Loud Fan Won't Turn Off

**Kiko** · 04-22-2012, 04:55 PM

Originally Posted by BobL43

Good news and success is always good to hear. congrats! you did use the heat sink paste this time though, right?

Yes, but I think you are overstating the importance of the heat transfer paste.
My computer was running for God knows how many weeks or months with a huge gap between the heat sink and CPU, and the only ramifications were that the fan ran on high speed and eventually the computer shut down.

So, how could microscopic air gaps between the heat sink and CPU cause the CPU to fry, when it didn't fry when there was a 1/4" - 1/2" gap over an extended period?

It seems to me that the worst thing that could happen is that the fan would run at a higher speed for a few seconds to pull off some miniscule amount of extra heat.

**BobL43** · 04-22-2012, 05:36 PM

Originally Posted by Kiko

Yes, but I think you are overstating the importance of the heat transfer paste.
My computer was running for God knows how many weeks or months with a huge gap between the heat sink and CPU board, and the only ramifications were that the fan ran on high speed and eventually the computer shut down.

So, how could microscopic air gaps between the heat sink and CPU board cause the CPU board to fry, when it didn't fry when there was a 1/4" - 1/2" gap over an extended period?

It seems to me that the worst thing that could happen is that the fan would run at a higher speed for a few seconds to pull off some miniscule amount of extra heat.

WOT ME WORRY? Please don't ell ME the sky is falling!

Hey, watteva works for you, GO FOR IT!

**Kiko** · 04-22-2012, 07:15 PM

I was hoping for a rational, scientific explanation to counter my argument.

**DonL** · 04-23-2012, 06:49 AM

Originally Posted by Kiko

Yes, but I think you are overstating the importance of the heat transfer paste.
My computer was running for God knows how many weeks or months with a huge gap between the heat sink and CPU, and the only ramifications were that the fan ran on high speed and eventually the computer shut down.

So, how could microscopic air gaps between the heat sink and CPU cause the CPU to fry, when it didn't fry when there was a 1/4" - 1/2" gap over an extended period?

It seems to me that the worst thing that could happen is that the fan would run at a higher speed for a few seconds to pull off some miniscule amount of extra heat.

The CPU has internal Temperature limit control.

It shuts down to protect itself from melt down.

Most Newer Motherboards control the CPU fan speed, according to CPU temperature. And if the fan is three wire, it sends a tach pulse to determine the speed that it is turning, and knows if it is not running, or is running to slow. That will shut the system down if its speed is not correct.

**BobL43** · 04-23-2012, 07:05 AM

Originally Posted by DonL

The CPU has internal Temperature limit control.

It shuts down to protect itself from melt down.

Most Newer Motherboards control the CPU fan speed, according to CPU temperature. And if the fan is three wire, it sends a tach pulse to determine the speed that it is turning, and knows if it is not running, or is running to slow. That will shut the system down if its speed is not correct.

Well said Don, but kiko is implying his/her PC is running normally ohterwise, just noisy. Oops, just reread the first post, and it says that the PC is shutting down by itself spontaneously. Patrick gave kiko the first good advice, and I just added to it. If kiko prefers not to use the paste, its OK with me, as its not my PC I was trying to save from catastrophic failure. LOL. PC's are cheap these days anyway.

**DonL** · 04-23-2012, 08:51 AM

Originally Posted by BobL43

Well said Don, but kiko is implying his/her PC is running normally ohterwise, just noisy. Oops, just reread the first post, and it says that the PC is shutting down by itself spontaneously. Patrick gave kiko the first good advice, and I just added to it. If kiko prefers not to use the paste, its OK with me, as its not my PC I was trying to save from catastrophic failure. LOL. PC's are cheap these days anyway.

I would not want a overheating CPU to shut down. But it is good protection for the CPU. But can damage the motherboard.

Many times it can melt the solder on a BGA CPU or melt a plastic CPU socket.

Some people drive when the Oil light on their auto comes on, and wait till the motor blows, then check the oil. Same with water temp light. I call them DA indicators.

I like to fix something at the first sign of trouble. It is cheaper that way.

But as you know it is easy to be a pro crastinator.

**BobL43** · 04-23-2012, 10:10 AM

Originally Posted by DonL

I would not want a overheating CPU to shut down. But it is good protection for the CPU. But can damage the motherboard.

Many times it can melt the solder on a BGA CPU or melt a plastic CPU socket.

Some people drive when the Oil light on their auto comes on, and wait till the motor blows, then check the oil. Same with water temp light. I call them DA indicators.

I like to fix something at the first sign of trouble. It is cheaper that way.

But as you know it is easy to be a pro crastinator.

Touché or to make this post long enough to post, too-shay! play with my sig, will ya? LOL!

