Hi I have a friend whose computer has a major overheating issue. Her pc is equipped with an AMD Athlon 64 x2 dual core 6000+ running at stock speed that would normally be at 35C and 45C during idle and load time respectively, which is a pretty good temperature given that she is gaming in hot summer. However recently the processor temperature started to heat up drastically, the slightest processor activity would result in a sharp increase, for example transfering a file would cause the CPU to go up to 46 (which is normally around 36) and loading up any game would raise it to a whopping of 60C shortly followed by a system shutdown.
The possible cause of this alarming temperature is bizarrely confusing. She ensured that the CPU fan was rotating properly, thermal paste was applied correctly, the heatsink was securely mounted to processor and plenty of air was flowing in the casing which is a good brand with good space and equipped with adequate number of fans. Additionally the room temperature didnt rise by much (currently weather temperature is 18 C according to weather reports) since last time the processor was working (about one week ago), I dont think couple of degrees rise will lead to such a drastic increase in the CPU temperature.
Its an odd problem given that the common causes of overheating have been double checked, CPU never been overclocked and its using a good third party cooler so I am having hard time determining the cause of the problem
The only speculation I can think of is this: The problem only occurred after she has started to play World Of Warcraft in a multi boxing environment for couple of days (see link below for brief explanation)
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/MultiboxingEssentially its a way of playing multiple characters simultaneously by running multiple instances of the game. In her case she was running 3 instances of World Of Warcraft which was stressful on her system indicated by reduced frame rates and stuttering which are severe during intensive combat scenes and in crowded areas. I believe this kind of activity was CPU intensive and could be a sign that her processor might had stability problem and only became evident when it was pushed to its limit by a stressful CPU task.
Reckon that the above have served as a stress test suggesting that the CPU was not very stable, defective and should be RMAed while its under warranty, rather than trying replace the CPU cooler?
Thanks in advance
a_anis3000
