CPU overheating (ASUS A7A266, AMD Athlon)... need new PSU?

i have an Asus A7A266 Socket A MB (ALiMaGiK 1 chipset, 1.25 GB DDR RAM) with
an AMD Athlon 1.4 GHz chip, running Windows XP. according to the motherboard
monitor utility, even when XP is idle the CPU temperature is running between
60 and 70 degrees C. this seems too hot, especially as the chip's max is
supposed to be 90 degrees. recently on a couple of occasions while running
an emulator the chip has overheated and the MB has sounded the overheating
warning. i replaced the CPU heatsink and fan but it didnt improve the idle
temperature. i've noticed that sometimes (intermittently) the PSU fan doesnt
start spinning at all when powering on the PC.

1) does it sound like the PSU is the cause of the problem in this case? or
is there something else i should be checking first?

2) what do i need to look for when searching for a compatible PSU? i know
there are different wattages, voltages etc available but how do i find one
that will work with my system?

any help appreciated. thanks!

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please reply to group

On Wed, 3 Sep 2008 21:25:28 +0100, "nespresso"
<> wrote:

>i have an Asus A7A266 Socket A MB (ALiMaGiK 1 chipset, 1.25 GB DDR RAM) with
>an AMD Athlon 1.4 GHz chip, running Windows XP. according to the motherboard
>monitor utility, even when XP is idle the CPU temperature is running between
>60 and 70 degrees C. this seems too hot, especially as the chip's max is
>supposed to be 90 degrees. recently on a couple of occasions while running
>an emulator the chip has overheated and the MB has sounded the overheating
>warning. i replaced the CPU heatsink and fan but it didnt improve the idle
>temperature. i've noticed that sometimes (intermittently) the PSU fan doesnt
>start spinning at all when powering on the PC.
>
>1) does it sound like the PSU is the cause of the problem in this case? or
>is there something else i should be checking first?
>
>2) what do i need to look for when searching for a compatible PSU? i know
>there are different wattages, voltages etc available but how do i find one
>that will work with my system?
>
>any help appreciated. thanks!

Some monitoring utilities report the internal CPU temperature while
others use some sensing diodes that are not so hot.

For example the monitoring software in my PC says the CPU is 74 C
while bios says it's 52 C

An internal CPU temperature can be 20 to 30 degrees higher than the
sensing diodes.

Steve

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Previously Stephen Wolstenholme <> wrote:
> On Wed, 3 Sep 2008 21:25:28 +0100, "nespresso"
> <> wrote:

>>i have an Asus A7A266 Socket A MB (ALiMaGiK 1 chipset, 1.25 GB DDR RAM) with
>>an AMD Athlon 1.4 GHz chip, running Windows XP. according to the motherboard
>>monitor utility, even when XP is idle the CPU temperature is running between
>>60 and 70 degrees C. this seems too hot, especially as the chip's max is
>>supposed to be 90 degrees. recently on a couple of occasions while running
>>an emulator the chip has overheated and the MB has sounded the overheating
>>warning. i replaced the CPU heatsink and fan but it didnt improve the idle
>>temperature. i've noticed that sometimes (intermittently) the PSU fan doesnt
>>start spinning at all when powering on the PC.
>>
>>1) does it sound like the PSU is the cause of the problem in this case? or
>>is there something else i should be checking first?
>>
>>2) what do i need to look for when searching for a compatible PSU? i know
>>there are different wattages, voltages etc available but how do i find one
>>that will work with my system?
>>
>>any help appreciated. thanks!

> Some monitoring utilities report the internal CPU temperature while
> others use some sensing diodes that are not so hot.

> For example the monitoring software in my PC says the CPU is 74 C
> while bios says it's 52 C

> An internal CPU temperature can be 20 to 30 degrees higher than the
> sensing diodes.

You have it the wrong way round. The internal measurement is
done by a chip-integradet diode. The external sensor is typically
a thermistor. It is possible that the mainboard sensor is just
badly off. If the cooling fan and heatsink is adequate, the CPU
should not run that hot at all. I do not think this is
related to the PSU, unless the case hegets very hot inside.

Repeat the measurements with the case open. If temperatures
are much lower, get a case-fan.

