First time assembling my own computer....

[Blueovalguy]

I thought I'd give it a whirl but I'm having temp problems. I've been reading up on cpu temp issues and I'm still stumped....and I'm not a huge computer techie but I do know a bit.

Spec:

Asus P5N-E SLI Mobo
Intel Core 2 Duo 2.13MHz
eVGA 8800 GTS video
OCZ Gold PC-6400 2 GB Ram
OCZ Gamestream 600W PS
1 80mm case fan

The problem is my CPU temps are hitting 70C and shutting the PC down. I've checked and rechecked the seating and it seems good. All four corners of the CPU fan/heatsink 'click' when installed....as per instructions. Will buying new thermal compound really make that big of a difference to bring the temps down. We're talking 70C while farting around in the BIOS for say 10min (after a couple restarts though...so it may run say 15 min and then shutdown and then it'll obviously only go for 5 min after that before shutting down.) Is this a common problem? I mean if Intel puts the compound on shouldn't that be good?

Just hoping for a few suggestions. I'm tempted to take it in the the computer shop before something gets worse but I still feel like I can fix the problem. All the ram and video are clicked in good and all the fans are working. I could order up some of that ARTIC SILVER compound but I'm not sure on what is needed to clean off the old compound off the heatsink/chip.

I also think I 'may' have touched the socket contacts of the motherboard. I say 'may' because well, I may have. LOL...not that that's funny if I did. I'm maybe 20% sure I grazed it not actually pushed on it. It'd be very stupid if I did....not that I haven't done stupid things before....I still think it's more of a thermal compound issue.

....on a side note (and not that this really belongs in this forum) .... I'm also having problems with my Samsung DVD IDE drive. I have a MAXTOR 60GB IDE drive and a Seagate 320GB SATA drive....my MAXTOR already has XP on it with files I want to recover but I need to be able to reinstall windows to get it to recognize the new equipment....and then use the SEAGATE SATA as storage.

My problem is that the DVD drive (Actually a DVD writer) won't get recognized in the BIOS.....so I can't run the installation CD on startup. I've tried two different IDE connectors with no luck (and the connectors worked on my old computer)....

Everything else with the installation has gone good but these two things are hangin me up.

Thanks for the help guys....hopefully I can get this going.

[mjc]

I'd give the thermal compound a shot...plus, get out a good straight edge, flip the heatsink upside down (so the CPU contact surface is facing up), rest the straightedge across the heatsink, diagonally--corner to corner, and look at it...see any gaps? Switch corners, repeat...

If you can see a gap, think about replacing or lapping the heatsink...(bigger than about a piece of thin paper, replace).

To clean off th existing compound/pad wipe it off with paper towel or scrape with something that won't scratch, like a credit card...then was the residue off with alcohol (the higher percentage isopropyl the better...but if you can only get 70% (standard rubbing alcohol) that will be fine). Do this before checking for gaps...

[Whyzman]

Welcome tohttp://www.pcguide.com/ubb/pcgubb.gif Forums!

My money is on the heatsink CPU interface. Something there must still be a problem. Are you using thermal paste now, or using the supplied thermal pad? If the pad, did you inspect for a protective strip...usually clear plastic?

mjc you are fast! :D

[Blueovalguy]

The thermal pad supplied on the cpu out of the box definitely made contact with the installed chip.

When I pulled the heatsink/cpu fan back off I could see the stuff transfered from the heatsink to the chip....but it's possible the cpu fan didn't seat evenly ...

I remember having a hard time getting the cpu fan in and I'm pretty sure I didn't click the pins in diagonally (which is why I probably had a hard time).

I didn't check for any plastic strips on the heatsink....there mustn't be one if the thermall stuff transferred onto the cpu chip....

Something I'll have to check....sucks to get hung up on the last steps of installing....those two problems were making my teeth grind.

[George Hallam]

my bets on the thermal paste i had the exact same problem, all i did was take off the heatsink and add a bit more thermal paste then made sure that the heatsink was sercure

[Blueovalguy]

Thermal paste seems like such a stupid problem to have...I suppose it could be worse...LOL

Any suggestions with the DVD WRITER and why won't the BIOS recognize it? I need it to work to run the Windows installation disk...

I'll see if I can find someone who has some thermal paste and I'll try it out....if that doesn't work then I'm gonna have to bring it in and have someone look at it before I fry the CPU

[Whyzman]

I didn't check for any plastic strips on the heatsink....there mustn't be one if the thermall stuff transferred onto the cpu chip....Could've melted... Many newer heatsinks are packaged in such a way that the thermal pad is protected by a void beneath it without use of a protective film... Define many...well, that would be those who don't use a protective film... :)

[mjc]

Get the temperature problem ironed out first...

But, have you checked the jumper setting on the DVD?

If your motherboard has one IDE channel, the DVD should be jumpered as slave and the IDE hard drive set as master. If it has two IDE channels, then make the hard drive master on one and the DVD master on the other...

Temperature problem FIRST...otherwise nothing else is going to matter.

