Why it's important to keep your computer cool...

[Mechcommander]

Well all, I had one hell of a depressing day yesterday. I was just playing Worms: Armageddon, when my computer reboots for no reason at all. About two seconds later, both of my screens go blank. Then I smell something burning.
Oh shit.
I switch off the power and rip off the case only to find my proccessor smoking. So, I'm without a computer for at least a week (Luckily, I have a little money saved up, so it'll be repaired in no time)
The wierd thing is, my system has never even shown signs of being hot. I thought my motherboard would use it's built-in safety protocols to shut down the computer once it became too hot. I was wrong.
So, I may be in the line for a new motherboard and (obviously a new CPU) heatsink.
Could you guys suggest some combos that I might be interested in getting. I have around $200 to spend. I would like to upgrade to DDR, but that may not happen for a while. So, are there any mobo's out there that support the AMD Athlon XP 1700-2000+ and have DDR slots and SDRAM slots? (I know these motherboards exist, but I though my chances would be better asking you guys) If so, I'll have a fairly good computer once again.
Then I must consider cooling. I thought my fan was enough.. but obviously not. Should I buy a new heatsink? And what type? More fans in the case? Well, whatever, I'd better get back to schoolwork.
Thanks in advance.

[James S]

I doubt that the problem involved the fan on the CPU, it's more likely that you're not pumping enough hot air out of the case. I'd get a fan on the bottom front and one pumping air out by the CPU... it sounds to me like you need a new power supply, too, since CPUs usually don't fry themselves on their own, unless the fan on your CPU stopped working, and I'd bet you'd notice that because you wouldn't hear it any more. But stock heatsinks and fans usually aren't good enough, only adequate for normal computing. Check out places like HardOCP for info on heatsinks and fans and what is best in that area. But be sure you know the decible of the fan before you buy it, because some (such as the delta fans) are REALLY loud. Remember that 5dbA difference means twice as loud, so if you see a 30dbA fan and a 40dbA fan and the 40 cools better, that's at the price of being MUCH MUCH louder noise inside your case.

And are you sure that your CPU is fried? It could be that it simply got too hot and burned some cob webs that you haven't cleaned off the heatsink, or the thermal paste between the heatsink and the cpu-die became too old and burned up. Which reminds me, be sure to use Arctic Silver compound to attach the heatsink to the fan, either Arctic Silver Epoxy for a permanent hold or AS2 or 3 for a non-permanent gel. And be sure to clean out your computer case of cob webs and dust every month or so. I use a dirt devil and just suck everything right up out of it every 4 weeks.

[Mechcommander]

Aye. Well, I already had the two fans pulling air in and out. I probably will get a new fan, too, because this one is already pretty loud. I really dont care about noise, unless it becomes so loud that I can't hear my speakers on my desktop at setting '2'
About the CPU being fried, I tried booting my computer back up, but I get no screen activity at all. No BIOS, no beep, no nothing. (I do, however, get HD activity)

[Presto]

[Mechcommander]

[Presto]

[James S]

[Annoying Snails Master]

[damian]

Hmm... the funny thing is that at this exact moment, I'm handling an ECS K755A mobo that my dad happened to bring in from work; he thinks it's probably fried so I'm testing it.

Anyway, the mobo does have both DDR and SDRAM slots. And yeah, from what I read about it in the last couple of minutes, it does work with a 2000+.

Anyway, i'm not sure of the price. I'm also not sure about the quality of ECS... from a simple Google search, I think that it's a relatively unknown brand. Anyone else here heard of ECS? Is it any good?

[Guest]

[damian]

[damian]

[James S]

Gigabyte is alright also.

[damian]

Anyway, I learned more about the mobo. It's actually an ECS K7S5A. It's supposed to be a cheapass low-budget card; the performance is supposed to be good, but it's supposed to have just about no overclocking options.

[damian]