[ajaustin12]

My problem started to occur when I installed a new cpu. I previously had an Intel Celeron D 347 Cedar Mill 3.06GHz 512KB L2 Cache LGA 775 Single-Core Processor installed and had no problems. I bought an intel Q6600 cpu because intel's website said that it was compatible with my motherboard.

I first intalled the Q6600 about three weeks ago. It ran fine for a few days then it started to reboot on its own when running game or converter program for movies while in the middle of the task. I consulted intels tech support about the problem. They told me to remove any new hardware that I may have installed. I installed 2 gigs of memory at the same time as the ne cpu so I removed them and the problem occured under the same circumstances except sometimes it will be rebboting if I leave it on over night. Then they told me to remove the motherboard battery and then reboot and clear logs in the bios. I did that and tried to play some games to see if it would work. After about 20 minutes playing the problem reoccured. I contacted intel about the problem and they said send it to them. I sent the cpu back to who I purchased it from and got a new one in place.

I installed the new Q6600 today and played a game to test it out. The same problem occured. I thought it was an over heating problem so I downlaoded a temperature monitoring program from intel. I then procceded to run my movie converting software to monitor the temperatures. Everything was in the green so i left the room and when I came back my computer was rebooting constantly own its own.

Please Help

Edited by ajaustin12, 06 December 2008 - 12:24 AM.

[Advertisements]

Hello,

You need to specify your motherboard, or no one will know how to check compatibility for you. Just because Intel says the processor is compatible doesn't mean it is... unless perhaps, it's an Intel board? Also, it's possible you will need to update your bios to handle the processor... a sometimes dangerous thing to do.

Although you checked the temps, (using Intel Thermal Anaylysis tool, I'm guessing), it really sounds to me like a heat problem... especially since you say you ran fine with your Celeron. Using Intel's tool, both my cores are running at 37 degrees celcius and under full load never goes above 47 degrees C. What temperatures are your cores running at? What kind of thermal grease did you use when you installed the processor?

[makai]

Hello,

You need to specify your motherboard, or no one will know how to check compatibility for you. Just because Intel says the processor is compatible doesn't mean it is... unless perhaps, it's an Intel board? Also, it's possible you will need to update your bios to handle the processor... a sometimes dangerous thing to do.

Although you checked the temps, (using Intel Thermal Anaylysis tool, I'm guessing), it really sounds to me like a heat problem... especially since you say you ran fine with your Celeron. Using Intel's tool, both my cores are running at 37 degrees celcius and under full load never goes above 47 degrees C. What temperatures are your cores running at? What kind of thermal grease did you use when you installed the processor?

[ajaustin12]

I am sorry for not putting the make and model of my motherboard. I thought I did.

Intel DP965Lt motherboard

I have the latest version of the bios. They were published on 11-21-08.

The screen shots that I attached is my system at idle. Just to add a little to my original post. I checked the reports of this monitoring program after my computer started rebooting to see if it logged any errors and it was blank. I was thinking it was a heating issue also but unsure how to check.

Attached Thumbnails

• 
• 

Edited by ajaustin12, 06 December 2008 - 04:03 PM.

[makai]

Thanks for the MB info... it was helpful. Yes the processor is supported.

The temp being displayed doesn't seem too bad, but being at "idle", I would think it should be lower. I don't know what the "average" temp should be for this processor, so I don't know how to gauge it. I also don't use the application you posted, so I don't know what the numbers actually mean. Are the numbers displaying the current temps or are they "threshold" temps? Do the numbers change as you monitor them? If so, then 53 degrees "idle" is high in my book.

Where are you located, and what is the ambient outside, and/or house temperature? What kind of thermal paste did you use when you installed the processor?

For installing processors, I would recommend Arctic Silver. If you used the paste that came with the new processor (if there were any), or didn't use any at all and instead just used what was there, then there's a high possibility of overheat problems. It really doesn't take much to overheat where the processor is concerned, and cause a shutdown.

What to do...
This totally looks like the processor is overheating... mostly due to the fact that you just swapped it. I would pull it out and make sure the thermal paste is correctly applied and be sure the processor heatsink is seated flatly on the processor when you reinstall it. That's the first thing I would do.

