Hi All,

I'm having great fun trying to fix my comp (again)... ...not. :mad:

Basically, a few weeks ago, while I was playing a fairly demanding game, my comp just completely shut itself down. Weird, I thought, as I tried to turn it back on. But, it wouldn't power up.

Maybe it's overheated? I left it 10 mins or so and turned it back on. In BIOS, I had an error message saying:

...and so on. I check Everest on next boot-up and see pretty damn high temperatures inside the box. So, I ordered a new fan online. It was a VapoChill (http://www.overclockers.co.uk/acatal...ll_Micro.html), if that helps anyone. It claims to pretty much eliminate motherboard overheating altogether, so it pretty much sold itself to me.

The fan arrived today, I've fit it, and booted up. I test the computer by running Sims 2, which runs at an average speed at the best of times anyway. CRASH :mad: :mad:

I boot back up again a short while later to find the same error message in BIOS. I've also noticed that the temperatures inside the box aren't actually that much different to what they were before.

Is this an overheating problem? If so... why hasn't the new fan solved it?

Thanks all.

Your system is overheating, but not due to a lack of proper cooling. From the message from your BIOS, I can tell that you haven't configured the FSB and multiplier settings for your CPU correctly. Basically, your system is overheating because your CPU is running overclocked. Go into your BIOS and make sure that you don't have any overclocking settings turned on and make sure that your front-side bus and multiplier settings are correct.

Thank GOD for clever people

Is there any way I can find out what exactly my FSB and multiplier settings are supposed to be?

What CPU do you have?

Intel Pentium 4, 3000 MHz (15 x 200)
Prescott

Is that enough info?

You've listed your FSB and multiplier settings in your post.

Multiplier - 15
FSB - 200

I'm an AMD guy, so I don't know much about Intel. I do believe; however, that Pentium 4 chips can't have their multiplier modified, so make sure that your FSB speed is set correctly.

Well, I just checked. I have the following settings:

CPU Frequency Multiple - 15x
CPU External Frequency - 200/33

I take it the bottom one is the FSB? If so, Hardware Monitor is unfortunately still giving me the same error. The CPU is still hanging

Any ideas?

Quick question... Did you put thermal paste or a thermal pad between the processor and heatsink?

There was already something on the bottom of the heatsink when I put it in, which I assume is thermal paste as it was a sticky substance. Does that make a difference?

yes and no
you should have put paste on that pad---it may be too late

but if its not too late-try putting paste on it--it should cool it by 60%