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[isamu]

Hi Guys. I need your help please.

Ever since I started playing Fallout 3, my PC, the CPUs in particular, has been overheating causing it to shutdown despite it having liquid cooling! Perhaps you can offer some advice on how to cool this puppy down, but before I go on here are the relavent parts of my specs:

# INTEL, Core™ 2 Duo E8500 Dual-Core, 3.16GHz, 1333MHz FSB, 6MB L2 Cache, 45nm, 65W, EM64T EIST VT XD, Retail

# SERVICE, Overclocking, Dual-Core CPU, 20-30% Performance Increase to 4.0Ghz

# COOLERMASTER, Aquagate S1, CPU Liquid Cooler, Socket 775/754/939/940/AM2, Copper

# CUSTOM, Coolant, Crystal Clear

# ASUS, P5Q Pro, LGA775, Intel® P45, 1600MHz
FSB, DDR2-1200 16GB /4, PCIe x16 CF /2, SATA 3.0 Gbit/s RAID 5 /8, HDA, GbLAN, FW /2, ATX, Retail

# OCZ, 4GB (2 x 2GB) Reaper HPC Edition PC2-8500 DDR2 1066MHz CL 5-5-5-18 2.1-2.3V SDRAM DIMM, Non-ECC

# VISIONTEK, Radeon® HD 4870 750MHz, 512MB GDDR5 1800Mhz, PCIe x16 CrossFire, DVI /2, Retail

# SERVICE, Overclocking, Single GPU, Optimal and Stable Performance

# WESTERN DIGITAL, 640GB WD Caviar® SE16 (WD6400AAKS), SATA 3 Gb/s, 7200-RPM, 16MB cache

# WESTERN DIGITAL, 640GB WD Caviar® SE16 (WD6400AAKS), SATA 3 Gb/s, 7200-RPM, 16MB cache

# RAID, RAID 0 (striping), min 2 hard drives required

# THERMALTAKE, M9 Black Mid-Tower Case w/ Window, ATX, No PSU, SECC

# CASE FAN, NON-LED, Fans Maximum Package, Low Noise

# COOLERMASTER, eXtreme Power 650W Power Supply, 24-pin ATX12V, SLI Ready

....now, the temperature report(from Hmonitor) I am getting when playing Fallout 3 is as follows:

Hmonitor Version 4.4.3.5 Pro AC753E53
(Trial)

Monitored data values:

Mainboard=56.0°C (0,Thermistor,0.0°C)

CPU=93.0°C (1,Diode,0.0°C)

Temp3=5.0°C (0,Thermistor,0.0°C)

CPU0 Core=99.0°C (0,CoreTemp,0.0°C)

Chassis=1188 rpm

CPU1=8437 rpm

CPU2=1240 rpm

Power=xxxx rpm

Core=+1.39V

Aux=+3.12V
+3.3V=+3.31V
+5V=+5.16V
+12V=+11.93V
-12V=-xx.xxV
-5V=-x.xxV

VGA device: ATI Radeon HD 4800 Series

VGA GPU=80.0°C

When playing Fallout 3, the CPU temps average around 93 degrees! While GPU averages around 80! Once the CPU hits 100 degrees the PC shuts off. I don't think I have never had this PC get this hot before, it only started after playing Fallout 3.

Anyway, what are your suggestions to cool down this puppy? Do you suspect something is wrong with my liquid cooling system? Perhaps the fans aren't going fast enough? Again, my E8500 CPU is overclocked from 3.1Ghz to 4.0Ghz. Should I down clock it a couple ticks?

Finally are there any refrigerated solutions out there? My room can get pretty hot especially during the summer.

Should I take it to Best Buy and have the Geeksquad check it out?

 

[JWong]

Check your fans or whatever cools the inside... unless that voids any warranty in which you should go have whoever check it out.

You could probably stop overclocking your cpu too.

 

[Truespeed]

Your CPU temp is 92 celsius? Isn't that a bit high? If you have water cooling then it doesn't look like it's cooling anything. The CPU you have has a stated maximum operating temp of 72 celsius and you're 20 degrees over.

What's your CPU temp at idle when it's doing nothing? The culprit is the CPU heatsink/water cooling not dissipating the heat. May be a bad thermal connection or perhaps none at all.

 

[Wthermans]

1. Take off the water cooling
2. Put stock HSF on
3. If it still overheats then RMA
4. If it doesn't then you'redoingitwrong.jpg
5. ???
6. Profit!

 

[-tetsuo-]

Monitored data values:

Mainboard=56.0°C (0,Thermistor,0.0°C)

CPU=93.0°C (1,Diode,0.0°C)

Holy fuck. Step the OC down IMMEDIATELY. The water pump for your cooling system might be busted.

