Overheating

[patrickt]

My computer started acting squirrely and I had to reinstall everything a few times. I download a program to check temps and found that my processor temp was going to 88 degrees Celcius when I was exporting files. The maximum heat for my processor is 72 degrees Celcius. My processor is an Intel E655' on an Intel DP35DP motherboard.

Is anyone else having a heat problem or is it my processor?

 

[b_gossweiler]

If you really have a temperature problem, it is not related to a specific application, but to your hardware setup (fan, flow of air etc.). A computer must be built so that all processors may run at 1''% over a long time without overheating, no matter what application the load comes from.

Beat

 

[sizzlingbadger]

Check for a fan failure and clogged airways. Use a vacuum cleaner (carefully) to get the dust out. make sure nothing has been removed that guides air inside the casing.

 

[patrickt]

Thanks. I have a good case with six fans, I've cleaned the fans and fins. I guess I'll go for better thermal conductivity next. To be honest, I've not been happy with my choice of processor and motherboard. May I'll replace them.

The fact is, the only application I have that overheats is Lightroom, though.

 

[Jim Wilde]

The Lightroom export function IS very CPU-intensive....on my desktop it will be at 1''% CPU activity almost totally during the export process, so it wouldn't be surprising if you have a hardware/overheating problem for Lightroom to appear to be the cause even though it probably isn't.

I have a similar, though intermittent, problem on my desktop and I can be fairly certain that if it's going to bite me today it'll be when running Lightroom. Doesn't mean that LR is the problem, just means I need to get my desktop replaced!

 

[edgley]

Strangely, too many fans can cause problems as too few.
The air can be stolen from around the CPU, and thus not allow it to cool down.

 

[patrickt]

Just a quick update. When I moved to Windows 7 64-bit there was no utility from Intel for measuring temps. I am a bit paranoid about temperatures. Anyway, they came out with about a month ago. I downloaded it but I didn't use it. I left for a 2-week vacation. When I returned I started using the program and got high temperatures showing and my computer went nuts. I reinstalled everything, including the temperature utility, and it went nuts again. I got a new hard drive, thinking the hard drive might be bad and the computer continued it's erratic ways. Ways such as suddenly giving system notifications, at a BIOS level, in Spanish.

So, I reinstalled my operating system and programs again. But, I forgot to install the temperature utility. Everything worked fine. When I went to download it, I couldn't and I read the "read.me" file. It was a long list of serious problems. So, I skipped the program.

Everything is running fine now and, for now, I'll just pretend everything is fine. If the processor and motherboard burn up, I'm not sure I'd care much.

 

[ceroni]

Have you tried Speedfan? It's one of the best programs to monitor (and even change) voltages, fan speeds and temperatures.

In my (not that large) experience, the most common cause of overheating is a surface area contact problem between heatsink and processor. Try disassembling it and replacing the thermal paste. A few tips here.