wilkes

ok guys I thought i would update you on the computer, since I cleaned all the dust out of the fans and unclogged the intake area around the fans I haven't had anymore thermal shutdowns. i assume it was the dust clogging it , causing the overheat. Thanks for all the advice!!

BTW, MaxB - I would take him up on his offer to check it out for you if you don't want to. If it's shot, it could add years to the life of the CPU, or if it's not, worse case, you have someone else knowledgeable looking inside that might spot that dangling molex connector that keeps falling into your cpu fan that you didnt see because he has the case at a different angle.

Wilkesman2, I assumed that if they weren't familiar with the process, they would ask here, ask whoever they purchase it from, google it, or read the instructions that comes with most tubes. Proper use of the thermal compound seems to escape enough people so much that whenever I have bought any at an actual computer store (NOT Best Buy, etc), I've been asked EACH time if I knew how to properly apply it. Kudos to all of the local shops for offering free advice.

I did not take your post as an insult, nor did I actually intend mine to be taken that way. I was speaking from MY experience of many, many overclocked AMD cpu's over the years and the constant cooling battle that overclocking enthusiasts deal with when their significant others won't let them purchase a decent water cooling solution, or drop it into the fishtank filled with oil. :/

BTW, MaxB - Don't eat the paste. It's bad for you.

Now with all that said I Apologies to Ant Flo. I should have asked why you you thought it needed to be replaced.
MaxB if you feel the paste might need to be replaced please bring it to me and I will replace it for you free. My contact info is under my name.

I would not advise someone to replace a toxic compound and not tell them it is a toxic compound. Not a good idea for me to imply. But I would be happy to replace it for them.
Also there is no need to pull the CPU. If someone bends a pin on a CPU then they will be mad at me for telling them to pull it, and the paste goes on the top not the bottom, so the person would only need to pull the heat sink, If there is one. I would hope someone is not still running a 486 or older CPU.
Then there is the risk of some pastes will conduct electric and some CPUs have electronics and/or electronic contact points on the top. It is not good if they touch. If someone want to undertake the task and risk themselves, then they are welcome to it. If not, then please take it to someone else to fix.
Then we need to know what kind of CPU it is, some CPUs will not come off the heat sink like a socket 1.

And I beg you please use a little tact next time. People don't like to be insulted. And please do not think that is what I am doing, I am trying to put in as much information as I can in as little room as I can put it, or as someone people tell me I someone need to add more words to what I say. I am also a bit short on the tact sometimes as well.

You've never seen the OEM stuff cooked? Havent done much grunt work in 25 years, have you? The gooey tape like stuff they use at the factory does cook dry over a # of years, to the point of being more like plastic instead of thermal grease.

lol in 25 years I have never seen thermal compound leave a CPU all by itself.

Wow, I'm lucky if I ever see 95F - thats a good temp. If you can see any dust or buildup around the fan intakes, its time to clean it again. Hopefully you didnt cook the cpu. If it were me, I'd pull the CPU and reapply some more thermal compound just to be on the safe side, but if its running good now, be happy your motherboard/bios supports the thermal shutdown settings...

oh, i should have been more precise on the temp... it was 93F not C.

Thanks guys, I did clean it out and it had a lot of dust and lint inside the computer, I never knew how dirty it can get inside! so far it isn't having that thermal shutdown, both fans are working. the computer is almost 5 years old so I hope it will hold up a little longer!!

93F on the CPU is not bad, 93C and it would burn out the CPU. 93C = about 199-200F

depending on your computer's age, and length of time running, parts eventually fail. I recently had a video card cooling fan fail and the only indication I first got was my computer would lock up, no errors... just screen freeze and it was toast. Had to reboot every time.

Eventually, I caught on, and opened my computer up and looked around. Dust had gotten in there and TOTALLY blocked the fan's airflow.

I have a vaccuum attachment for computer components, and was able to evacuate the aflicted area and now Im back in business. When I turned the computer back on, I ensured the fan was not seized up.

No more screen freezes.

With the side of the case open, and the PC on - are all of the fans spinning?

93 degrees Celsius is extremely high, verging on the point of damaging your CPU.

Something is clearly preventing the PC from getting the proper cooling.

Thoroughly clean the inside of your PC (this may require partial disassembly), make sure the fans are working and aren't being obstructed.

ok i downloaded it and it shows my computer temp to be 93 , is that normal? I haven't had it downloaded too long.

Yeah, it's overheating. It may fix it. I had a similar situation a while back. Not only was my PC full of dust (especially the CPU fan/heatsink), but my northbridge fan had burned out and had to be replaced. Make sure all your fans are functioning properly. Also, here's a really useful tool to monitor temperatures:

http://www.filehippo.com/do...

This has happened to me 2 times in the last week I will be on my computer and it will all the sudden completely go out poof gone and when i turn it back on it sayes Alert! System was last shutdown due to thermal. does this mean the computer was overheating? I took the side off and cleaned out the dust and lint, it was full. and the fan on the inside was completely full and clogged as well. Will this fix this problem?