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  1. As you can tell by my sig, it's mostly stock(Compaq sr2170NX) and I tried to replace the CPU, cpuz shows a Intel P4 631 ceder mill at 3gz and since its a socket 775LGA (motherboard ECS, Alhena5) I tried to put in a Intel Pentium D 940 3.2 GHz/4M/800 SL95W and the computer would not run right. The fan was on high the whole time and the graphics were soo slow! Did I miss something? Wrong wattage maybe? I only bought this to wring out as much performance for my comp to play WOW. Any help would be appreciated!
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  2. Member
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    You said your CPU fan is running on high the whole time, What is the CPU temp runing at? I am suspecting that you may have not used enough thermal compound.
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  3. Yeah, most likely overheating.

    IMO, such a minimal upgrade was not worth the time, effort, or cash, unless it was real cheap (like free) and real easy (which it looks like something went wrong). i would have OC'd either the old chip, or the video card, or both, maybe some extra cooling or RAM for a few bucks.
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  4. Mod Neophyte Super Moderator redwudz's Avatar
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    You can try the freeware program HWMonitor to check CPU temps and other information: http://www.cpuid.com/hwmonitor.php
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  5. Gamer and Builder HotDamn!'s Avatar
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    Be sure that if you were overclocking the other CPU that you set your BIOS to default before the CPU change. Also you have to be sure you used the right amount of thermal paste and that you spread it the right way.

    Let us know how you went about installing the CPU and be sure you use the free program suggested by redwudz to check you temps and report back to prevent damage to the CPU.
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  6. Member
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    The BIOS used by PC companies like Dell, E-machines and HP typically support a limited number of CPUs. Knowing the socket type, voltage, etc. isn't enough. Frequently they will only accept one of the CPUs that were originally offered for sale as options for that model. The BIOS they use doesn't often support overclocking or many custom settings. It would be best to look at the user group message boards and product reviews for information on what upgrades a particular model can accept when dealing with pre-built PCs.

    A BIOS update may help, but it is a little risky. It could make the PC inoperable if it fails, but other unintended side effects are possible. I did one for my sister's Dell PC when I was upgrading the memory for her. Afterwards, it would no longer recognize the (original!) CPU as valid for that motherboard. (Yes, the BIOS update was definitely intended for use with that model.) I tried resetting CMOS, but eventually had to re-install the original BIOS version so it would finish booting without stopping to display a warning that would make her wonder if I wrecked something.
    Last edited by usually_quiet; 30th Apr 2010 at 18:28. Reason: left out a word
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  7. Thank you! You were right, not enough, but I put a bunch on and it did the trick! But it looks like i may just put the old one back in, whenever WOW is playing the fan jumps to light speed and the comp is really noisy lol. Maybe it could use a beefier fan, not sure.
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    Putting too much paste on is as bad as not putting enough on. My first thought was that your PC wasn't up to snuff to play this game but from a Google search, the P4 chip should've ran it fine.

    The P4 and Pentium D chips were hot chips, especially on a 775 board with stock heatsink and fan since the fan blows the hot air back against the chip instead of sucking it away like a socket 478 CPU. I would install a CM Hyper212.

    http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16835103065&cm_re=cm_hyper_212-_-3...-065-_-Product

    The 3.2 dual core Pentium D is a lot better chip than the 3.0 single core P4 so I'd keep the Pentium D and buy a good aftermarket heatsink and fan.

    Whenever you do something CPU intensive, the fan is supposed to run at max speed to keep the CPU from burning up. When I overclock, I set my BIOS to run the fan at full speed all the time and it's a 2000rpm fan so it's pretty noisy. Some of those 80mm fans can run up to 4000rpm.
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  9. Gamer and Builder HotDamn!'s Avatar
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    Be sure you do a google search on how to spread the thermal paste. It's very important that you do it the right way. Also be sure not to get any on your motherboard, it could cause damage.
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  10. Yeah, I went back and scraped what I thgought was the excess then fired it up, the fan went full tilt the whole time. Went back and reapplied a bead down the middle like one site recommended and it worked like before, I guess WOW places a workload on thhis poor baby.
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  11. Gamer and Builder HotDamn!'s Avatar
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    You have to be sure you cleaned the surface of the CPU with either 70% or 90% rubbing alcohol and be sure you didn't touch the surface of the CPU with you fingers, you will leave greases behind.

    What I do is I take a plastic baggie, flip it inside with my finger in the corner of the bag and pull real tight and wrap around my finger, then put a rice grain size amount of thermal paste in the middle of the CPU and spread it with your finger in the baggie until its so thinly spread that you can almost see through it. Its worked plenty of times for me.

    Be sure to add paste as needed but you don't want it thick and you don't want open spots. (needs to be spread evenly as possible)

    Then wipe down your heat sink with rubbing alcohol and put a rice grain size of thermal paste in the center, then wipe it away until it shines again. This will fill in any little microscopic cracks or seems in the heat sink for better contact to the CPU.

    This will ensure you have it mounted right but as for it being the right CPU, thats up to you to find out
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