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How to fix overheated motherboard/computer?

"I'm guessing some bizarre overheating problem is causing your motherboard to shut down. Check your fans and make sure they are spinning. " said by Orthodox_Ted. I leave my computer on 24/7 and today it freezes a hour after i turn it on, how do i fix it so it won't freeze no more or some advice on how to keep my computer healthy while its only 24/7?

Public Comments

1. A freeze is not a definite sign of overheating. However, if you know for sure it is, check that your fans are working, unobstructed, and have plenty of clear space around them. Open up your computers case and clear the dust from the fans and heatsinks. Try and tuck the wiring away to one side and tie them together with cable ties to minimise their interference with air-flow. You could also buy some extra fans to install in free areas you may have, such as an empty CD drive bay. Finally, make sure your computer is not near a heat source, such as a radiator or direct sunlight.
2. Your motherboard does not overheat.. it's either the CPU or the power supply, or both. When your comp freezes, reboot and go into the BIOS and check the CPU temps to see if it's in a normal operating range.. usually there's a set temperature that your computer will beep away warning you that there's a problem.
3. Stay away from ATI Graphic video cards
4. If the motherboard has overheated you will need to replace it. If the "computer" has overheated check the following: 1) open the case so that you can see everything 2) check CPU fan is working 3) check graphics card fan is working 3) check power supply fan/s are working 4) if all fans are working comsider putting in extra fan to give better air circulation. this can be screwed to the back inside of computer.
5. Check your fans, and either lube them ( I use ATF), or, replace them.! I keep several desktop systems running 24/7/365. I have new, used, and salvaged, hard drives. All run on Ext3. Microsoft FAT32 and NTFS thrashes and destroys hard drives, especially when run 24/7/365! So, none succeed by running Microsoft! All run Linux. Just like Microsoft.com, Hotmail.com, MSN.com, on their 45,000 computers. Then, also, the Redmond Campus runs all their routers, games development and testing systems in Linux. http://pclinuxos.com
6. Open up your Computer and see if there is the option to install an extra Fan( with a higher air displacment than the one you have now ) somewhere inside of it. It helps a lot if you have a connector on the Motherboard itself where you can connect it. Also Check if there is the option to get a high power fan for your Processors. I think you should have at least 3-4 good and fast fans within the computer to displace the heat and to keep the insides of the computer cool.
7. Get some arctic silver from a computer store, carefully pull the heat sink off the processor clean off the old gunk with rubbing alcohol from the chip and the heat sink. put a dab of arctic silver in the middle of the heat sink where the chip will be touching it. On an AMD type it will be a small patch an Intel chip has a larger patch. I like to take a plastic bag and wrap it around my finger and really rub it in to the heat sink this is to get a very good bond for the heat flow out of the chip, then put a tiny drop on the chip and reassemble. Of course you need to blow out the dust and make sure your fans are going, but the arctic silver can help heat flow and run your chip a little cooler.
8. Set it up to shut down the hard drive when it's not in use. Install more case fans. Consider a liquid cooling system, and /or an air conditioned case. HDD coolers are also available.
9. Beyond the basic fans, I have seen some weird stuff. Viruses, Malware and Spyware that locks up a machine is often a timed thing. It is also possible that the CPU chip has an overheating failure mode that is not curable. But here is some of the weird stuff that I have seen. - the computer started to get bad and lock up for no reason. At first I assumed dust, so I vacuumed around it, and at the vents leading in. I blew away the dust inside. It worked fine. But it would get bad again in a few days. Finally, I suspected that the carpet that the computer on, has a conductive thread in it. When we put plastic under the computer, and set other computers UP on the desk, everything worked just great. - I visited another computer that had floppy disk problems in a Lumber yard. When I opened the box, it was TOTALLY full of sawdust. I guess they were using the computer as a vacuum cleaner.