Pentium D 3GHZ

[samueli]

Question for the guru folks out there (I know there are a couple of you that are really knowledgeable). I don't keep up on the cutting edge for computer hardware anymore, so I don't know where I stand.

I inherited a 3ghz pentium D system. I was around when this pc was first built a few years ago, and it was a screamer. Very well cared for. Then it was passed down to the parents, became loaded with spyware and finally set aside for a new PC. Now I have the PC after the monitor would not light up, and I'm excited because it's leaps and bounds above what I'm currently using.

I plucked the memory to find one of the 512 modules was halting boot, so I now I could boot it with just one memory module. Then I went on to run various adware/malware tools. Then all of a sudden it would just shutdown out of nowhere. Then shutdown like clockwork as soon as the windows tray was loaded or I open something. Towards the end of the evening I coudn't even get through a bios update before it would shutdown. Rumor was that the old bios misreported temperatures.

So I took of the cover and pointed a fan at the MB and cranked the processor speed down to 1995MHz in bios. Everything except the floppy drive and video card is now unplugged, and was able to get the through the BIOS update. The room I was working in was warm, but enough to drive the processor temp above 190 degrees F? The MB temperature shutoff for processor was set at 203 F, but it never reached it.

So now I'm sitting here with a PC that over heats in like 10 seconds, 1TB in Hard drives, a Pentium D 3ghz (I think Dual core), several PCI express x16 video cards and a really awesome thermaltake case that should have no trouble keeping it cool with all the fans it has, and a motherboard that is designed to dissipate heat. I'm not sure where to move forward.

I was thinking of popping off the heat sink and re-artic silvering it, but the person who built the machine originally was no slouch in building pc's and I highly doubt it was done incorrectly. Not to mention it ran fine for years under her care in a warm upstairs bedroom and then for a spell with her parents.

If I keep the machine I'll need to buy lots of ram, since it only has one 512 module (out of 2) that is functional. I'll also need to buy windows.

My question would be: Is this system worth the upgrade money and hours of troubleshooting to keep it running? Buying more memory and a legit copy of windows is beyond my budget, but if it's worth it, I could squeeze it out.

Or, should I just save for an upgrade to MB, processor and ram? The problem here is that I've also inherited several PCI express x16 video cards as well, so I really have a bunch of parts. I don't think these cards would work if I moved up to the latest MB+CPU, so I'd have to lay out more money. I need to use as much of what I have as I can.

The board is an abit aw8-max, and is pretty sweet. I think it may come down to the room I was working in was just too hot. But, updating the BIOS broke the RAID and I don't own a copy of windows greater than 2000. I could go linux, but this board thrives with windows and I already have licensed copies of all the softwares I use.

Any cost effective thoughts would be appreciated!

[In2Photos]

I wouldn't spend much on that machine. I would try to re-seat the CPU with some new thermal paste since it is cheap. Can you feel the heat from the machine? Does it really seem like it is getting that hot?

From there I would upgrade the mobo, CPU and RAM. Go quad core if you can, 4GB RAM or more. For OS download Win 7 for free to use until you can afford to pay for it. The PCI-Express video cards should work fine, not sure why you think they won't.

[EiTheL]

btw for the anti-virus and anti-spyware, I would recommend using a boot CD as it clears EVERYTHING (basically everything) as when you start windows normally, viruses start with it and go into "hiding" mode. A boot CD will catch everything. Google UBCD4win

And yea, your processor is a 64 bit dual core. I don't know what the temp is in F, but I know that intel processors shouldn't be above 85C all the time and they shut down at around 100.

with the ammount of trouble that this is going thru (and the age of it too) I would say to scrap it and get a new computer. (keep the chasis/HD and fans, get a new mobo... wait, basically what in2photos said XD)

[tim]

Format and start again. Reseat the heat sink on the CPU if it keeps shutting down.

[samueli]

Brought the machine to the basement where it's cooler. Was able to install windows 7, but windows made some little swap partition on one of the data drives preventing mirroring. So I swapped drive order and started again, and the shutting down appeared. Checked temp and it was at 219F, which is pretty hot. Can't feel the heat though. Touched heatsinks and it's not that hot at all.

Thanks for the replies! Time to reseat the heatsink.

[Colorblinded]

If it's that hot (yeouch!) and the heatsink isn't hot then I'd say there's a really bad thermal coupling between CPU & heatsink. I would take off the heatsink, clean it and the processor and try reseating it with fresh thermal compound which it sounds like you are doing.

Beyond that I would not sink much money or effort in to a Pentium D system at this point if there are more problems with it unless you are desperate and can't afford anything else. It doesn't take much $ to topple a Pentium D at this point.

[tim]

You can get an arctic silver kit with heatsink cleaner and new thermal paste.