Quake3World

My dad's friend brought in this computer, he said that it freezes... well no shit, I've checked the temp, it says that it runs at 63C idle and 70C+ stress. The motherboard seems to be fine, no leaking capacitors. I think the temperature reading is more or less correct. What can be done then? Reseat the heatsink? There isn't that much dust inside.

Exactly as you said, with a generous amount of thermal compound and a general tidyup inside the case, ensuring air can circulate and the case itself is unobstructed around the vents.

By Generous amount, you mean a small amount, you only need a skin coat on the hsf and 1/2 a Rice's grain on the CPU and spread it around.

I'm still getting better results with a splaff of the stuff in the centre and let it do its own spreading.

Nah, too much thermal is just as bad as none.

Also, organize the cables a bit helps improve airflow. Compressed air will do wonders.

Foo wrote:I'm still getting better results with a splaff of the stuff in the centre and let it do its own spreading.

i do that also time to time to tell you the truth...

its only comps that i am going to clock to no end that i will take the time and spread it and take about 15 mins to mount the HSF...

the last one that i did like that was the Cell 2.66, and i get her up to 4.0ghz.

anyway, toxic, follow everything posted here, but one more thing that i could add..

Clean the HSF and the Core of the CPU with a lint-free cloth and some Nail polish remover. then apply the thermal paste and mount the hsf.

Yea, already reseated the hsf. The old compound was nasty, it was dry and flaky. Removed it with a toothpick and isopropyl alcohol, applied some new one and spread a thin layer nicely over the core. Result: 51C at full stress now