PC Issue

[ExtremePabs]

Hi

I am seeking a little advice. I have recently built a new pc I5 3570K processor,8 gig ram and gigabyte motherboard. This has 3 case fans and an Artic cooler processor cooler and a 750w OCZ power supply.

The problem I am having is that I have had 2 BSOD in the last couple of days and I can't work out why. My best guess is that its overheating but the fan ports seem cool and I have opened the case and the pc doesn't seem to be running hot.

This was a brand new Windows 7 install and very little has been installed so far. Does anyone have any recommendations on measuring pc temps? or anything they suggest I check?

This was my first pc build for a long time and I am at a bit of a loss.

Thanks

[Baseley09]

Perhaps uneven spread, or not enough of thermal paste on your CPU.

[charlesr]

Use speedfan to measure temps. You might have to "run as administrator".

Or look in bios - maybe you have some crazy low cutoffs.

[ExtremePabs]

thanks will try both of those. Its very odd because I did leave it on for about 6 or 7 hours the first two days on the desktop and had no issues at all.

What sort of temps are safe?

[charlesr]

Depends what sort of i5 you have.
http://www.cpuid.com/downloads/cpu-z/1.61-setup-en.exe << find out.

[ExtremePabs]

Ok sorry been away for a few days

Its an I5 3570K processor if that helps. I have grabbed all the software you guys recommended but wasn't sure what sort of temperature i should see. All my drivers etc are upto date I have checked that.

One other minor issue is that when gaming my games keep minimizing every 30 seconds or so. The games aren't crashing just minimizing so I can click back in the task bar to get them back but its really annoying. A quick look on the net informed me that something else is grabbing "focus" but this seemed to mainly be related to AVG antivirus which I do not use.

Thanks

[charlesr]

what model of i5 does cpu-z report? It will be a codename. You can then start looking on wikipedia and google for normal temps for that codename

[JSR]

Maybe broken memory? Try removing one of the 2 ram chips to see if that helps.

[ExtremePabs]

Depends what sort of i5 you have.
http://www.cpuid.com/downloads/cpu-z/1.61-setup-en.exe << find out.

Ok tried this which field in cpu-z should i be reading?

Ext. Model = 3A

[ExtremePabs]

Hi ok thanks for the tips it appears that one of the memory sticks was duff after trying memtest. Would this be causing incorrect temp readings? as my real temp seems to be giving me some very strange readings. The processor seems to run quite hot about 35c when initially switched on then seems to level out around 40c but under load it ramps up very quickly to around 90c.
the air inside the case and on the exhaust ports seems to be not much warmer than room temp though.

[Brad]

My i5 idles at about 33. under game load it climbs to about 50. Under torture testing (prime 95) it can reach 60 or 70 pretty quick but tops out in the early 70s. This is with a corsair H60 cooler. Also I am overclocked to 4.5GHz

[charlesr]

Ok tried this which field in cpu-z should i be reading?

Ext. Model = 3A

You need to look in the "codename" field. Mine says Lynnfield, but it could be Clarkdale or Arandale http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Intel_Core_i5#Core_i5

My Lynnfield idles at 42? and climbs to 70? under the low ram prime 95 torture test.
Before I upgraded the cooler, the stock cooler would fail miserably and heat would rise to 90?+ before I got scared and turned it off, although apparantly the Lynnfield is safeish to around 100
Mine autooverclocks in bios depending on load.

[speedlolita]

Are you sure you used the cooler retention method properly? I'd definitely retry that.

If not, then reseat (and maybe get some AS5 too). Or simply buy another cooler.

[ExtremePabs]

Ok guys a mini update the memory was failing in memtest86 so investigation is on hold until the memory is replaced.

This reseating of the cooler. How do you remove the cooler? I didnt fit this bit myself. Do they just clip on top of the processor?

[charlesr]

I watched a vid on youtube before I did mine.

I got one of these: http://www.quietpc.com/products/amdc...ezer7-pro-rev2

It was pretty easy. I used some Arcticlean to remove the old heat goo from the CPU and tinted the surface with Arctic 5 and then just used the goo that was already on the cooler.