From:Where else?
Registered: Mar 2002
posted 04-02-2002 12:31 AM
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I've finally done it, I've broken my computer. If I tell you the circumstances maybe one of you knowlegeable folks can save this old guy from hanging himself.

A couple of days ago I replaced a thermaltake volcano 6Cu heatsink with a Thermalright Ax-7 and a 39CFM Panaflo fan. I have an Athlon XP 1800+ cpu and I wasn't thrilled with the cooler. Before this everything worked fine, it was just a little noisy for me. I'm not an overclocker so I disconnected my 2 extra fans (blow hole on top & intake fan on the door).

I still wasn't happy with the noise so today I replaced the CPU fan and the 2 operating case fans with Vantec Stealth fans. I also had to do some replugging as I eliminating 2 fans that were plugged into the power supply and changed other fans. The new cpu fan has an RPM sensor (I think) so I plugged it into the mobo. All others are still connected to P.S.

So far, so good. The case is on its side, all 3 fans, plus P.S. fan are all spinning. The computer is working and all is right with the world. I tied all the wires together, made the whole mess neat, put the cover back on and stood the case upright.

Now it started to misbehave. The power kept going on and off and I got this message on the monitor: OUT OF RANGE
HF:30KHz-60KHz VF: 55Hz-75Hz Current Frequency
HF:27-9KHz VF:26Hz.

I put the machine back on its side and tightened every connection. Pushed the main power plug in hard, etc. etc. Now when I turned it on it did the same thing. If I leaned over the case it would go on, if I backed away it would shut down.

It went on again long enough for me to get into BIOS where, afraid of overheating, I enabled the shutdown feature (it was off because the Panaflo fan had no RPM sensor). The result was even worse. The computer now goes on for 5 seconds and then turns off. If I restart it the same thing happens.

Could it be the power supply? Did I make some wrong connections? Is the lower CFM (29) on the CPU causing pproblems? Did I screw up the heatsink installation? (I used Artic Silver). As I said, all the fans are spinning.

I'm at wits end here and don't even no where to begin. All I can say is H.E.L.P.!!!

I would focus on the 29 CFM fan that's currently installed on the AX-7 heat sink. Since Thermalright's site lists a stock 80 CFM fan for this unit, it's possible that the 29 CFM fan will not allow the heat sink to provide the proper amount of cooling.
Also, the AX-7 weighs in at a hefty 600 grams which may possibly cause damage to either the CPU die or the socket when the case is turned upright.

You might try going back to the original setup when everything was working. If it does not work with that configuration, then check the CPU or its socket for possible damage.
If it works ok, then try a larger(stock?) fan on the AX-7, and also reconnect all of the original case fans.

Also if it would run with you leaning over the case then there is a possiblity that with the case open, air flow is interrupted enough to prevent the lower speed fan from moving enough air to adequately cool the CPU. The fact that it is now worse with the Auto-shutdown enabled leads me to believe it is heat related and not power related.

You can fry an AMD chip in about 10-15 secs, they get that hot that quick.....Intel chips last a little longer, because they start scaling back poweer consumption (and speed) as they get hotter, but not fast enough to prevent becoming crispy themselves if something isn't done quickly.

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mjc
Links list:Computer Links (http://www.dreamwater.org/tech/mjc/index.htm)

Celts are the men that heaven made mad, For all their battles are merry and their songs are all sad.

And the answer is.......

It was the new heatsink/fan combo. There was no crack or burning on the cpu. I reset the vid card but that wasn't it. Next I removed the Vantec fan and put back the Panaflo. Still NG. Then I removed the AX-7 heatsink, greased her up and put back my trusty old Thermaltake 6Cu. She's back up and running!
Now to decide if I want to leave the old heatsink in (probably should leave well enough alone) or bring back the AX-7 with a stronger, and noisier, fan. Thanks to all for the advice. You guys are the best!

Here's what I did with a Thermaltake 6Cu: removed the 60mm fan and mounting flange and then strapped an 80mm Sunnon onto it using two nylon wire-ties (ty-wraps). Lower rpm and dB, but you hear some air turbulence (preferable to me). Worked great with an 800MHz Duron.