Hi everyone,

 

Recently, my computer has been doing quite a lot of strange things. First, sometimes the computer will freeze on Google Chrome, and the freeze lasts about 5 seconds. After those 5 seconds, a small beep is heard from my speakers. What does this beep mean? I researched and it looks like my RAM is having problems, but I don't know. Secondly, my computer (sometimes) when I turn it on, will not even get into the BIOS screen and shut itself off, restarting by itself about 5 seconds later. What is this? And third, after having these weird problems, I went in to my BIOS and did a RAM test. It said my RAM was okay. Also, I went into my Overclocking section to see if the temperatures were fine, and they were, but I also noticed that my computer has by itself unoverclocked. It was 4.2, not it's down to 3.3 again. Why is that?

 

 

Thanks.

It probably set itself to the system defaults if it wasn't cleanly booted.

Happened to me a few times.

It probably set itself to the system defaults if it wasn't cleanly booted.

Happened to me a few times.

What do you mean, cleanly booted?

Sounds like you don't have a stable overclock. Now that it is back down to 3.3 from your overclock of 4.2, is it working fine again, or are the problems still there?

You might want to download and run the free version of MemTest , Linux. (from a USB memory stick after the system boots, but before the OS loads) Here is the Manual.

 

Best - the DeLuxe version - $14.

 

What a coincidence - there's also a special version for someone named "Linux".......

 

B)

Sounds like you may have to reapply thermal paste on your cpu, clean your cooler and fans also.

Sounds like you don't have a stable overclock. Now that it is back down to 3.3 from your overclock of 4.2, is it working fine again, or are the problems still there?

That's weird, I did hundreds of Prime95 tests and I never had any problems with my voltage. I didn't overclock it again, I left it at 3.3.

You might want to download and run the free version of MemTest , Linux. (from a USB memory stick after the system boots, but before the OS loads) Here is the Manual.

 

Best - the DeLuxe version - $14.

 

What a coincidence - there's also a special version for someone named "Linux".......

 

B)

Lol.

 

I did do the memtest some time ago and I never got any problems either. I'll try and rerun the test tidy and see what I get.

 

Sounds like you may have to reapply thermal paste on your cpu, clean your cooler and fans also.

Hmmm.. Do I need to scrape off the old paste or what? This part scares me a bit because I never know the right amount.

Well, I would verify that the problem is, indeed, thermal, before considering that step.

Hi Yes you need to clean the cpu off with isopropyl alcohol with a bounty towel do not use a real towel can get into your pins big problem pull the cpu before cleaning, then use a thin layer of paste over the whole top of cpu with a business card don't go to heavy just a nice thin even layer and clean your cooler as best as possible I had the same problems you mentioned this should clear it up about every 6 months is a good idea to repeat this process. Clean the bottom of the cooler also with alcohol.

Thanks all.

 

Is there ABSOLUTELY no other way to know if the problem is thermal other than manually taking out the CPU fan? This would be a major pain in the &@($* since my fan is the CoolerMaster Hyper 212+ and that thing is big! It took me like an hour to install. Anyway, even under full load, my processor never reaches 50°C. I checked while rendering a bunch of stuff. I used RealTemp.

I wouldn't rely too much on your reported CPU temperature rather what your individual core temperatures are, but I'm not convinced it is a thermal issue. Personally I've never had to remove a cooler and re-apply paste, if I've been concerned about any cooler not operating efficiently I've removed the fan and brushed / blown any dust out of the cooler fins, cleaned the fan and re-fitted. If your cooler is dust free and your temps are reasonable under load then there's no need to take it any further. If you ever do have to re-apply paste there are a lot of youtube videos on how to do this, I would look at the pros and cons of the grain of rice / small pea method over the spreading method, evidence points to the latter potentially leading to air pockets between the cooler and CPU which is not condusive to efficient thermal transfer, it's how I used to apply paste but not any more.

 

To me your problem sounds more like an issue with a failing CMOS battery causing you to loose your settings which would potentially explain your difficulties in booting and instability. So after checking / cleaning your cooler and confirming your load temps are OK my next step would be to replace the CMOS battery, clear CMOS and reset BIOS to how you need it, and see if that resolves the issue.

+1 :good:

Okay, I ran Memtest and my motherboard's test and they both showed no problems. I opened my computer and I also saw no physical problems with the RAM. It wasn't hot, no pins were broken, etc. The CPU fan wasn't covered in dust, but tomorrow I'll use my air thing to clean it all out.

Again there might have been initial problem when you installed your fan in which the thermal paste was not applied right or it was jostled around creating non thermal protected areas when I removed my water cooler it appeared some areas were not covered with paste and I do know how to apply it correctly ( probably from normal use but not sure) you need to be very careful when installing your fan especially with a large fan cooler.

Again there might have been initial problem when you installed your fan in which the thermal paste was not applied right or it was jostled around creating non thermal protected areas when I removed my water cooler it appeared some areas were not covered with paste and I do know how to apply it correctly ( probably from normal use but not sure) you need to be very careful when installing your fan especially with a large fan cooler.

I didn't spread the paste, I put a pea-sized dot and then put the fan on top. I let it "naturally" expand. Or else, I might've spread it unevenly causing air bubbles like someone said.