Windows 7: Temperature question

Okay here's the deal. My old computer's temperature sensor is either broken or I am doing something wrong.

The general specs of it are:

Windows 7 Ultimate Edition
Intel 946G Motherboard
Pentium D 820 2.8Ghz
3 GB DDR2 533 Ram
ATI Radeon x1650 pro


When I go into bios and read the cpu temperature from there, it starts at around 70C and slowly rises until it eventually hits 100C and shuts down. This takes about 5-10 min before it hits 100C. This seems extremely weird to me.

When I enter Windows, it starts at around 60C and it actually goes up to 80C when I am playing games. This is way hotter than normal. It does not rise like in bios and goes back to 60C when idle.

Prior to this, the temperature actually hit 100C and it shut down my computer. I bought a new heatsink thinking it would solve the problem, but clearly it did not. The temperature is still too hot.

Since a brand new heatsink did not work, I thought it was cpu problem for sure. I borrowed one of my friend's Celeron D and installed it. I entered bios and what do you know, it stays at 42C and does not even budge. So at this point, I'm 100% sure it's a cpu problem.

I decided to buy an intel pentium D 945 3.4Ghz. I installed it and was extremely happy thinking my cpu's temperature would be decent. I entered bios and what do you know, it does exactly the same thing my 820 2.8Ghz did. It starts around 70C and the damn thing keeps on rising.



So I decided to go into windows to see how the temperatures were in there. It idles at around 47-49C. When I ran prime95 for a test, the cpu went all the way up to 93C before I decided to shut it off and not do any further damage.

I spent some dough trying to fix this and I do not want to spend anymore if it does not resolve the issue. I have narrowed it down to my motherboard. Do you guys think I should buy a new motherboard and hopefully it works? The computer is not that bad for my little 10 year old brother to use.

Wow. A 30 degree C rise in 5-10 min is extreme.

It sounds like you know your way around a PC so I hesitate to mention that your symptoms are normally caused by an improperly fitted heatsink, or lack of or improperly applied thermal compound (you know- people who put it on like they were frosting a cake!).

But another possibility is that the BIOS needs to be reset whenever you change a processor. (Or - unlikely - the processor is not supported by the BIOS).

If this sounds like a possibility, try this:
Make note of all your preferred BIOS settings, Enter BIOS and "Reset Defaults", Save & Exit, Then power down.

Unplug the power cord or switch off the power supply and wait 120 seconds or more.

Now plug back in. power on, and enter BIOS again. Reset Defaults again. Then reset your preferred settings.

See if that improves anything.

Are you running the most current BIOS for your motherboard?

Since you've already tried a new heatsink and fan, I'm not entirely certain what's causing this, especially since it appears to be CPU related.

It's possible that your board isn't 100% compatible either, so maybe a BIOS update would work? Just to be safe, when you are flashing the BIOS, use your friends CPU that you borrowed earlier to ensure that you don't get a shutdown during the process. The absolute last thing you need to happen is a shutdown halfway through a BIOS Flash.

What I can answer for you is you have you shutdown temperature set WAY TOO HIGH! I've seen processors fried by hitting around the 70c mark. I have my own set to 60C, which is generall about 20C higher than my "load" temp of 43C

FYI

This is the amount of Thermal compound to use. Not much needed.
Little gray spot in the middle.
Mike

Since this motherboard is fairly old, the latest bios version is from 2007. I have the most up-to-date version. I have applied the thermal paste correctly (a dot right in the middle) and from the manufactures website, it says that the CPU is fully compatible with this motherboard.

Like I have said in my opening post, I bought a brand new pentium D CPU and the temperature seems the same to me.

TVeblen: I will try what you suggested and report back. Thank you.

Update: TVeblen: It did not help at all. It is still the same.

No one has any idea?