This is getting annoying

[mdlbear]

For the last several months the machine I'm currently using as my desktop machine has had the annoying habit of freezing up on occasion. It seems to be a thermal problem -- at first it only happened when 3-D screensavers came on, then about a month ago it started happening while transcoding video files. It's happened three times today, for no apparent reason. The fans are working -- noisily, but they're working.

I really don't want to spend any more money on computers this year. Especially since next year I'll presumably have some business income that I'll want to offset. But this machine's days are numbered. Probably in 5 bits or less.

Comments

[it-aint-easy.livejournal.com]

Have you tried vacuuming (or blasting with canned air) the heat sink on the CPU? I've had to do that a couple of times with my latest machine. They just get loaded up with lint over time until the fans can't do their work.

[eleccham.livejournal.com]

And checked the fans themselves? I've seen that more than once because the fan had stalled...

You might also check the voltage on the power supply and/or try swapping it out if you have a spare. My next guess would be the video card.

A cheap possibility - and one that shouldn't use much CPU - is running Memtest86+, if you haven't already.

[mdlbear]

I should definitely check the fan. There didn't seem to be too much crud in the case, and it doesn't sound like a dying fan. (Pausing to battle "The Dying Cubs Fan's Lament", which threatens to become an earworm.)

I may well end up replacing the heatsink, or at least replacing its fan and adding more silicone grease.

[elimloth.livejournal.com]

Again, this surely looks like poor thermal conduction between the processor and its heat sink.