CPU over temperature causing shutdown

[neilwithers]

I have just installed a new motherboard and CPU;
Gigabyte GA-K8NS Ultra 939 motherboard
AMD Athlon 64, 3200+ (2 GHz socket 939) processor in a box with heat sink and fan
2x256MB DDR 266
1x 40GB Hard disk
1x 120GB Hard disk
Geforce FX 5200
Soundblaster live! 5.1

Since the install of the new motherboard and processor the system keeps shutting down due to high processor temperature whenever it is worked hard. PC health check in the bios reports 18-20 C just after start up, after windows has loaded the gigabyte easytune software reports a steady 38-42 C doing nothing, but this easytune software wants to update itself on startup. If I allow this it gets 5 or 10 minutes in to the downloading procedure then the PC powers off (no shutdown, just like pulling out the power cable!). If I restart immediately and check PC health check in the bios it shows 69C. I tried again and opened windows task manager which shows 100% processor usage constantly during this updating procedure (gigabyte easytune software glitch?) which i assume caused the temperature to rise so much.
Since then I have tried to format the 40GB hard disk, but the PC shut down a few minutes in to the format and again showed 68-69 C immediately after when I rebooted.
I have felt the processor heat sink while this was happening and cant believe that it was as hot as 70 C. I have even removed the heat sink, cleaned off the thermal paste I had applied 3 or 4 days earlier (imprint on the heat sink was perfect), applied new paste and reinstalled the processor and heat sink, but the same symptoms persist (fan is working properly - 3185 rpm). I have not even done anything with the system yet, it seems unable to even cope with re-installing and updating the software.

Please help! Any ideas what the problem is? Do i send back the motherboard and processor and get replacements?

Neil

 

[SHAWN]

your processor may be defective. I would call AMD before you call the motherboard company. Thats way too hot.

 

[neilwithers]

Is it likely to be the bios reporting incorrectly? Could it be solved by a bios update or is this unlikely? The heat sink didn't feel that hot and I'm sure it is fitted correctly. Just don't know whether it is a faulty temperature sensor (these are on the processor chip for this processor right?) or faulty software interpreting the signal.

Neil

 

[neilwithers]

Update on the problems I am having - tonight I turned on the PC and left it in the PC health check part of the bios, measuring temperatures over time. It is not stable as I thought before:

Power on 22C
In 2 mins 22C -> 36C CPU fan starts
5 mins later 36C -> 45C
5 mins later 45C -> 51C
5 mins later 51C -> 67C
2 mins later 67C -> 73C - system shutdown

then later:

Power on 32C
5 mins later 32C -> 44C fan 3068 rpm
5 mins later 44C -> 48C fan 3068 rpm
5 mins later 48C -> 54C fan 3375 rpm
5 mins later 54C -> 73C fan 4500 rpm - system shutdown

In both cases I put the side on the case at around 50C which I assume caused the faster heat up towards the end.

I then booted in to windows and monitored temps with easytune (cancelled the auto update), it dropped from 67C down to 65C over a few mins (task manager showed zero processor usage) so i started media player and played a video (task manager showed an average of 20-25% processor usage) and the temp then climbed back up (over about 5 mins) to 73C when it shut down.

Feeling the heat sink after each shut down, the base solid block from which the fins protrude was almost painfully hot to touch. I could keep hold of it, but just a tiny fraction hotter would have been painful.


Neil

 

[neilwithers]

Also, when I plug the power cable in to the PC and turn on the power switch at the back, the system does not respond to the power button on the front imediately. It does absolutely nothing then powers up 30 seconds later. After this, or if you leave the power switched on at the back for a minute before pressing the power button on the front, it will respond imediately.

Neil