 

[hylje]

The contact between cooler and cpu has failed. Check the board if any of the screws/clips has been broken or gone loose. Even if OC'd the cpu should be in normal temperature zone when contact is solid.

 

[Nemesis121]

Check and make sure the connectors for the liquid cooling is attach to the CPU..

 

[isamu]

Guys I appreciate your replies, thank you.

@Nemesis....

Check and make sure the connectors for the liquid cooling is attach to the CPU..

I am not an expert, but I opened the case and checked, and the two clear hoses containing the fluid does appear to be connected and mounted tightly to wherever they're supposed to be going. And I can see the fluid moving through the hoses as well, though it is warm(is this normal?).

At idle without doing anything the CPU temp hovers at around 56°C. Interesting how a game makes it jump so high. I knew Fallout was a graphically intensive game but Goddamn.

I *DO* still have a warrantey on this machine so, without having the knowledge to tinker with anything inside, I guess the only sensible thing to do is send it back to AVADirect, eh?

FYI I've had the PC since October 1, 2008.

Last but not least, what do you guys of that new Thermaltake Refrigerated PC case? Is it much better than the Liquid Cooled M9 I have or is it overkill?

 

[itxaka]

VGA GPU=80.0°C

Anyway, what are your suggestions to cool down this puppy? Do you suspect something is wrong with my liquid cooling system? Perhaps the fans aren't going fast enough? Again, my E8500 CPU is overclocked from 3.1Ghz to 4.0Ghz. Should I down clock it a couple ticks?

wow. I would recommend getting the cpu to stock values and checking he temp while running superPI or something CPU intensive to check the values when not OC. Still, strange that it happened suddenly, as IINM you have been running it OC for some time rigth?

Just put it back, check temp, OC it a bit, check temp, OC it again until you can finf the perfect OC value without burning your CPU.

 

[I NEED SCISSORS]

CPU=93.0°C (1,Diode,0.0°C)

CPU0 Core=99.0°C (0,CoreTemp,0.0°C)

HOLY FUCK!

Underclock back to stock speeds, the cooling can't handle it.

Clean all fans and try re-applying thermal paste too.

 

[speedpop]

I had a similar problem awhile ago and it turned out to be the new RAM I had bought. Try buying some simple RAM, throw it in, and see how it goes.

Outside of that, replace the GPU.

 

[Brofist]

Yikes, yeah that's running way hot. My i7 920 running @ 3.6 on air is usually in the 40s.

 

[isamu]

Well I guess I'm screwed, because I don't know how to do *ANY* of these things!

Can someone please explain in plain English the proper steps to getting my CPU back to stock speeds? I am running Windows XP Professional.

Thanks in advance....

 

[Instro]

Well I guess I'm screwed, because I don't know how to do *ANY* of these things!

Can someone please explain in plain English the proper steps to getting my CPU back to stock speeds? I am running Windows XP Professional.

Thanks in advance....

Then who OC'd your cpu to 4ghz?

 

[Always-honest]

vacuum. did it yesterday with my laptop and a few months ago to my PC. open up, vacuum and DONE

hope it helps

 

[speedpop]

Well I guess I'm screwed, because I don't know how to do *ANY* of these things!

Can someone please explain in plain English the proper steps to getting my CPU back to stock speeds? I am running Windows XP Professional.

Thanks in advance....

Because it needed to be done:

 

[evil solrac v3.0]

make sure the CPU block is making contact with the CPU, re-apply thermal paste (clean it off first)

 

[JWong]

Well I guess I'm screwed, because I don't know how to do *ANY* of these things!

Can someone please explain in plain English the proper steps to getting my CPU back to stock speeds? I am running Windows XP Professional.

Thanks in advance....

Beginners Guides: Overclocking the CPU, Motherboard, and Memory

Do the reverse. It's all in the Bios settings.

I have a feeling your thermal paste worn off. It's an adhesive that sticks the heatsink to the CPU. Good ones conduct heat very well, but bad ones don't last.

 

[hylje]

vacuum. did it yesterday with my laptop and a few months ago to my PC. open up, vacuum and DONE

hope it helps

That helps for laptops alike. But it won't help on this case due he has watercooling and fans are not gathering dust inside.

Well I guess I'm screwed, because I don't know how to do *ANY* of these things!

Can someone please explain in plain English the proper steps to getting my CPU back to stock speeds? I am running Windows XP Professional.

Thanks in advance....

Resetting bios settings to default would do the trick but it might screw up harddisk boot order, other settings if they have set disabled. So don't do that if you don't know how-to.

