Computer problems, YAY! :(

[FallenTraveler]

Hi there Escapists! This is my second thread this week.

Anyway, I have had a Dell XPS 8100 since around march or april. I am constantly having random restarts, it seems to get better when I take the side off of the casing and expose the inside. Unfortunately I am not so tech savvy as to know what to do, or what information to post. If you need anything let me know how to get at it and I can edit this.

specs:
Intel Core i5 CPU 650 @3.2 GHZ
6.00 GB RAM
Nvidia GT 220 (I know it's pretty meh)

So, here are some of the things I have heard that could be the issue, and what to fix.

1. Bad memory- test and replace is the solution- I've tested with memtestx86, 2 1/2 passes and no errors.
2. Heat sink doesn't have enough gel or liquid (or something)- Get some liquid is the solution and put it in or take it to a computer repair place- havent done this as I would rather do it myself but I havent had time to really investigate how.
3. Call Dell- oh god not their tech support, that's sort of my last resort
4. Re-install- I am tempted to do this but don't want to lose any of my hard earned preferences in chrome, and photoshop, and flash and all those programs.

those are some of the things I've seen and been told to do. I was wondering if there are anymore tests or things that seem to be wrong with the DELL XPS 8100 models.

Thanks Escapists!

 

[insaneHoshi]

Find some drivers that test your Cpu motherboard and video cards temperature, if it goes off the charts you know something wrong. But if its stays normal, it could still be a heating problem

 

[dsmops2003]

If it is temperature issues you can check with SPEEDFAN. http://www.almico.com/speedfan442.exe

You may need to take you computer outside and spray it with some canned air to force the dust out of it. Also check that all your fans are working and that your heat sinks are firmly in place. You may also need to take off your heat sinks and apply some new thermal paste.

Also check your Event Viewer to see if there are other reasons your computer is rebooting.

Feel Free to post computer questions in the Computer Help group
http://www.escapistmagazine.com/groups/view/Computer-Help

 

[Hashime]

I would bet you are restarting due to the temperature of your CPU reaching the safety limit set on your board.
Change the settings, clean your heatsink, or replace the heatsink. I did a tutorial video on this.

 

[geldonyetich]

When your computer is shutting down like that, it's often because your BIOS is set to shut down the computer as a safety measure when it gets too hot. You might want to into your BIOS and ratchet up the degrees a bit. Of course, disabling that protection entirely could fry something, but it's quite possible you'll find a good temperature it can operate at.

 

[FallenTraveler]

Not sure how to read Speedfan

there are two little flame icons and they say GPU: 60c and temp1: 127C
under those are other temps, core 2 and core 3 have check marks, and or falling temps

So I am wondering, should I be worried about the flame icons next to GPU and temp1

oh, and thanks for the advice on the temp, I am definately going to look into this a little more

and thanks Hashime for the video, will be watching very soon!

 

[Continuity]

Hi there Escapists! This is my second thread this week.

Anyway, I have had a Dell XPS 8100 since around march or april. I am constantly having random restarts, it seems to get better when I take the side off of the casing and expose the inside. Unfortunately I am not so tech savvy as to know what to do, or what information to post. If you need anything let me know how to get at it and I can edit this.

specs:
Intel Core i5 CPU 650 @3.2 GHZ
6.00 GB RAM
Nvidia GT 220 (I know it's pretty meh)

So, here are some of the things I have heard that could be the issue, and what to fix.

1. Bad memory- test and replace is the solution- I've tested with memtestx86, 2 1/2 passes and no errors.
2. Heat sink doesn't have enough gel or liquid (or something)- Get some liquid is the solution and put it in or take it to a computer repair place- havent done this as I would rather do it myself but I havent had time to really investigate how.
3. Call Dell- oh god not their tech support, that's sort of my last resort
4. Re-install- I am tempted to do this but don't want to lose any of my hard earned preferences in chrome, and photoshop, and flash and all those programs.

those are some of the things I've seen and been told to do. I was wondering if there are anymore tests or things that seem to be wrong with the DELL XPS 8100 models.

Thanks Escapists!

