CGTalk - CPU crash from rendering temperature?

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qwertykd

01-07-2005, 07:01 PM

hey everyone....im having problems when i render stuff with fprime, but i dunno if it has anything to do with fprime specifically......i leave it on with fprime_render and my animation has 600 frames. I want it to render for a looong time, like overnight, but at some point after i start the render, it makes my computer restart. It doesnt freeze, but rather it restarts my computer. I have been doing something else on my computer while fprime was rendering my anim, and it suddenly resets. I have a program that monitors my CPU temperature, which peaks at about 138-141 degrees F (58-60 degrees C) while i render with fprime, and my computer without running fprime runs at about 123-129 degrees F normally. it really bugs me because i can only refine about 200 passes at a time between the resets. Anyone else have a problem like this? I think it may just be a cooling problem, but i dunno if 138-141 is too high, because my friend has his run like that all the time with no problems. i also dont know if my computer should reset like that if its a cooling problem, i thought it would freeze. I have an AMD XP 2600 processor and 2 case fans btw.

brap

01-07-2005, 09:09 PM

I had a silimiar situation just a few weeks ago. It turned out that one of the CPU fans was slowing down, just enough to cause a crash or reset when the CPU was being worked really hard, usually when using FPrime. It was hard to tell at a glance, but when I compared the two fans, I could tell that one was spinning slower than the other. Once I replaced the fan, everything was back to normal.

regards,

qwertykd

01-07-2005, 10:16 PM

hmm...alright thanks, ill prolly get a new cpu fan then and see how it goes. thx for replying!

Noratio

01-07-2005, 10:17 PM

You might have your bios set like shut at 60 degs by default factory setting to keep it safe. Anyway I've noticed same with xp 2500+. Keeping temperature below C 50 degs gives me possibility to run it much faster. I've got idle somewhere like C 34 degs or much below, but I ain't got the default boxed fan. My system monitors default CPU allert is at 60C/140F.

DonAVP

01-08-2005, 12:27 AM

My computer has a heat problem as well. I did a number of things and that seems to work most of the time 99%.

First: Remove the outside covers and place a larger fan on one side. Kind of hocky but it works.
Second: Clean off the aluminum heatsink on the CPU (if it is dusty). I used an old toothbrush. If you remove it to clean you will need a special heat conducting jell to reapply when you put it back on. You only need a small thin layer not a lot.
Third: If you don't want to remove the covers you usually can add more fans within the box. Look for a location in the front and back for additional fans mount locations. Most boxes have several.
Last: Since its winter you could move the computer outside were its GOOD and COLD this only works half the year however (Just kidding). The idea is to get the heat away for the cpu as quickly as possible.

Don Adams

qwertykd

01-08-2005, 12:30 AM

hehe yeah
in my other computer, we have a 19 inch fan that we put next to our wooden case that we cut a hole into, then the computer has its whole side taken off, and we have an A/C filter between the fan and computer. It keeps the air flowing hehe. But in this one, i just put another case fan inside, but ill prolly clean off the cpu heatsink and fan and such. if that doesnt work, im gonna buy the thermaltake a1365 volcano 9 heatsink+fan. i hope something works hehe :D

thomasvandenabeele

01-08-2005, 05:57 AM

Likewise: a lot of strange laptop-crashes turned out to be the consequences of a faulty heat-sink in my case!

qwertykd

01-08-2005, 07:11 PM

ok so, I took the advice and I cleaned my fan/heatsink, and i dont know if this is even possible, but now my computer, while rendering, maxes out at about 124 degrees.....thats about 20 degrees cooler than it had been, and less than what it had idled at before i cleaned it. its incredible that cleaning all that dust off the heatsink and fan can have that much difference. I'm confident now that my cpu temp wont make my computer reset, but it remains to be seen whether a marathon rendering can reset my computer for some other reason...

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