Oh How Original Posted July 19, 2014 Share Posted July 19, 2014 Over the past week or so, my computer has been shutting itself down, after checking the temps, it seems it's getting too hot and shutting itself down. I'm thinking maybe it's time to add a few subtle upgrades to help it along, I watch a lot of stuff on my Xbox, so I tend to run a video converter quite a lot and Photoshop and such and it's just getting too much for it. I'm not wanting to spend silly amounts, but just wondering if anyone can advise on what to upgrade to help it along a bit? I'm also going to have a god look inside it later on and give it a really good clean. It did this a while ago and it just needed a clean and it ran at sub 50C after that, at the moment it's idling at about 75C and opening a few programs and stuff sends it up over 100C, I think the cut off is 110C so it's not practical at all. Below is my current spec, I was wondering if maybe buying 2x 2gb sticks of ram would help and run it at 6gb ram? Pretty sure my motherboard has space for 3 sticks of ram. Below is the spec and any advice would be very much appreciated. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Madmini Posted July 19, 2014 Share Posted July 19, 2014 (edited) Ok first off those temps are way to high. Does your case have enough airflow through it? Second thing I wonder is what are you running in the background that you don't need? Temps like that are caused by high load and rubbish airflow in my experience /edit Just checked the correct temps for your cpu and it should be maxing at 60 under load. What thermal paste do you have between the cpu and heat sink? Edited July 19, 2014 by Madmini Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Oh How Original Posted July 21, 2014 Author Share Posted July 21, 2014 As good airflow as I've ever had, it's been fine for years, I guess it's just getting older... No idea on the thermal paste, whatever came on the MB as new It seems to really peak when I convert videos. Just think it needs a bit of upgrading to be honest. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Oh How Original Posted July 21, 2014 Author Share Posted July 21, 2014 As an example... This is what happens when I open programs, it just climbs and climbs until I close it or it thermally shuts down, then when I close the program it slowly goes down and usually idles at around 57-62. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Madmini Posted July 21, 2014 Share Posted July 21, 2014 Putting more ram in that machine won't lower the temps. It might be your thermal paste has gone bad so the heat isn't being transferred to the heat sink well enough. You might have some fans that are clogged up with dust or a combination of both. But adding more ram won't lower your temps. Transcoding video is a cpu intensive task. The only real options I can see for you are A: replace thermal paste and fans in the case to improve airflow B: replace the machine with something more suited to what your using it for. If your doing a lot of video editing then move away from windows altogether (that's what I did and I never looked back) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Oh How Original Posted July 21, 2014 Author Share Posted July 21, 2014 Can you recommend a good thermal paste to use? I'll have to checkout some Youtube videos on how to do it. I did plan on giving the insides a very good clean out as I did it a few years ago and it helped, it used to sit at 90C constantly and it dropped to low/mid 30's even when doing tasks. Might try some new thermal paste, give everything a good clean and have a good hard drive clear out as well. I've also used Linux before but wasn't keen, I prefer Windows just for ease of use and because I'm used to it, I also wouldn't ever have a Mac so that's out of the question. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Madmini Posted July 21, 2014 Share Posted July 21, 2014 I always used artic silver 5 when I built machines or services them. It's nasty stuff so wear some gloves before opening it Also have a look at your case fans, if they are brushed then maybe the brushes are worn and would be worth replacing them. Case fans are sooooo cheep it's worth doing once in a while anyway Good luck Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Oh How Original Posted July 21, 2014 Author Share Posted July 21, 2014 Again then could you recommend a replacement fan? I know they're a pretty common item, but to make sure they match my machine, or are they just universal? I've also ordered some Arctic MX-4, simply as it was recommended on a few videos. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Madmini Posted July 21, 2014 Share Posted July 21, 2014 (edited) Common size is 80mm tbh I have tried a bunch of different brands and they are all much of a muchness. Just get some cheap ones but check what sizes are in your case before you order. /edit The thing to check is what plugs your current fans use, 3 or 4 pin plugs Edited July 21, 2014 by Madmini Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Oh How Original Posted July 21, 2014 Author Share Posted July 21, 2014 Okay bud thanks, I did used to have 5 in it with a controller and stuff in the front, but my mate (very good with computers) put it all in and then took it out when the noise was getting too much... I wouldn't mind hooking another couple up to it though then I can just turn a couple on and turn them up while converting or doing something that's making it particularly warm. Hoping my paste arrives Wednesday anyway so I'll update the thread with how I get on. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Madmini Posted July 21, 2014 Share Posted July 21, 2014 When you order your fans get a can of compressed air to clean it. Just leave it off for a while before you spray the insides (thermal shock would probably kill it) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Oh How Original Posted July 21, 2014 Author Share Posted July 21, 2014 Yeah I'll do it when I get up one day when it's been turned off all night. I've also got some compressed air as well, just need some cleaning alcohol to take the old stuff off (if theirs actually anything left) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Oh How Original Posted July 22, 2014 Author Share Posted July 22, 2014 Can anyone confirm if this fits my motherboard? I've double checked and my motherboard does take 240pin ddr2, but this is advertised as for a workstation, I've been offered the exact same thing from a friend who's very into PCs and has loads hanging around, so if it will fit, I reckon 8gb will give a noticable increase in performance, especially after it's been given a right good clean and fresh thermal paste and fresh fan. Can anyone confirm please? http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/8GB-2x-4GB-PC2-5300P-DDR2-667Mhz-Server-Memory-ECC-Registered-RAM-DIMM-240-Pin-/261538016300?pt=UK_Computing_ComputerComponents_MemoryRAM_JN&hash=item3ce4e16c2c Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Madmini Posted July 23, 2014 Share Posted July 23, 2014 Depends if your motherboard supports EEC ram or not. Check your manual or go look at http://uk.crucial.com/gbr/en Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Oh How Original Posted July 23, 2014 Author Share Posted July 23, 2014 No idea where the manual is, I had a look online but wasn't really sure what I was looking for! Best spec page I could find is this, could you have a look over it for me and see what you think? http://uk.msi.com/product/mb/K9N6SGMV__K9N6PGMFI__K9N6PGMF.html#hero-specification Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Madmini Posted July 23, 2014 Share Posted July 23, 2014 Just run the tool from crucial a website mate Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Oh How Original Posted July 23, 2014 Author Share Posted July 23, 2014 Been to see my mate today and grabbed another 2gb stick and a new fan and heatsink, also got my thermal paste on... Gave Ccleaner a good run, gave the insides a very good clean as you could barely see the MB for dust build up, same with the fans. While I was at my mates, I very very nearly bought his current gaming rig, i7, 80gb SSD, 1TB HDD, 16GB ram, full gaming case, all water cooled... I was very tempted As for my system, I think the results speak for themselves, a good 15-20C drop when running programs. I definitely think I'm going to upgrade to something better soon though, I've got my mate on the lookout for something, thinking maybe an AMD quad core, and either 8 or 16gb ram, just so I can run heavy programs smoothly, either way for now, this will do me. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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