 200 proof is pure ethanol, but that
is hard to get. In the lab we can get it, but outside it is very hard to
find. Unless you know where to get white lightning (aka moon shine) or
something which is very close to 200 proof.

Isopropyl alcohol? You know after all of these years I don't know where
that comes from? Although I always thought of it as an oil based
ethanol, although I am probably wrong. Anyway while it works great on
your skin, it isn't a very good cleaner for this task. Yes I have used
it when I had nothing else and so has others. But I don't recommend it.

So what should you use? Well in a clean room we used acetone followed by
Freon (which you can't buy anymore) or with 200 proof ethanol (not as
good as Freon). Aside from this, Arctic Silver also sells a cleaner and
I have no idea what is in it. But they should know what they are doing
and it is probably very good.

--
Bill
Gateway M465e ('06 era) - OE-QuoteFix v1.19.2
Centrino Core Duo 1.83G - 2GB - Windows XP SP3

On Apr 16, 6:07*pm, Brad wrote:
BillW50 wrote:
,
Brad wrote:

Yesterday I left my computer on, I normally don't shut it down when
leaving the house for an hour or two. When I got back it was off and
when I booted it up, got the "Thermal Event" Message. I had noticed
the fan running louder the last few days and the web browser locking
up. I usually have TDAmeritrade streaming on it every day, and several
other browser windows running. I had figured it might have a virus,
so I started SUPERAntiSpyware quick scan, before it could finish the
computer shut down.
It would not reboot till it had cooled down some. So I opened the
clam-case to get more air into it, again it would run anywhere from a
few minutes to an hour and keep shutting off, no screen warning, just
goes off. I decided to run Malwarebytes Anti-Malware software, because
it doesn't take as long as SuperAntiSpyware, It found 2 Trojans
But the computer still continues to run for awhile and shut down.

I noticed with the case open that it would shut down if i touched the
green heat sink cover, it would also shut down if I connected a usb
cable to it or cat-5 ethernet cable.

I vacuumed the dust, and blew the rest of it out with a can of air,
cleaned and replace the arctic Silver on the processor and heat sink.
Noticed no bad capacitors on the Mother board. Still did not help.

Do I have a bad mother board? Power supply? any suggestion would be
appreciated.

Brad! First of all, why are you not reporting the CPU temperature? There
are lots of them out there if you don't have one. That is the very first
thing I would check. And I don't know if the Intel 670 has SpeedStep (I
think it does). You should be using a power scheme that it allows it to
underclock. Thus before it gets too hot, it just shifts the CPU to a
lower speed. This itself is usually enough to keep the computer running
all of the time without shutting down.

Although this isn't a permanent fix or something, as you still have a
problem. Arctic Silver is a fine thermal paste, but how did you clean
the old off and apply the new paste? There are wrong ways and correct
ways to do this.

And just because everything looks clean (free of dust and dirt) and the
thermal paste is ok, the coolant could have escaped out of the coolant
tube. This happens sometimes and can cause this same problem. But
reporting the temp and setting SpeedStep to work would be something I
would do first. Then I would go from there.

Do you know of a good CPU program? that will handle a P4 running on XP
Pro? CoreTemp wont work, and have been trying to google to find a good one.

Im not sure about SpeedStep or settings, where do you find them?

I cleaned the old Arctic Silver off the cpu with a soft cloth and
alcohol, I cleaned the bottom of the Heat Sink with a multi purpose
cleaner that cleans brass.

Acetone and MEK can be bought at most larger hardware stores in the
paint department. Drug stores or Walmart have 90% isoprophyl.

On Apr 16, 8:57*pm, Bob Villa wrote:
On Apr 16, 6:07*pm, Brad wrote:









BillW50 wrote:
,
Brad wrote:

Yesterday I left my computer on, I normally don't shut it down when
leaving the house for an hour or two. When I got back it was off and
when I booted it up, got the "Thermal Event" Message. I had noticed
the fan running louder the last few days and the web browser locking
up. I usually have TDAmeritrade streaming on it every day, and several
other browser windows running. I had figured it might have a virus,
so I started SUPERAntiSpyware quick scan, before it could finish the
computer shut down.
It would not reboot till it had cooled down some. So I opened the
clam-case to get more air into it, again it would run anywhere from a
few minutes to an hour and keep shutting off, no screen warning, just
goes off. I decided to run Malwarebytes Anti-Malware software, because
it doesn't take as long as SuperAntiSpyware, It found 2 Trojans
But the computer still continues to run for awhile and shut down.

