overheating PC

[kriesel]

If running prime95/mprime, try adding an entry like the following to prime.txt, where the number is the percentage duty cycle.

Throttling=30

This keeps my i3-370M laptop safely below ~81C while running P-1.
Also try a hardware monitoring app that will do logging of various sensors.

[wildrabbitt]

I've taken out the heatsink and cleaned it.
I've put a case fan to help the heatsink fans get the air through the case.

I think though that the real source of the problem is the PSU. Intuitively, it feels as putting a lot of demand on the processor would require a fairly robust power supply to keep it in supply of watts. I'm not an electician but that makes good sense to me.

I've ordered a corsair 850W PSU and I hope when I get it, it solves the problem.

Have you looked at system logs to see if there is any evidence there of what is happening?

Where do I find the system logs please?

[chalsall]

Originally Posted by wildrabbitt

This is the third motherboard I've bought for this chip. By the way it's a 9590 not 9370 like I first said. Bear with me, I've got to carry out the suggestions given in all the replies.

IMO, something weird is going on with your kit.

You should be able to run Prime95/mprime without explicit throttling without errors and without crashes. Modern CPUs will self-throttle if they are too warm.

Have you considered that the CPU itself might be bad, after wrapping three different MBs and two different PSUs around it?

Although unusual, it has been observed "in the wild" in the past.

[paulunderwood]

Originally Posted by wildrabbitt

Where do I find the system logs please?

If is Linux, in /var/log/.

If it is windows it might be a driver issue.

I have an Intel 4770k and it requires a slight overclock and overvoltage on the CPU to run. You might even find the memory needs an overvoltage.

Your 550w Corsair should be man enough.

[chalsall]

Originally Posted by wildrabbitt

I've taken out the heatsink and cleaned it.
I've put a case fan to help the heatsink fans get the air through the case.

That is always a good idea.

Originally Posted by wildrabbitt

I think though that the real source of the problem is the PSU. Intuitively, it feels as putting a lot of demand on the processor would require a fairly robust power supply to keep it in supply of watts. I'm not an electician but that makes good sense to me. I've ordered a corsair 850W PSU and I hope when I get it, it solves the problem.

No disrespect intended, but just throwing watts at a system won't generally solve the problem. Your CPU only consumes 220W, so adding more watts to the rails won't change much.

Never forget: Volts are driven. Power is drawn.

[lycorn]

I don´t believe temp is an issue. 67C is a safe temperature to run P95 on any modern CPU.
Also, I agree with chalsall that the PSU wattage shouldn´t be a thing to worry about (unless you had some power hungry component n the mix, like a GPU running at full throttle, iwhich I don´t think is the case). Therefore, I suspect you have some defective component, like a memory chip(s), which are very likely to produce weird behaviour of the system when they fail
BTW, when you say the system shuts down, do you really mean it powers off? Or does it reboot? Do you get a BSOD? That might as well indicate a driver issue. Have you installed the latest drivers for the chipset/mobo? Changed any other components in the system?

[wildrabbitt]

When I started writing this, my computer was up and running a double-check.

Have you considered that the CPU itself might be bad, after wrapping three different MBs and two different PSUs around it?

I swapped the CPU for a 9370 (it was a 9590). I also cleaned the CPU heatsink, the fans. I put a new case fan in. I realised the PSU fan was facing down which is the way it's meant to be in this case so I took it out and am running it on the table so the fan points up.

Like I say, everything was going well and the as I was about to count my chickens it switched off again. Now, I don't actually know if it's switching off or
what.

I think I might have found a clue in the EVENT VIEWER.

Event source : kernal power.
Event ID 42.

The general box says. The system is entering sleep. Sleep reason : Application API.

Could it be that prime95 is putting my machine to sleep?

[science_man_88]

Originally Posted by wildrabbitt

When I started writing this, my computer was up and running a double-check.




I swapped the CPU for a 9370 (it was a 9590). I also cleaned the CPU heatsink, the fans. I put a new case fan in. I realised the PSU fan was facing down which is the way it's meant to be in this case so I took it out and am running it on the table so the fan points up.

Like I say, everything was going well and the as I was about to count my chickens it switched off again. Now, I don't actually know if it's switching off or
what.

I think I might have found a clue in the EVENT VIEWER.

Event source : kernal power.
Event ID 42.

The general box says. The system is entering sleep. Sleep reason : Application API.

Could it be that prime95 is putting my machine to sleep?

https://social.technet.microsoft.com...10itprogeneral sounds similar but has a different sleep reason potentially.

[chalsall]

Originally Posted by wildrabbitt

I think I might have found a clue in the EVENT VIEWER.

OK. That this is telling you is that something is asking the kernel to enter sleep mode. It's not crashing, so throwing additional hardware at the problem isn't going to do anything beyond cost you coin.

Originally Posted by wildrabbitt

Could it be that prime95 is putting my machine to sleep?

That would be extremely unlikely. It could crash or freeze your machine if your kit was bad, but putting your machine to sleep would be counter-productive towards its own goals.

I never run Winblows, so I can't suggest anything further. But doing a quick Google for "windows event source kernel power event id 42" results in many links which might help.

TL;DR: The problem (probably) isn't with your kit, but rather your OS. And/or a PEBCAK issue.

[joe654]

these reply relating to the question helps me a lot. thanks.