Almost certainly temperature issue but could be a crappy PSU, clear any dust out of the CPU heatsink and make sure all the fans are working, get some software to check your temperatures (core temp is good, speedfan isn't very accurate so doont use it).
Run something like prime95 in torture mode whilst monitoring your temps to see how it copes.

 

[FallenTraveler]

Almost certainly temperature issue but could be a crappy PSU, clear any dust out of the CPU heatsink and make sure all the fans are working, get some software to check your temperatures (core temp is good, speedfan isn't very accurate so doont use it).
Run something like prime95 in torture mode whilst monitoring your temps to see how it copes.

okay, well... I was monitoring temps... I am thinking you are all right, now, I watched Hashime's tutorial, but I was wondering if anyone had a video or direction in how to clean/clear the heat sink as well as make sure it's properly in place. And I was wondering if I should replace the paste or gel in the heat sink, I have read that with my model sometimes the paste/gel was not applied properly and that would be an area to check

 

[Continuity]

Almost certainly temperature issue but could be a crappy PSU, clear any dust out of the CPU heatsink and make sure all the fans are working, get some software to check your temperatures (core temp is good, speedfan isn't very accurate so doont use it).
Run something like prime95 in torture mode whilst monitoring your temps to see how it copes.

okay, well... I was monitoring temps... I am thinking you are all right, now, I watched Hashime's tutorial, but I was wondering if anyone had a video or direction in how to clean/clear the heat sink as well as make sure it's properly in place. And I was wondering if I should replace the paste or gel in the heat sink, I have read that with my model sometimes the paste/gel was not applied properly and that would be an area to check

What sort of temps are you getting under load? (use core temp) that will tell us if its your CPU overheating or something else.

 

[FallenTraveler]

What sort of temps are you getting under load? (use core temp) that will tell us if its your CPU overheating or something else.

Okay, here, under 100% load

Core#0: 73C
Core#1: 72C

whats going on? o.o

 

[Skorpyo]

What sort of temps are you getting under load? (use core temp) that will tell us if its your CPU overheating or something else.

Okay, here, under 100% load

Core#0: 73C
Core#1: 72C

whats going on? o.o

That, good sir, is overheating. A LOT.

Clean the dust out of your fans and heatsinks, re-grease them, check that the airflow through the case is sufficient, get a bigger cooler (preferably), etc.

Quickest test: Open the side of your case, and point an enormous fan at the insides. If it helps, improve the overall airflow inside the case. If not, upgrade the coolers and sinks.

 

[FallenTraveler]

That, good sir, is overheating. A LOT.

Clean the dust out of your fans and heatsinks, re-grease them, check that the airflow through the case is sufficient, get a bigger cooler (preferably), etc.

Quickest test: Open the side of your case, and point an enormous fan at the insides. If it helps, improve the overall airflow inside the case. If not, upgrade the coolers and sinks.

Okay, as far as I can tell I either need a new cooler, or a re-application of the heat sink grease/paste. I was wondering anyone had a tutorial I could use?

I found this site: http://www.techpowerup.com/printarticle.php?id=134

could that help? any other advice?

 

[Continuity]

What sort of temps are you getting under load? (use core temp) that will tell us if its your CPU overheating or something else.

Okay, here, under 100% load

Core#0: 73C
Core#1: 72C

whats going on? o.o

The max operating temperature for your CPU is 72.6C so you are straddling the limit there which is never a good thing, certainly try to improve your cooling but if you were loading your CPU with prime95 then high temps would be expected and the CPU temp may not actually be your problem. Check in your BIOS to see what your automatic shutdown limit is set to, if its close to 72C then you probably have your culprit.

I have an i7-920 and the max operating temperature for that is 67.9C, below is a shot of core temp whilst running an eight thread torture test in prime95:

As you can see there is a much larger margin between full load temp and max op temp
(just to give you an idea how hot you're running!).

