One Hot CPU

I'm not a fan of the Family computer, I'm more of a Personal Computer sort of person. I'm on the computer more often than an episode of CSI is on TV, and from what I hear, that is a lot. This doesn't leave much time for other members of the family to use the computer, so everyone has their own computer for the most part. Which brings us around to the subject of my Wife's computer.

It was built at the same time as mine. It replaced the AMD Athlon 1700+ she had with an Athlon 64 X2 3600+. Usually I trickle parts down, so she would have gotten my AMD Athlon 2800+, but most of that systems RAM had failed. DDR ram was priced rather ridiculously at the time and you could get twice as much DDR2 for half the money, so DDR2 motherboards for everyone. The 3600+ was roughly $15 more than a higher clocked Sempron single core, so I went with it.

Lately though, her computer complains about heat. More specifically CPU heat. If her PC is doing much more than idling, it's too hot. Well, the machine was running the stock HSF with the pre-applied thermal paste. So, step one, clean up the paste and apply some more. Worked for awhile, then the machine began complaining again. Well, my machine is running a heat pipe CPU cooler that keeps it quite cool, all considering, so I got a similar one for her computer. Same result, the computer was happy for awhile, but a short while. Maybe the case isn't circulating enough air. Her case had 2 fans, not including the power supply. Side fan in, rear fan out. So, I added some more fans. A 2nd one out back, one in the front and one at the top. Still complaints from the machine.

Contact is good with the HSF, air flow seems good on the case, so what is the issue? Well, I'm beginning to suspect other issues. When a CPU is made, it isn't made for a specific speed rating. It gets made, then tested, and then they sell it based on the speeds it could run stable at the recommended voltage. The 3600+ is the slowest of the Athlon 64 X2 line, and there is a reason a CPU ends up there. It might not run stable at a higher speed, or it needs more voltage, or quite possibly, it gets too hot to run any faster.

So the next test is to see if my Athlon 64 X2 5000+ runs cooler in her PC than her current CPU. If it does, then I think we know what the issue is.