Emergency: CPU overheat?

[blackknight3519]

So it's kind of a hot summer day at my house, just got borderlands two and started playing when all of a sudden, my computer shuts off and it's not cuz of the power cuz my monitors still worked. I think I know what happened.

My CPU has been cooled passively by two fans, one at the back and one at the top of my case and the heatsinke that sits on it. I kept the fans on low and it worked well during the winter time. I guess not in the summer. My only worry is, if something like this happens, is it permanent, did I just blow my computer up? :(

[Skops]

Computer will shut off when the CPU overheats. Check your temps and increase the fan speed.

[YoYo155]

Probably not I wouldn't worry to much if you were able to boot properly after 15min+- when it cooled down a bit no major harm was done.

[blackknight3519]

Okay, so it's a fail safe?

[ExDreamer]

Yeah,you might want to speed up the fan a little bit

[JamesDwho]

You can use a program called "RealTemp" to monitor CPU temperatures, you can setup an alarm temperature so you can know when its getting too hot. Anything 85C or higher is too hot. 

http://www.techpowerup.com/realtemp/

[FireFox]

What CPU do you have and also you won't damage it, the shutting down is to prevent any damage to the die

 

Also when was the last time you opened the case and cleared any dust out, might be worth doing.

[Wulfgar]

I'm confused, you say your cpu is cooled passively, but passively means that there is no fan on the heatsink itself. Did you mean your cpu is cooled actively with a fan on the heatsink, or that the cpu has just the heatsink with the only ventilation being from the other 2 case fans?

 

If it really is passive, I strongly recommend putting one of the fans on the heatsink (or buy another with good static pressure). Don't forget that ambient temperatures have a huge effect on your computer, the fans can only remove heat so much until thermal equilibrium is reached, at that point you will have to lower the temperature of the room itself. Good luck.

[XiaoPigs]

So it's kind of a hot summer day at my house, just got borderlands two and started playing when all of a sudden, my computer shuts off and it's not cuz of the power cuz my monitors still worked. I think I know what happened.

My CPU has been cooled passively by two fans, one at the back and one at the top of my case and the heatsinke that sits on it. I kept the fans on low and it worked well during the winter time. I guess not in the summer. My only worry is, if something like this happens, is it permanent, did I just blow my computer up? :(

You said passively. I am as confused as the guy above me. If you really are using a passive cooler which no one should be doing, get yourself something like a Hyper 212 Evo or just use the stock cooler. I wonder what your temps have been like too.

[AustinTheIntern]

Passive? As in using case fans? o_O

[Quaker]

My CPU has been cooled passively by two fans, one at the back and one at the top of my case and the heatsinke that sits on it.

Are you saying there's no fan on the CPU's heatsink?

 

If not, that could be your problem.

 

Give us more details on the CPU, case, and heatsink.

[DavePC]

Agreed. Blackknight, could you please install HWMonitor, and let me know your temperatures, and if you are overclocked (use CPU-Z to check)? Please give me both idle (no programs running) and with load (prime 95 small FFT, for about 5 minutes, if not possible let me know).

 

As for the computer shutting off, it should be fine. This means that the CPU has identified that its been hitting its TJMax, and shuts itself off as a safe guard. I would recommend you fix this issue before it turns into a real problem.

 

You can find the links here:

 

HW Monitor:

http://www.cpuid.com.../hwmonitor.html

 

CPU-Z:

http://www.cpuid.com...ares/cpu-z.html

 

Prime 95:

http://www.mersenne.org/freesoft/

 

By Passively cooled, do you mean you have a heat sink with no fan at all? If so, this may be an issue. I understand some coolers are made for passive cooling though, so let us know what heatsink you have on your CPU. 

 

Thanks!

Dave

[blackknight3519]

K, so in response to everyone's questions, I put my heat sink fan back on, I've turned my normal case fans back up and my temps are now down to about 40 C. Thanks for the help :)