**Kiko** · 04-23-2012, 04:06 PM

I guess, what I was wanting to know is if there have ever been any studies to determine the optimum temperature that a pentium 4 (or other processor) should operate at, and if there is really a difference in operating temps between pasted and unpasted heat sinks.

I have seen a lot of youtube videos showing cpu's with globs of hardened thermal paste on them, which they say (and I agree) actually impedes thermal conductivity, since the best way to conduct heat is direct metal-to-metal.

**DonL** · 04-23-2012, 05:32 PM

Originally Posted by Kiko

I guess, what I was wanting to know is if there have ever been any studies to determine the optimum temperature that a pentium 4 (or other processor) should operate at, and if there is really a difference in operating temps between pasted and unpasted heat sinks.

I have seen a lot of youtube videos showing cpu's with globs of hardened thermal paste on them, which they say (and I agree) actually impedes thermal conductivity, since the best way to conduct heat is direct metal-to-metal.

The cooler the better.

Some of the newer motherboard BIOS will let you monitor the temperature of the CPU and the Fan RPMs.

There are some software utilities that will display it in real time.

metal-to-metal is good, but most CPUs are not metal, and the thermal paste helps between different materials, and uneven flat surfaces.

**Kiko** · 04-26-2012, 03:53 PM

Originally Posted by DonL

The cooler the better.

Some of the newer motherboard BIOS will let you monitor the temperature of the CPU and the Fan RPMs.

There are some software utilities that will display it in real time.

metal-to-metal is good, but most CPUs are not metal, and the thermal paste helps between different materials, and uneven flat surfaces.

Good information!

I downloaded a utility program called "Speedfan," which measures CPU temp. and fan speeds in real time.

I conducted a little experiment, where I monitored the temp. of my CPU, first with the CPU cooler unpasted, and then using thermal paste (made by Dynatron).

Both the pasted and unpasted CPU's idled at around 45 C, but at higher CPU usage (>25%), there was a noticeable difference: Thermal paste allowed the CPU to run from 5-10 degrees cooler than unpasted. So, it is obviously worth using it.

My processor is a Pentium 4 / 3.0 GHz
and the CPU cooler is a Dynatron - Intel Universal Edition CPU cooler

**BobL43** · 04-26-2012, 05:36 PM

Originally Posted by Kiko

Good information!

I downloaded a utility program called "Speedfan," which measures CPU temp. and fan speeds in real time.

I conducted a little experiment, where I monitored the temp. of my CPU, first with the CPU cooler unpasted, and then using thermal paste (made by Dynatron).

Both the pasted and unpasted CPU's idled at around 45 C, but at higher CPU usage (>25%), there was a noticeable difference: Thermal paste allowed the CPU to run from 5-10 degrees cooler than unpasted. So, it is obviously worth using it.

My processor is a Pentium 4 / 3.0 GHz
and the CPU cooler is a Dynatron - Intel Universal Edition CPU cooler

Glad you tried it for yourself in a comparison and became a believer.

**DonL** · 04-27-2012, 10:39 AM

Originally Posted by BobL43

Glad you tried it for yourself in a comparison and became a believer.

I use the White Monkey Poo, or the Pink stuff. But it is messy, if you get it on you.

All the clear stuff is not as good, but it washes off like KY Jelly.

Do not confuse your KY with Monkey Poo.

**BobL43** · 04-27-2012, 03:44 PM

Originally Posted by DonL

I use the White Monkey Poo, or the Pink stuff. But it is messy, if you get it on you.

All the clear stuff is not as good, but it washes off like KY Jelly.

Do not confuse your KY with Monkey Poo.

Arctic silver is made with silver particles and is um, silver!

Last time I saw monkey poo was at the Bronx Zoo, and it was definitely not pink. They were throwing it around; not a pretty sight Don.

KY helps things get hotter, not cooler if used on the proper parts

**patrick88** · 05-07-2012, 06:54 PM

Yes i know this is an old thread.

I have used Artic Silver. works great.
I have tested with no paste also. Not so good. over heated the computer.
I'm using a laptop right now that ran windows 7
Before i got this. It was over heating. Removed Win 7. Installed Debian Linux. Now it's not over heating.

I am a believer in if you set the hard ware up right and the OS all should work well.

**DonL** · 05-08-2012, 06:56 AM

Originally Posted by patrick88

Yes i know this is an old thread.

I have used Artic Silver. works great.
I have tested with no paste also. Not so good. over heated the computer.
I'm using a laptop right now that ran windows 7
Before i got this. It was over heating. Removed Win 7. Installed Debian Linux. Now it's not over heating.

I am a believer in if you set the hard ware up right and the OS all should work well.

Laptop fans are known to get lint buildup in them.

A different OS may seem to help the overheat problem, You may want to see if your fan is partially plugged up.

Most Laptop fans can be cleaned easily with a vacuum cleaner.