 

[Zedayen]

And I was wondering if I should replace the paste or gel in the heat sink, I have read that with my model sometimes the paste/gel was not applied properly and that would be an area to check

Yes. Replace the thermal paste. If you are worried about applying too little or too much, practice with a flat surface, toothpaste and a credit/key card. Smear the toothpaste and firmly place the card on top of it. If done right the card should not move when mild force is applied to it and should be a little difficult to pick up. You should coat it so that it covers the surface, enough so that there are no points of direct contact between the heat-sink and the CPU, but not so much as to lessen the heat-sink's ability to draw the heat.

 

[Danzaivar]

That, good sir, is overheating. A LOT.

Clean the dust out of your fans and heatsinks, re-grease them, check that the airflow through the case is sufficient, get a bigger cooler (preferably), etc.

Quickest test: Open the side of your case, and point an enormous fan at the insides. If it helps, improve the overall airflow inside the case. If not, upgrade the coolers and sinks.

Okay, as far as I can tell I either need a new cooler, or a re-application of the heat sink grease/paste. I was wondering anyone had a tutorial I could use?

I found this site: http://www.techpowerup.com/printarticle.php?id=134

could that help? any other advice?

Get some compressed air and a brush, maybe some wipes and a vacuum too, then clear the dust out of all the heatsink related stuff.

 

[Zedayen]

That, good sir, is overheating. A LOT.

Clean the dust out of your fans and heatsinks, re-grease them, check that the airflow through the case is sufficient, get a bigger cooler (preferably), etc.

Quickest test: Open the side of your case, and point an enormous fan at the insides. If it helps, improve the overall airflow inside the case. If not, upgrade the coolers and sinks.

Okay, as far as I can tell I either need a new cooler, or a re-application of the heat sink grease/paste. I was wondering anyone had a tutorial I could use?

I found this site: http://www.techpowerup.com/printarticle.php?id=134

could that help? any other advice?

Get some compressed air and a brush, maybe some wipes and a vacuum too, then clear the dust out of all the heatsink related stuff.

You need to be careful when using a brush or vacuum, as ESD (Electro Static Discharge) can and will fry components.

 

[Hashime]

That, good sir, is overheating. A LOT.

Clean the dust out of your fans and heatsinks, re-grease them, check that the airflow through the case is sufficient, get a bigger cooler (preferably), etc.

Quickest test: Open the side of your case, and point an enormous fan at the insides. If it helps, improve the overall airflow inside the case. If not, upgrade the coolers and sinks.

Okay, as far as I can tell I either need a new cooler, or a re-application of the heat sink grease/paste. I was wondering anyone had a tutorial I could use?

I found this site: http://www.techpowerup.com/printarticle.php?id=134

could that help? any other advice?

Look at my post. That cooler is also $40 and excellent.

 

[MercurySteam]

Huh, be thankful that you're not installing an AMD stock cooler. I hear that they're a fucking nightmare.

EDIT: My advice; don't by Dell. They're bloody scammers that use sub-par parts and will charge you and arm and a leg for it.

 

[FallenTraveler]

Huh, be thankful that you're not installing an AMD stock cooler. I hear that they're a fucking nightmare.

EDIT: My advice; don't by Dell. They're bloody scammers that use sub-par parts and will charge you and arm and a leg for it.

yeah, I've heard about AMD coolers, haha.

I really like my dell though, and unfortunately I dont really care for any other companies products either If anything, once this computer becomes completely irrelevant, perhaps I will build my own machine.

Look at my post. That cooler is also $40 and excellent.

Yeah, I will most definitely keep that in mind. It looks like a nice cooler, but until I have tried a couple solutions and they don't work will I get a new cooler. I mean, x-mas is right around the corner, and I'm a college student, lol.

 

[FallenTraveler]

Yes. Replace the thermal paste. If you are worried about applying too little or too much, practice with a flat surface, toothpaste and a credit/key card. Smear the toothpaste and firmly place the card on top of it. If done right the card should not move when mild force is applied to it and should be a little difficult to pick up. You should coat it so that it covers the surface, enough so that there are no points of direct contact between the heat-sink and the CPU, but not so much as to lessen the heat-sink's ability to draw the heat.

Thank you for that advice! I am definitely going to use that!