Edited by makai, 06 December 2008 - 06:14 PM.

[ajaustin12]

I use Arctic cleaner and purifier first to take factory thermal paste of. Then I put a small amount of Arctic Silver 5 on the heat sink. I would like to say that the amount that I apply is the size of a ink pen tip. I then spread it over the entire surface of the heat sink that will come in contact with the processor. I recently bought a 120mm antec fan to replace my 80mm exhaust fan. The new 120mm exuahst fan has decreased the temps on the motherboard by at least 3 degrees in celsious on all of the readings in the picture supplied earlier.

Really I do not know much about the temperature monitoring software from intel. I was desperately looking for some software to measure software and did not know which to trust besides intel.

I am located in southern Indiana. right now the temperature outside is middle 30s and inside the house is upper 60s.

I have reseated the heat sink several times and that has not helped. I just don't want to go out and buy a bunch of expensive things that might solve the problem then not. I really appreciate all the help so far.

Thank you very much

Edited by ajaustin12, 07 December 2008 - 01:05 AM.

[makai]

You don't mention if you put any AS on the processor, only on the heatsink. Did you just leave that information out, or did you NOT put any AS on the processor? I really hope you just left that info out!

The AS that goes on the heatsink is only to fill in the small uneveness of the heatsink so that the AS on the processor can have a good surface to mate to. You DO need to put AS on the processor. The amount will depend on the size of the processor case. It should only be a very thin layer, but the entire metal cover on the processer should be covered by AS such that you can't see through the AS and see the metal.

I know that the method of applying AS has changed for their new product, but for AS5, what I wrote above still applies. The only thing you don't want to cover with AS is the little hole in the metal cover.

Edited by makai, 07 December 2008 - 04:34 AM.

[ajaustin12]

I removed what AS I had on it and reapplied it and repositioned the heatsink. Now it is saying 60 or 59 on the program that I have. Any suggestions on what software I could use to measure temperatures because Intel's is a little confusing to me. I think I might have put too much AS on it. I will try to remove some and try to reposition the heatsink again and update once I am finished.

I restarted my computer and went into the bios to see the idle temp. It first said Processor Thermal Margin 51c. I turned my 120mm fan to high and the temp started to drop. The lowest it got while in the bios was 47c. While I am writing this It is measuring 55c.

According to this website:
http://forums.whirlp...cfm/894980.html
the higher the number in the reading the better I am. For example If the thermal margin says 20c then the cpu is running at 40c. OK this totally confuses me. I thought I understood it.

The only thing I can gather from this is that the higher the margin the lower the temperature of the processor. So if this is true then why is my computer shutting off and rebooting when I play a game or convert video files to dvd format? Because When I was using my video converting software the thermal margin was in the 50s.

I retract the last part about being in the 50s. The margin while running video converting software is low 40s high 30s which is worse then the idle. I will also include the screen shot of that. I also tried out playing F.E.A.R. to see if my computer will shut down and reboot while playing it did not. I am also testing it now with the video conversion.

I think it is a threshold measure. Because the harder I run it the smaller the number gets.

Attached Thumbnails

• 
• 
• 

Edited by ajaustin12, 07 December 2008 - 09:36 AM.

[makai]

So, did you NOT apply AS to the processor before??? If this was the case, then the processor may have been damaged all this time you were troubleshooting.

In any case whether you want to answer that question or not, why don't you try TAT. TAT is the Intel Thermal Analysis tool. TAT measures the temperature of the CPU and displays it normally... not wierdly like this program you're using. HOWEVER, while TAT is meant for the Core2Duo CPU, I don't know if it will work correctly with Core2Quads. According to the forum thread you linked, some people there are using TAT to monitor their Q6600's... so it might work. Try it, you have nothing to lose. Download THIS.

I did more research and many people say TAT will not read the Q6600 temps correctly. They say it will only read 2 of the 4 cores. If you want to read the temps on all 4 cores, download CoreTemp. I downloaded Coretemp and tested it, so this program does work. My machine runs a Core2Duo, and both TAT and CoreTemp display the same temperatures for my CPU.