[Whyzman]

What type of fan are you using on the Processor? Is it a stock heatsink fan that came with the processor? Does it have a thermal sensor lead?

[Blueovalguy]

Fan on the processor = stock/retail fan and heatsink...with the 3 pin wire connector to the motherboard.

Just so I know....should the thermal past, once the heatsink/fan is attached spread evenly over the chip (I mean duh, it should I would think)...because when I pulled the heatsink/fan off I would say what distributed from the heatsink to the chip was a little uneven. I guess maybe the fan/heatsink didn't make good contact although it 'clicked' on all four corners.

I'll keep the DVD thing in mind ... I think I may just bring it in and have someone look it over (I can't make up my mind....I just wanna play!). Overall the process wasn't too hard ... I'm sure I could fix it....I like tinkering with electronics and repairs but assembling a computer is quite new to me....

[Blueovalguy]

Get the temperature problem ironed out first...

But, have you checked the jumper setting on the DVD?

If your motherboard has one IDE channel, the DVD should be jumpered as slave and the IDE hard drive set as master. If it has two IDE channels, then make the hard drive master on one and the DVD master on the other...

Temperature problem FIRST...otherwise nothing else is going to matter.

I have two IDE channels....one for HDD the other for 'floppy'...

I'm positive the IDE HDD was set to master and the DVD was also set to master....the DVD lights up on startup (means nothing) but won't read from the disk.

I think when I was in the BIOS and also had the SATA drive hooked up I had originally 'Primary Master IDE....MAXTOR'.....'Primary SATA ..... SEAGATE320GB'

....but no DVD....

[mjc]

If the compound was uneven, definitely check for the bottom of the heatsink being out of 'flat'...

[Blueovalguy]

Well I'll give it a whirl....I can tell you that the thermal stuff was in sort of a 'U' shape when I pulled the heatsink/fan off.

Problem is is that I wiped some of it off the chip.....like a retard I can be....hey it was late and was going over with my buddy what the problem could be....

I wiped it off not knowing what it was!....stupid rookie....

[rond36]

Have you solved your overheating problem?

I have two IDE channels....one for HDD the other for 'floppy'...
You have two IDE channels for four HDDs or CD drives a black one and a blue one, both located just below the 24 pin ATX power connector. You also have a floppy connector located below the bottom PCI slot.

If you have both drives on the same IDE channel (same cable) put the HDD on the end of the cable and set the jumper as master with slave and put the DVD-ROM on the center connector and set the jumper to slave.

If you have the drives on separate IDE channels put the HDD on the black channel and the DVD on the blue channel put both drives on the end connector of its own IDE cable and jumper them both master without slave.

I'm glad I don't have to mess with this stuff on my system anymore!

[Blueovalguy]

ok we got the overheating problems fixed (idle temps about 44C....haven't been able to get under load because I'm still having DVD problems...)

So here's the scoop....have a primary IDE controller on the board....and a secondary IDE....

Master HDD (jumper set to master) is connected to the primary and shows up as such in the BIOS...
Connect the DVD (jumper set to master) to the secondary IDE and voila....nothing....

Hook the DVD (jumper set to master) to the primary IRD and voila....DVD detected in the BIOS on the primary IDE channel...

So why the heck can't I get the DVD to run separately on the secondary IDE?...I suppose I could master/slave the primary IDE channel but what's the point if I've got two channels to work with?

Is there a setting or something I should be changing in the BIOS?...

[Blueovalguy]

well sorted out the dvd thing....i tweaked a pin in the IDE and away it went...

working on updating my drivers...

but I noticed the SATA drive i have (which is my slave HDD) is not showing up with windows....

any suggestions?

[Whyzman]

Hmmm...the first question in troubleshooting..."does it have power?"

[mjc]

Is it formatted?

Is it showing under Drive Management (Administrative Tools > Computer Management)?

[Blueovalguy]

I got the HDD working...

Looked into what you suggested and it's working now....but I've run into other problems with it...which is in a separate post in the 'storage' forum...

Thanks guys for the help...aside from the little hiccups it's running good.

CPU temp hovers around low 40s and mobo around 42...

Just need to sort out the HDD problem and I can reformat and start up windows from scratch!

[Whyzman]

I got the HDD working...

Looked into what you suggested and it's working now....And.....to help us with suggestions for the next person asking help for a similar problem....How is it that your HDD is smiling now??? :)

[Blueovalguy]

had to go into here...

Drive Management (Administrative Tools > Computer Management)

Formatted the new SATA drive and then it showed up ad drive E within XP

[Blueovalguy]

had to go into here...

Drive Management (Administrative Tools > Computer Management)

Formatted the new SATA drive and then it showed up ad drive E within XP

Problem I got next was after I boo boo I made it erased the files I put on it and wanted to be reformatted....was helped out with the 48-bit LBA issue...

Just don't know if I should be formatting the SATA drive under SP2 first and then transferring files and then reformatting the master IDE drive for Windows installation.

I have tonnes of files I need saved to the SATA and want to be safe I won't lose them again (good thing I copied and pasted and didn't cut the files over)...