Thirith on 13/6/2013 at 18:39
Today I wanted to play some Dirt 2 - my first gaming session in three days - but the game was all stutters - which persisted after I restarted the computer. The CPU temp was around 100 degrees Celsius, and even after surfing the web for ten minutes temps were still at 80.
I did dust the computer, inside and out, and tomorrow I'll check whether there's something off in the bios settings, but do any of you have any tips or ideas what could cause such a sudden change? Yes, the weather's become considerably hotter, but the room temp would still not have been above 24 degrees max. A few days ago there were literally no apparent problems, yet now I'm worried the CPU's gone all screwy.
voodoo47 on 13/6/2013 at 19:45
checked for dust?
june gloom on 13/6/2013 at 20:11
The dust may be clogged in hard-to-see spots. I lost a computer about 3 years ago because the heatsink had become a dust magnet.
Thirith on 13/6/2013 at 20:46
Dust is what I thought, but would the problem appear so suddenly, without any earlier signs?
june gloom on 13/6/2013 at 21:44
Yup. I was in the middle of playing Manhunt when the PC just straight up shut off. No warning signs beforehand.
voodoo47 on 13/6/2013 at 21:44
nice, fat chunk of dust getting somewhere it shouldn't?
Queue on 13/6/2013 at 22:02
I open my case up about every two-months, and blast away with an air compressor. And even though it looks clean enough, there's always a large amount of dust that comes out of hidden nooks and crannies.
Thirith, this may be a dumb question that you've already checked, but do you have a CPU-mount cooling fan--and is it spinning at normal speed?
Al_B on 13/6/2013 at 23:03
I've seen CPU heatsinks that have so much dust embedded between the fins that they look like a solid metal block. If dust isn't apparent then in addition to checking the fan as Queue says it's worth checking that the CPU heatsink itself isn't loose due to one of the retaining clips breaking or becoming dislodged.
voodoo47 on 13/6/2013 at 23:17
I have seen dust that had to be pried out of the heatsink with a screwdriver.
Briareos H on 13/6/2013 at 23:31
And if all else fails, check the thermal paste/pad. Some of those dry up after 5 or 6 years of intensive use and become worthless.
