Slight Issue...

[plasmas222]

So I recently bought and put together a new computer for myself. It was the first time I had done this, but with the help of the friendly people here, especially glc, I had no issues. Everything got here, I put it all together, works perfectly. Except for one minor annoyance... If the computer has not been on for awhile, and I try to turn it on, it freaks out. I will get to my desktop fine (windows xp pro, 32bit), but as it loads up, it either locks up completely, or restarts itself. This pattern continues until I restart the computer by holding down the power button to turn it off, and back on. At that point it works fine. I have found no other issues with hardware or software, so I am at a loss to explain why this happens. If anyone has any suggestions or helpful information I would be very grateful for the assistance.

Thanks

[Khalil]

Please provide your list of components.

[plasmas222]

ram : http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16820231277

case: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16811129066

mb: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16813131405

graphics: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16814103087

psu: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16817139005

cpu: intel i7 860

hddr: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...black%201%20tb


Also, my temp readings have been acting up today. This is new, other has been happening for the 3-4 weeks I've had the system. The cores got up to 80 when I was stress testing today, so I stopped the test because that seemed WAY too hot. Now they are staying at about 45-55 while I'm doing nothing. Normally they are at 30 when I have all 4 fans on low... They are all on high now and cores are still staying 45-50 while usage is <2%....

Edit: Turned off computer, unplugged everything, and checked to make sure nothing had been dislodged or any other obvious problems - found nothing. So I let it sit for awhile, had to of cooled all the way or near to room temp, turned it on, as it was turning on it said it hit 95..... wth? No way it could possible be getting that hot just from turning on is there? And then it went back down to 50-60 in 5-10 seconds... wont change at all. Every time I do anything that uses any CPU% at all, it freaks out and says its overheating. Starting to wonder if the sensor's are working correctly... It isn't the program because I tried another and got same numbers...

Edit: After messing around a little bit I've found that putting a little pressure onto the heat sink/CPU fan makes the temp reading go down, but only to 40-60 range vs the 70-100 range.... the heat sink and fan both seem to be correctly placed, the thermal paste looks fine, and the heat sink does not feel hot... But every program I have tried is reading the cpu as hot... The individual cores ~10C higher than the processor (that makes no sense to me... but w/e)

I am half convinced the sensor is messed up...

temps in C.

A little worried... Ideas/help on either issue please.



Thanks

[plasmas222]

Here is a screen of temps....



http://yfrog.com/1gcpuscreenp

[tmathews]

If pressing down on the heatsink/fan makes the temperature go down it's not a sensor issue but rather a mounting issue. You'll want to make sure the heatsink is properly attached at all four corners: I have no personal experience with socket 1156 but I'll guess it's like socket 775 and the pins must be fully seated. It doesn't take much to make for poor thermal contact and overheating.

As for the cores being ~10C higher than the cores, the core temperature sensors will be located in the cores (which generate the most heat) while the processor temperature sensor will be somewhere else, probably in the chip's miscellaneous circuits (which generate much less heat): think of the cores as the parts that do the work (and get hot) vs. the rest of the chip that "glues" the cores together (and doesn't get particularly hot). What you're seeing for core vs. processor temps just reinforces that it's just a heatsink contact problem.

I'll leave it to someone with 1156 experience to walk you through the reseating process.

[triquee]

HSF installation was something I agonized over during my build. I'm using a Cooler Master Hyper 212 plus. What I found particularly troubling was that the amount of screw tightening necessary seemed like it would be putting too much pressure on the CPU at first. I kept imagining that I heard CPU pins crushing under the weight of the pressure, but I realized that it was just the screw springs popping as they coiled and tightened.

I think in all I reseated the HSF 3 times before I finally got over my trepidations, checking and rechecking the thermal grease application each time. What helped was alternating between the screws in the pattern suggested and turning lightly on the screwdriver (only thumb and finger pressure, no palm) until I found the point where light thumb and finger pressure would no longer turn the screw, and that's where I left it. Seems to be working just fine.

Are you using the stock HSF or an after market HSF?

[plasmas222]

I am using the HSF that came with the i7. Every time I check it seems fine though... Paste is fine and HSF is on tight/secure... All I can think of is to buy top of the line thermal paste and hope that helps... Or maybe that and a new HSF... Going to attempt to mess with it some more, see if I cant get it to tighten some more.... idk... ugh.

Any suggestions about my original problem with the computer restarting/fudging up at tun on?

Edit: Played with the HSF for a bit and it seems I got it into a better position... Temp is staying at 55-60 while running CPU at 20% for hours. Still seems a little hot for running 4 fans on high....


Thanks

[Hufigyed]

I have an i7 860 as well and it ran quite hot with the stock HSF. It actually shut off a few times while running at full load because it was getting too hot. Mine idled around 50C with the stock HSF and after like 5 minutes at 100% load the temps would hit upper 90s. The computer is in a room with slightly higher than normal room temperature though and I never tried reseating it. So I can't tell you if the high temps are normal with the stock HSF because I never tried reseating but it almost seems like the HSF can't quite keep up.
Since I fold 24/7 (100% load) I decided to get a Cooler Master Hyper 212+ and now it idles around 30C an the highest I've ever seen is 60C.
It is possible that a better compound like Arctic Silver 5 will help lower your temps and its pretty cheap if you want to try it. Then again the HSF I got is only $24 and you can get a much quieter fan for it but there goes your CPU warranty.