In order to help how-to set only the CPU to stock setting would need you to tell us your motherboard model and manufacturer. Bios menus are a bit different on each and hard to pinpoint exactly which menu is the way to go. (Or you could just look for CPU/Voltage/ratio setting and set them to auto.)

 

[Shubit]

Some really useless advice so far.

How long have you owned this setup? If everything was alright before and just started crapping out on you recently the most probable cause would be pump failure. Either that or somebody severely manhandled your PC dislodging the waterblock mount (UPS played soccer with it?).

Try checking the radiator for dust buildup and clean if necessary. Stupid question but, you are running fans on the radiator, aren't you? Natural convection can only do so much.

To recap: pump failure or bad waterblock mount, either way you (or the shop that built it) are most probably going to have to redo your water loop.

 

[Thetallywacker]

Just refill it. Probably have an air pocket.

 

[Hesemonni]

Well I guess I'm screwed, because I don't know how to do *ANY* of these things!

Complementary:

 

[vazel]

When oc'ing did you screw with the voltage? Those temps are ridiculous. I only ever get temps in the 80s when running Linx.

 

[hylje]

Some really useless advice so far.

I have to admit that I am not familiar with watercooling setups. Can watercooled system be heating so badly that with good contact but the pump failure it heats the system up so much?

 

[Tokubetsu]

4800 series run pretty hot but it's fairly it's fairly easy to change fan speeds to something that actually cools your shit. You can do this via Rivatuner or ATI Bios editor (the latter being slightly trickier but still fairly easy).

 

[sinnergy]

Just flip the cmos jumper on your mobo to get the bios back into it's default state. Before you do this unplug the power, locate cmos jumper and put it on the other pins for a couple of secs. Put the jumper back in it's original state and power on pc.


Should be savest way todo for now and try the other suggestions in this thread after you did this. Check cooling/fans etc.

 

[Shubit]

I have to admit that I am not familiar with watercooling setups. Can watercooled system be heating so badly that with good contact but the pump failure it heats the system up so much?

The distance of the radiating element from the heat source in a typical liquid cooling system coupled with limited heat conducting properties of the cooling medium prevents the heat from being drawn away at a sufficient rate while standing still. Moving the medium speeds up the process considerably; think of it as parcels of water heated by the CPU running towards the radiator while parcels of cool water running back from the radiator to the CPU. Now in reality the temperature of the entire cooling system is going to even out eventually, just like it would with water standing still, but it's going to do so in much less time and at a much lower temperature.

Again reseting BIOS while seemingly a miracle cure for any hardware conflict issue usually does nothing for heat related problems.

There are two other possibilities not related to watercooling loop issues though:
1. the temperature sensor on the CPU is busted: RMA the CPU is your only option here
2. the pump is connected to a motherboard fan header and is being throttled by the onboard fan speed control feature: disable the fan control option in the BIOS or better yet connect the pump to a 4 pin molex running from the PSU directly.

 

[hylje]

Again reseting BIOS while seemingly a miracle cure for any hardware conflict issue usually does nothing for heat related problems.

I know but he was asking about going back to stock settings from overclock setup. But after reading your info about the circulation my bet is now with that pump too.

 

[Frankfurter]

Some really useless advice so far.

How long have you owned this setup? If everything was alright before and just started crapping out on you recently the most probable cause would be pump failure. Either that or somebody severely manhandled your PC dislodging the waterblock mount (UPS played soccer with it?).

Try checking the radiator for dust buildup and clean if necessary. Stupid question but, you are running fans on the radiator, aren't you? Natural convection can only do so much.

To recap: pump failure or bad waterblock mount, either way you (or the shop that built it) are most probably going to have to redo your water loop.

That would be my bet. Bot the idle and the load temps are far, far too high for a water cooled system (well, actually for any system).


@OP I'd try out the following: let your system cool down completely, i.e. let it just stay there for atleast an hour (+ open up one of the side doors of possible).
After that power up the system and check the temps as soon as you are in windows (you could also check these in the BIOS). Then run Fallout and check out how temperatures are looking after like 10 seconds. If it's the waterblock temperatures should be basically the same as you already posted. If sth. is wrong with the pump, or the fans etc. temperatures should be much, much lower because the whole liquid cooling system didn't have enough time to heat up, i.e. the water is still relatively cool and would cool down the CPU just fine, even if the pump would be somewhat damaged (you already managed that the water is definitely moving, right? So it definitely hasn't failed completely).

1. the temperature sensor on the CPU is busted: RMA the CPU is your only option here

Correct me if I'm wrong, but this wouldn't cause the PC to shut down at 100C because the sensor that we can use to read out temperatures is not the one that would cause the CPU to report a too high temperature (i.e. there is one or several others).

