A64 Getting really hot for no reason

[joely]

I got a A64 3000+ and for some reason every so often the thing gets really hot (up to 70 degrees) no excesive load etc no changes in cpu fan speed, im runnimg a thermaltake venus 12 on manual control it will then settle back down after a re-boot, any ideas? (and no its not OC'ed and hasnt been since new)

[Timmy!!!]

Have a look in Windows Task Manager and see if you can spot any processes you don't know about. If you find any they will probably be spyware. Do you have any anti spyware programs? Try using them. If you dont download lavasoft adaware or spybot search and destroy!

Hope this helps

[iMc]

Heatsink fitted properly? might have come a little lose. resit cant hurt with a new coating of TIM (Artic Silver 5 recommended).

[joely]

yeah am going to check the hs fitting, has arctic silver on there already, strange thing is the randomness, tonight was the first time it got REALLY hot

[BUFF]

Did you actually touch the HSF to check or was it just reported as being hot by a monitoring programme?
If it's a Newcastle core then pretty much every mobo mfrs forum has posts regarding weird reported temps.

[Firelord]

Which motherboard might help to pinpoint the problem...

[joely]

it is definately not a mobo thing as my aerogate with a seperate thermocouple on the HS was reading high too

[Timmy!!!]

Could it be a software thing? Try updating the chipset drivers. Is the CPU actually getting hot to touch or is it just the temperature reporting it to get hot every so often?

Edit: Crap soz I didnt read recent posts properly, temp thing already suggested.

[Firelord]

it is definately not a mobo thing as my aerogate with a seperate thermocouple on the HS was reading high too

The reason I ask was if you had an MSI then I know they read 10-15c to high and have real crap temp sensors. My K8N Neo wouldn't read below 20c go figure

Anyway was the thermocouple touching the heatsink or the CPU? Did you use decent thermal interface?

[joely]

the thermocouple sits on the bottom of the heatsink next to the CPU attached using thermal tape, as for the thermal interface its arctic silver. So its not just a reading problem!

[Zak33]

anychance the BIOS is resetting voltage without you knowing?

Just a guess....and I hjave no idea if such things occur. But high temps NORMALLY mean high Voltages

[joely]

yeah that was my first thought too but as far as i can see the voltage is set to the standard in both the bios and the OC guru thing (the abit windows OC utility thingy) at 1.5v

[Zak33]

dodgy fan connector? Loose wire....bad plug on the motherboard?

Can you plug it into another plug on the mobo in case that one is faulty....

[joely]

fan is controlled manually with a knob on the front of the box, you can hear if the fan speed drops. It is mighty strange to be sure and i cant figure out what it is unless its a hardware fault on the CPU

[Zak33]

pretty damn unlikely tho, isn't it?

You got any case fans that just pack up sometimes? ie the case gets hot sometimes?

what ARE the variances ? in temp?

[Zak33]

ok...really pulling at distant wires here

DO you have broadband, and do you use a SOFTWARE FIREWALL?

Reason I ask is that before my NTL router with hardware firewall, I used Zonealarm (I like it, I know lots of people dont)

While running 3dmark 2001 with broadband plugge din and Zone Alarm, I lost 3000 points!!!!! cos the cpu was battling with various pings and other attacks at the firewall.

Unplugged the network cable, switched off Zone alarm...score rocketed again.

Now its pretty damn unliekly that you have THAT MANY attacks to repel , but its a thought (even if it is a crap one)