Arno

nespresso wrote:

> i have an Asus A7A266 Socket A MB (ALiMaGiK 1 chipset, 1.25 GB DDR RAM) with
> an AMD Athlon 1.4 GHz chip, running Windows XP. according to the motherboard
> monitor utility, even when XP is idle the CPU temperature is running between
> 60 and 70 degrees C. this seems too hot, especially as the chip's max is
> supposed to be 90 degrees. recently on a couple of occasions while running
> an emulator the chip has overheated and the MB has sounded the overheating
> warning. i replaced the CPU heatsink and fan but it didnt improve the idle
> temperature. i've noticed that sometimes (intermittently) the PSU fan doesnt
> start spinning at all when powering on the PC.
>
> 1) does it sound like the PSU is the cause of the problem in this case? or
> is there something else i should be checking first?
>
> 2) what do i need to look for when searching for a compatible PSU? i know
> there are different wattages, voltages etc available but how do i find one
> that will work with my system?
>
> any help appreciated. thanks!
>
> --
> please reply to group
>
>

When you replaced the heatsink, what kind of compound did you use, and
how did you apply it?

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"CJT" <> wrote in message
news:...
> nespresso wrote:
>
>> i have an Asus A7A266 Socket A MB (ALiMaGiK 1 chipset, 1.25 GB DDR RAM)
>> with an AMD Athlon 1.4 GHz chip, running Windows XP. according to the
>> motherboard monitor utility, even when XP is idle the CPU temperature is
>> running between 60 and 70 degrees C. this seems too hot, especially as
>> the chip's max is supposed to be 90 degrees. recently on a couple of
>> occasions while running an emulator the chip has overheated and the MB
>> has sounded the overheating warning. i replaced the CPU heatsink and fan
>> but it didnt improve the idle temperature. i've noticed that sometimes
>> (intermittently) the PSU fan doesnt start spinning at all when powering
>> on the PC.
>>
>> 1) does it sound like the PSU is the cause of the problem in this case?
>> or is there something else i should be checking first?
>>
>> 2) what do i need to look for when searching for a compatible PSU? i know
>> there are different wattages, voltages etc available but how do i find
>> one that will work with my system?
>>
>> any help appreciated. thanks!
>>

>
> When you replaced the heatsink, what kind of compound did you use, and
> how did you apply it?
>

i used a blob of silver-based "akasa" thermal compound "hi-spec 450" on the
surface. btw, the case temperature according the motherboard monitor is in
the mid-30s. i've also been trying to download asus PC probe II to get a
second opinion, but havent found a downloadable, working file yet (asus's
website is horrible).

In comp.sys.ibm.pc.hardware.misc nespresso <> wrote:

> "CJT" <> wrote in message
> news:...
>> nespresso wrote:
>>
>>> i have an Asus A7A266 Socket A MB (ALiMaGiK 1 chipset, 1.25 GB DDR RAM)
>>> with an AMD Athlon 1.4 GHz chip, running Windows XP. according to the
>>> motherboard monitor utility, even when XP is idle the CPU temperature is
>>> running between 60 and 70 degrees C. this seems too hot, especially as
>>> the chip's max is supposed to be 90 degrees. recently on a couple of
>>> occasions while running an emulator the chip has overheated and the MB
>>> has sounded the overheating warning. i replaced the CPU heatsink and fan
>>> but it didnt improve the idle temperature. i've noticed that sometimes
>>> (intermittently) the PSU fan doesnt start spinning at all when powering
>>> on the PC.
>>>
>>> 1) does it sound like the PSU is the cause of the problem in this case?
>>> or is there something else i should be checking first?
>>>
>>> 2) what do i need to look for when searching for a compatible PSU? i know
>>> there are different wattages, voltages etc available but how do i find
>>> one that will work with my system?
>>>
>>> any help appreciated. thanks!
>>>

>>
>> When you replaced the heatsink, what kind of compound did you use, and
>> how did you apply it?
>>

> i used a blob of silver-based "akasa" thermal compound "hi-spec 450" on the
> surface.

That may not bet the best, but should be more than enough.

> btw, the case temperature according the motherboard monitor is in
> the mid-30s.

Sounds fine.

> i've also been trying to download asus PC probe II to get a
> second opinion, but havent found a downloadable, working file yet (asus's
> website is horrible).

You can also try Speedfan. Pretty good and also displays disk SMART
status.

There is also one more test: Look into the PC health screen
in the BIOS. It some puts load on the CPU, at least that is what I
have seen.

One more question: Did you have this high temperature reading
from the beginning or did it show up at ome time and before it
was fine?

Currently I tend to think that the sensor is bad or that
its measuerment is transformed wrongly (these do not have a
direct temperature output, but an analog one and that needs
to be set for the correct sensor type).

Arno