 

[Fun Factor]

Might be your power supply is busted?
Buy a new one & switch it out.

 

[Doopliss]

If you've paid for a warranty then before doing anything it would stupid not to at least check that you aren't going to void it. I think most systems you buy already overclocked will have their warranty voided if you change the clock speeds at all, so clocking back down to stock speeds (as many are suggesting) might not be such a great idea.

 

[brain_stew]

I *DO* still have a warrantey on this machine so, without having the knowledge to tinker with anything inside, I guess the only sensible thing to do is send it back to AVADirect, eh?

Do this and nothing else. You paid extra for that service so use it. Don't invalidate by tinkering yourself.

 

[Shubit]

Correct me if I'm wrong, but this wouldn't cause the PC to shut down at 100C because the sensor that we can use to read out temperatures is not the one that would cause the CPU to report a too high temperature (i.e. there is one or several others).

The shut down safety feature is tied to the CPU digital temp sensor. Once core temperatures approach tjmax values it starts throttling the CPU or upon reaching the critical value shuts down the system to prevent damage to the CPU.

EDIT: Just checked some reviews on OP's integrated watercooling system. I'd try to ensure the pump is connected to the PSU directly in case the motherboard fan throttling feature is not supplying enough voltage to start the pump. Also check the tubes for air bubbles like suggested by a poster above; the manual the cooler came with should cover how to properly bleed it. Take it to a shop if you don't feel like tinkering with it yourself though.

EDIT2: Make sure it's the fan that's connected to the supplied rheobus and NOT the pump!

You can try by simply setting the knob to the max and see if it works.

 

[spazzfish]

Do this and nothing else. You paid extra for that service so use it. Don't invalidate by tinkering yourself.

This please don't follow any one elses advice. You will end up in a bigger mess then you are now.
I can't believe the advice some of you are giving to someone who has no idea what he's doing.
I'd also advise you NOT to use you pc for anything other then web browsing or you might well cause permanent damage to some of your pc components.

 

[brain_stew]

This please don't follow any one elses advice. You will end up in a bigger mess then you are now.
I can't believe the advice some of you are giving to someone who has no idea what he's doing.
I'd also advise you NOT to use you pc for anything other then web browsing or you might well cause permanent damage to some of your pc components.

This as well, I didn't mention it as it pretty much goes without saying. Seriously isamu. HEED OUR ADVICE. Ignore everyone else.

 

[LAMBO]

How long have you been using the pc?

Just happened to me too (but i didn't let it get to the point of the pc shutting down), but i wasn't using water cooling. My cpu heatsink got so dusty that my pc was hitting 56C idle, 88 under load. I took off the cpu fan and vacuumed the heatsink and now my cpu is 55C under load. The fact that your gpu is also hitting high temps make me think there's a lot of dust in you cpu and gpu fan/heatsinks.

But since you have that warranty i don't know if it's worth messing with anything too much.

 

[isamu]

If you've paid for a warranty then before doing anything it would stupid not to at least check that you aren't going to void it. I think most systems you buy already overclocked will have their warranty voided if you change the clock speeds at all, so clocking back down to stock speeds (as many are suggesting) might not be such a great idea.

Do this and nothing else. You paid extra for that service so use it. Don't invalidate by tinkering yourself.

Thank you and thank you. This is pretty much what I was thinking. Paid for the damn warranty may as well make use of it.


Another thing....Not sure if this has anything to do with it, but there have been times when I've let the machine run overnight and sometimes over a 24hr period, due to whatever games off Steam I'm downloading taking forever to finish. Could that contribute to problems in the long run?

How long have you been using the pc?

Just happened to me too (but i didn't let it get to the point of the pc shutting down), but i wasn't using water cooling. My cpu heatsink got so dusty that my pc was hitting 56C idle, 88 under load. I took off the cpu fan and vacuumed the heatsink and now my cpu is 55C under load. The fact that your gpu is also hitting high temps make me think there's a lot of dust in you cpu and gpu fan/heatsinks.

I've had the PC since exactly October 1, 2008. So roughly a year and a half.

Yes, it was quite dusty inside. This was partly due to my stupidity of placing the damn case on the rug and letting dust build up without cleaning it occasionally.

I can't believe the advice some of you are giving to someone who has no idea what he's doing.

Hey it's all good They were completely oblivious to my lack of PC hardware knowledge and was just trying to help.

You guys are a great bunch, really. I really appreciate your suggestions. Without a warranty I would definitely give some of these a try. But like said above, not worth voiding it