Is my CPU dying?

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olivier1984

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Hello,

Since 5 days now my PC is having trouble. Within a few seconds after startup, anything I try to open/do uses up 100% of the CPU and takes forever.

After quite some surfing (I can use Opera browser without it being too much of a strain on the cpu) I thought it might be a problem with the CPU. I downloaded speedfan and..CPU temp: idle around 80°C and when opening/using a progam (outlook, firefox, whatever) it went up to 100°C! Those temps, and the fact there was a little flame image next to it in speedfan made me think the CPU was overheating ("duh", I know).

I checked the cpu fan and realized it sometimes slowed down and even stopped. So I bought a new fan. I also added a case fan. And I cleared all the dust out of the power supply fan (there was literally a ton of dust in there, I got it all out).

Now my CPU is idling at around 75°C and when I open something it shoots back up to 100°C. The fans are working however, because when I stop using the PC I see the temps go back to 70-75°C much faster than before.

My question is: is my CPU dying? I mean, if it really reaches 100°C whenever I do something, it sure won't last long, will it?

I am pretty sure the temp readings are correct, because at around 75°C I can still work on the PC, but as soon as it goes higher (80/90 degrees) things get so slow I can't even open an empty folder in less than 10 seconds.

The problem is that I never thought of checking my CPU temps before. So I don't have anything to compare them to.

My specs:

My room temperature is around 23°C
Pentium 4, 1.7 GHz (not overclocked)
1024 MB RAM
1 case fan running at around 2500 RPM
1 CPU fan running at around 2800 RPM
2 internal HD (80 GB and 40 GB)
1 cd/dvd player
1 cd burner
1 Nvidia geforce 4 graphics card
1 gamesurround fortissimo sound card
.....let me know if you need any more info

Oh, and I did 2 virus scans (2 different progs), 1 spyware scan, 1 adware scan, 1 HD defragmentation and I recently uninstalled any useless crap I had on the PC. So I seriously doubt it's a virus/spyware/adware/crap on PC/... that's to blame.

It's a pretty long post, sorry.. I'd greatly appreciate it if some of you could help me out.

Basically what I ask is:

- Is my CPU dying?
- If those temps are real, how long before it dies?
- Is there anything I can do?
(I also ordered some arctic silver thermal paste, will still try that when it gets here)
- If the CPU dies, how do I know what CPU I can install on my current motherboard to replace it?
- What are "normal" temperatures for a Pentium 1.7 Ghz CPU?

Thanks in advance for your attention and assistance,
Olivier
 
Keep the temps below those values..........

Northwoods = 60c
Prescotts = 75c

Also, I highly doubt that your P4 hit 100c, your CPU would be a boiled like an egg.

Try this...... Turn your computer on, open it up, get it up to 100c, and put you hand close to the HSF, you should feel a good amount of heat, if you dont feel any coming out, try touching the HSF really quick. And see if it really is 100c.............
 
Personally, I don't think so... I think you might have a faulty heat sensor
If it's just the sensor that's off, how come my computer is so slow and whatever I do uses 100% CPU?

and use a program like CPU-Z, and it will tell you what socket type you have...
Okay, CPU-Z tells me my CPU is a Willamette.

Try this...... Turn your computer on, open it up, get it up to 100c, and put you hand close to the HSF, you should feel a good amount of heat, if you dont feel any coming out, try touching the HSF really quick. And see if it really is 100c.............
It feels hot, but certainly not 100°C hot.

Any more ideas?

Olivier

p.s. Thanks for the replies, I really appreciate it :)
 
olivier1984 said:
Personally, I don't think so... I think you might have a faulty heat sensor
If it's just the sensor that's off, how come my computer is so slow and whatever I do uses 100% CPU?

not off, faulty, or malfunctioning...

and I don't know why your computer is slow...,

I think you mentioned it above, but you could try and reinstall windows...
 
not off, faulty, or malfunctioning...
Sorry, that's what I meant by "off". My bad (choice of words).
I think you mentioned it above, but you could try and reinstall windows...


I did not do a windows reinstall, but I sincerely think it wouldn't help. There must be something wrong with the hardware, and not the software, because even though the temps mights be false, the temperature increase when I do something and the slowness that occurs is real.

I am hoping that once I get that thermal paste there it will work again, but, only time will tell..

If you have any more ideas, let me know. I will come back every now and then, and will let you know what happens when I receive the AS5 and apply it.

Thanks,
Olivier
 
Xiahou said:
i would recommend formatting too. Then you can do a clean install of all hdd.

But surely he wouldn't be able to reformat, if his pc is going so slow?
 
maybe a virus lodged itself into the partition, and is makeing speeds vary, and the heat sensor problem coincidentaly happened at the same time...?

could the hard drive be dying?

(format + repartition > reinstall windows > and test the speeds...)
 
Spyware, adware, trojans, virii - all part of the Windows fun. If you are not protected, learn and do so before connecting to the net AFTER you reformat and reinstall. I think that is your best bet for a lot of reasons. Some folks like to patch it up and try to keep it running, but a fresh install solves all Windows problems (for a while).
 
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