More Awesome Than You!

Today, for the first time ever, my computer shut down with no warning or anything. A few minutes later it would start up again (after a couple failed attempts) and a message came up stating that the computer had shut down due to a thermal incident (overheating). The room the computer is in isn't overly hot, it's near a window air conditioner that does a moderate job of keeping the room comfortable if not overly cool, and all fans seem to be working. Should I be worried or chalk it up to the room being too warm? I rarely turn off the computer, but at the time the computer shut off it wasn't doing anything stressful (just compressorizing some new downloads). TS2 was exited about one hour before the shut-down.

Also, the past few days I've felt like the computer is going slower (but I'm still not entirely convinced that it isn't in my head) in general, could this be related to running too hot?

Thoughts? Tips to prevent overheating in the future? I damn near panicked when the computer shut off without any warning and wouldn't turn back on right away... I'd like to avoid repeat episodes. (although it may end my procrastination on back-ups)

Check that your heatsink is properly seated and that your computer's internal fans are working. It is possible that the heatsink has unseated itself due to vibration. It is possible that even if they are spinning that they are doing so at a reduced rate. While the computer is off, try giving the fan blades a flick with your finger. If they do not spin freely, they are getting gunked up and may need to be replaced or disassembled and oiled. You may also wish to apply more thermal compound between the CPU and heatsink.

Yes, overheating computers will downgrade their CPU clock speed in an attempt to avoid a meltdown.

Disable variable fan speeds in the BIOS and always operate the fans at MAXIMUM POWER. The fan-speed thing sounds like a good idea in theory until you realize that waiting until the computer is overheating before increasing the cooling is like closing the door after the horses have fled: The fan speed should have been increased BEFORE the computer overheated.

Thanks for the advice, El Presidente. It happened a second time so I broke down and got a new air conditioner. I hope that fixes it because I don't see anything wrong with fans or other internal components (although I wouldn't have known the heatsink from the kitchen sink without lots of searching today).

I'm totally paranoid now though, every time the air coming out of the rear fan feels warmer I start to get antsy. Yeesh, I wish I'd felt the air on the back before the stupid thing started having issues. Is there a good way to track CPU temps? I wish the computer would give a warning before it just shuts off (though I like shutting off better than melting).

There are various motherboard-monitoring softwares, but I have never found them to be too reliable. And stop sticking your hand in front of the fan, you're blocking it.