Help with CPU cooling for a newb

[Zodan]

Hello everyone, I'm new to this forum and have come because my computer has been giving me some problems that I think may be cooling related. First off, how can you tell if overheating is a problem with your computer freezing up, shutting down, etc. One day I was using the computer and it just shut down, and when I turned it back on the light around the power button was not lit up in the functioning mode, so I looked inside and the heatsink was pretty heated up. I left it for awhile and tried it again and it was fine again, so my only thought would be a heating problem. Most recently the computer froze, so I shut it off and waited awhile and turned it back on and it wasn't responding again, so today I unplugged everything and cleaned it all up and noticed that there was a lot of dust and stuff on the fan of my video card, I cleaned that up and turned it all back on and it is working now. Now I love my computer a lot, and while I'm not fully versed in all the nuances of computers I've got a pretty good knowledge realm of it all. Any pointers to start with?

 

[Shrapnill]

http://mbm.livewiredev.com/

Depending on your mobo, this utility can read your case/cpu temps. If your mobo is compatible, give that a go and tell us what your temps are.

Some specs may help as well.

 

[Monster00]

from his post, i can tell that it was a cooling problem. Dust is a very bad thing. It can get in the fan motors and burn them out. The one thing i have on my PC is fan filters. I clean them out every so often. When i do clean them out... THERE LOADED With dust. I also have a bird in my room so maybe thats y. I also have 2 cats that spend some time in here too sleeping ect.. But people say that they slow down the air flow. They may slow it down like 1 or 2 CFM but thats it. If you get the good kind then you will may not even notice a difference... But make sure u keep it clean. What i do is every 3 or so months, i take my computer and i just clean all of it out. meaning i take Endust for electronics, (best stuff for PC's) and i clean the outside, inside and everything around it. Its the best thing. But since u did all that cleaning, it seems fine. If it happens again with no dust, then u have a cooling problem.

 

[Kangaroo]

Talking about dust, check out the dust in my 1.4GHz T-Bird heatsink .!Dust! Dust is a massive problem in my house because I have two dogs that get very muddy every day - and I vacuum just as much.

 

[Zodan]

Thanks guys, it is sounding more like a dust problem perhaps. It has been mostly fine now. I guess I need to keep tabs on it and get some of those aerosol duster cans.

What can happen from cooling problems, am I looking at the possibility of my computer getting ruined?

 

[Monster00]

cooling is a major issue. You should have alteast 4 or 5 fans... Your CPU can lock up or even worse... you can ruin ur CPU.

 

[w105]

Cooling is what keeps you system alive.

Dust is what kills it.

Go down to the store and buy a few cans of compressed air.

Shoot the air on every part in your case. Or for an even better cleaning, disassemble your entire system and clean all the dust off each piece, one piece at a time.

I try to clean the dust out of my system about once every other month.