I noticed with the case open that it would shut down if i touched the
green heat sink cover, it would also shut down if I connected a usb
cable to it or cat-5 ethernet cable.

I vacuumed the dust, and blew the rest of it out with a can of air,
cleaned and replace the arctic Silver on the processor and heat sink.
Noticed no bad capacitors on the Mother board. Still did not help.

Do I have a bad mother board? Power supply? any suggestion would be
appreciated.

Brad! First of all, why are you not reporting the CPU temperature? There
are lots of them out there if you don't have one. That is the very first
thing I would check. And I don't know if the Intel 670 has SpeedStep (I
think it does). You should be using a power scheme that it allows it to
underclock. Thus before it gets too hot, it just shifts the CPU to a
lower speed. This itself is usually enough to keep the computer running
all of the time without shutting down.

Although this isn't a permanent fix or something, as you still have a
problem. Arctic Silver is a fine thermal paste, but how did you clean
the old off and apply the new paste? There are wrong ways and correct
ways to do this.

And just because everything looks clean (free of dust and dirt) and the
thermal paste is ok, the coolant could have escaped out of the coolant
tube. This happens sometimes and can cause this same problem. But
reporting the temp and setting SpeedStep to work would be something I
would do first. Then I would go from there.

Do you know of a good CPU program? that will handle a P4 running on XP
Pro? CoreTemp wont work, and have been trying to google to find a good one.

Im not sure about SpeedStep or settings, where do you find them?

I cleaned the old Arctic Silver off the cpu with a soft cloth and
alcohol, I cleaned the bottom of the Heat Sink with a multi purpose
cleaner that cleans brass.

Acetone and MEK can be bought at most larger hardware stores in the
paint department. Drug stores or Walmart have 90% isoprophyl.

Brad, "the scientist" is being his anal self again. He can't help
himself. This is not rocket science. I'm not saying to be
careless...just you don't have to be nuts about the procedure.

In
,
Bob Villa wrote:
Brad, "the scientist" is being his anal self again. He can't help
himself. This is not rocket science. I'm not saying to be
careless...just you don't have to be nuts about the procedure.

You think? Anything oil based (even touching with your fingers) is a
total disaster. Brad used a brass metal cleaner which is mostly oil
based. Keep talking Bob, and show us how little you really know. Which
isn't really hard actually.

--
Bill
Gateway M465e ('06 era) - OE-QuoteFix v1.19.2
Centrino Core Duo 1.83G - 2GB - Windows XP SP3

In
,
Bob Villa wrote:
Acetone and MEK can be bought at most larger hardware stores in the
paint department.

Yes acetone can be found there and MEK I don't know if it is good for
this task. Although that is what I said before. Although MEK can eat
plastics and rubber too. And we never used it in a clean room for
anything. The only thing I know it is good for is oil based paints and
that is all.

Drug stores or Walmart have 90% isopropyl.

Isopropyl has been used, but not with great results (I believe it has
oil in it which is no good for this task). But I said that too before
and 200 proof (aka 100%) ethanol is far better.

--
Bill
Gateway M465e ('06 era) - OE-QuoteFix v1.19.2
Centrino Core Duo 1.83G - 2GB - Windows XP SP3

BillW50 wrote:

In
,
Bob Villa wrote:

Brad, "the scientist" is being his anal self again. He can't help
himself. This is not rocket science. I'm not saying to be
careless...just you don't have to be nuts about the procedure.


You think? Anything oil based (even touching with your fingers) is a
total disaster. Brad used a brass metal cleaner which is mostly oil
based. Keep talking Bob, and show us how little you really know. Which
isn't really hard actually.

IT was not oil based!.......
Brad

In ,
Brad wrote:
BillW50 wrote:

In
,
Bob Villa wrote:

Brad, "the scientist" is being his anal self again. He can't help
himself. This is not rocket science. I'm not saying to be
careless...just you don't have to be nuts about the procedure.

You think? Anything oil based (even touching with your fingers) is a
total disaster. Brad used a brass metal cleaner which is mostly oil
based. Keep talking Bob, and show us how little you really know.
Which isn't really hard actually.

IT was not oil based!.......

Really? What is the name of this non-oil based brass cleaner?

--
Bill
Gateway M465e ('06 era) - OE-QuoteFix v1.19.2
Centrino Core Duo 1.83G - 2GB - Windows XP SP3