Back to AS. If you in fact didn't apply AS the way it's supposed to be applied, then there is a chance that the CPU is damaged. I don't know what to do about it if that's the case. You may have to contact Intel again.

One thing to try is shutting down your machine until it cools... a few hours. Also remove the side cover... this is called "running open case". Then after the machine cools down, start it up and get into bios. Go to the bios screen that displays the temps and record the temps. Leave the computer running in this bios screen for 20 minutes and see what happens to the temps. Record the changes then call Intel and discuss this with them.

One last thing you might want to do is reinstall the Celeron, check the temps and compare. See if the computer still crashes with the Celeron installed. I don't know what else to recommend. I'm one of those guys that have spares of everything, so if suspected the power supply, I would just swap it out. Or if it was the ram, I would swap it out too. Given I can't touch your machine or even see it for that matter, makes it difficult to analyze.

I appologize for not being much help here.

Edited by makai, 07 December 2008 - 02:00 PM.

[ajaustin12]

I really don't remember where I saw instructions to AS5 but the way they said to put it on is a straight line across the cpu and then put the heatsink over it to spread it out. Isn't that the same way as justspreading it over the heatsink?

I hate to say it but no I did not put AS over the cpu itself. I hope that I didn't not screw it up because of wanting to try something new to see if that would solve my problem.

I did install a 120mm exhaust fan in replacement of my 80mm. I beleive that helped because I ran my video converting software and my computer did not shut of. After converting the video file I played the game F.E.A.R to try to test it out after reapplying the AS5 I played for about 20 minutes and it did not shut off. My temp margin did decrease as expected when putting my cpu under a load.

Is there any way to test a cpu to see if it is broken or burned up to some extent that is inexpensive.

[makai]

Putting a single line of AS is the "new way" of applying it, and yes, I've seen that too. However, I do it the "old" way simply because I want as much surface area to carry away the heat. I've worked in the electronics field (Aerospace hardware) for 27 years and I've seen what heat can do to components. The more surface area, the better!

There is no way to actually test if the CPU is "damaged". To tell the truth, I threw up that flag so you would be aware of the consequences... not neccessarily because the CPU would actually get damaged. The CPU has internal circuitry and thermal sensors to shut down if it gets too hot. The fact that your computer was shutting down means the circuitry was doing its job. More likely than not, the CPU is fine, providing you didn't allow it to run heated up like it was for too long.

There are stress tests you can run to check how well your processor and ram can handle high loads, however, I never really recommend those programs. Running a computer at high load for too long can/may cause other problems to occur that wouldn't otherwise occur. If you insist on stress tests, just search google for some... there are many free ones available. In fact, if you want to run an application that will run your processor at 100%, all you have to do is install Spybot and have it scan your computer. You can monitor your processer usage as Spybot runs in Task Manager. You should also monitor the CPU temps at the same time.

I also do video editing (heavily!), and encoding is actually a very good test for your system. Games too are a good test, although games don't exercise your processor as much as it does your video GPU and ram... unless of course, the game is one of the newer processor hungry ones.

I really think you're fine now that AS is applied well. If the temps stay low as you've indicated they are, then I wouldn't worry about it unless you see other problems. Intel has a very good warranty on their processors, so if something were to go wrong, they will replace it. Please check what your warranty period is and contact Intel if the processor appears/starts to give you problems.

Keep monitoring your temps, and be aware that AS will take a little while to "settle in". The temps will actually go a little lower in a few weeks.

Edited by makai, 08 December 2008 - 08:21 AM.

[wareup]

your power supply unit has a big role on that issue. These days motherboards are smart enough to turn off our computer if detects any overloading or electrical surges in the unit.

[ajaustin12]

I really think the problem was overheating. The reason I have come to this conclusion is because I replace my 80mm exhaust fan with a 120mm fan and the temps have lowered a little in my case. I also played Assassin's Creed for an hour and it did not shut off. I am going to purchase another 120mm fan for intake and a different heatsink since the one I have is factory and all I have heard about factory is they are not as good as after market. I will update if I have any more problems.

Edited by ajaustin12, 09 December 2008 - 10:32 AM.