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

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