The processor overheats: what to do?

A personal computer, a laptop and even a phone consist of many details. Some of them have the property of releasing heat in the process of work. In turn, the devices are equipped with various cooling systems, which must cool the components in order to avoid breakage from overheating. But if the processor overheats, what should I do? How to identify overheating and fix the situation? Here we will talk about the main causes of high CPU temperatures and how to eliminate them.

Symptoms of overheating are usually:

• Involuntary shutdown.
• Short-term or long-term hangs.
• Strong fan noise.

How to check the CPU temperature via BIOS

Check which elements are warmed in the computer, you can use programs or via the BIOS. In the second case, you can find out the temperature, and how much the processor overheats, if such a function is present in the BIOS firmware. The disadvantage of this method is the inability to check if there is overheating under load: when watching heavy HD video, during games or stress tests.

• When you restart the computer, you need to repeatedly press the Delete key or F2, F10 to enter the BIOS (the key, depending on the model, may differ).
• The period when the key will work is very short, this can be done while checking POST , usually the desired key will be displayed on the same screen with the manufacturer's logo in the form of a line: Press DEL to run Setup.

• The menu of BIOS in different models differs, and in older versions of motherboards mainly English. In more modern BIOS motherboards (only now it's UEFI) you can find the Russian interface, but if the BIOS language of your motherboard is English, then you should search for the temperature sensor in the sections H / W Monitor, Status, PC Health.

CPU temperature monitoring

To find out how much the computer's processor is overheating, you can use third-party software to monitor the status of your PC in any conditions. There are a lot of similar software on the Internet, but there are several quite good programs: AIDA64 and Everest - two programs that can rightly be called twin sisters. The programs are created by one developer, have almost identical menus and have almost identical functions. They are paid, but they have a trial period of free use in 30 days, when the program can be used without restrictions.

• After downloading and installing one of the above programs on your computer, you should run it.
• In the window choose the "Computer" section, and in the subgraph - "Sensor". In the central part of the working window, the current temperature of the processor cores and some other parameters will be displayed, but we are interested in the temperature.

Each processor has its own temperature limit, set by the manufacturer, at which the computer will shut down in case of overheating. Normally for the processor in standby mode, the temperature should be about 35-45 ° C, and under load (during the game or stress test) to 70 ° C. Exceeding these values can lead to irreparable consequences. In addition, when the processor overheats, the motherboard is heated, along with other elements that may fail.

Another good free, unpretentious program is the GPU-Z. The utility shows the temperature of the processor and other elements, as well as some other characteristics in real time.

Dust - the worst enemy of electronic devices

Initially, Why the processor on the computer overheats. The main and primary cause of overheating of the processor and other components of the computer or laptop is dust. It is everywhere and everywhere, gets into the computer case through the slots in the system unit, which serve to circulate air for cooling purposes. Fans together with air suck in the dust, which then settles on all components, eventually growing into a pretty decent layer. Dust interferes with heat transfer and can even cause a short circuit. Therefore, the system unit of the personal computer and the laptop should be periodically cleaned.

Cleaning the computer from dust

It is quite easy to clean the PC from dust. The side cover of the system unit is attached to the rear housing by two bolts (in most cases). It's easy to take off. Having opened the system, you can see how much it is heavily dusted, but do not flatter yourself, even a very small layer of dust can provoke overheating. Therefore, you should arm yourself with a simple set of tools, which includes a brush (there should be no metal elements on the brush to avoid a short circuit from static electricity), a compressed air bottle, napkins, a vacuum cleaner.

Before opening the system unit, it is necessary to remember, and it is better to draw a diagram, where and what to connect, as incorrect connection of the plugs can damage the computer. Unplugging all the wires, before further action, you need to remove static electricity from the body: it is enough to simply wash your hands in running water. Static electricity when touching parts or the computer's enclosure can cause a short circuit and, as a result, damage to the computer. After disconnecting the device, he needs to give 5 minutes to just stand up to leave the residual charge.

Now you can clean it. The main dust is concentrated around the rotating elements, on the coolers and in the radiators below them. Carefully vacuum the dust collected around the processor and in other easily accessible places. It is worth noting that for a vacuum cleaner you should use a nozzle with a narrowed nose (it is easier to collect dust). And it is also desirable that it be rubber. To remove dust with a vacuum cleaner is necessary extremely carefully around small parts on the motherboard, they can be accidentally broken off, and then the computer does not turn on at all. A balloon with compressed air should blow out dust from hard-to-reach places, where it is difficult to get a brush and a vacuum cleaner.

Replacement of thermal paste

Clearing the dust from the system unit, it is advisable to immediately replace the thermal paste. If the computer is more than 2 years old and it has never been opened, the thermal paste, which ensures close contact between the processor and the cooling radiator, is likely to have dried up and does not provide proper cooling. Because of this, the processor overheats and the computer turns off.

• We remove the radiator together with the cooler (they are usually fastened with several, easily detachable clamps), the fan should also be disconnected from the motherboard.
• Remove the remnants of the old thermal grease from the processor and radiator with a tissue. And apply a new thin layer.

It is important not to overdo it, because the thermal conductivity of even the most expensive thermal paste is much worse than the heat conductivity of the cheapest radiator, so a pretty solid layer of thermal paste will play a cruel joke and cause the processor to heat even more due to poor heat transfer. Thermopasts need a very small drop, literally with a match head. It should be evenly applied and smeared on the processor platform (you can use an old plastic card).

Then tightly press the radiator, setting it to its original position, and snap the fasteners. The radiator should not be loose or loose. After cleaning from dust and changing the thermal paste, all peripheral devices, as well as all I / O chips, should be connected. After that, you can turn on the computer for verification.

Overheating of the motherboard

In the computer, the sensor itself can not be heated yet. It looks like it's overheating the processor. If the cleaning is done, the thermal paste is replaced, and the figures are still too high, then you can install additional cooling in the system unit to blow the motherboard. Or install a more powerful cooler on the processor (the old one can not cope with the cooling task).

Cleaning the laptop from dust

When the processor overheats the laptop on a laptop due to heavy dust, here everything is somewhat more complicated. And if you yourself never dismantled the laptop for cleaning, then it's worth giving it to the service center. Because the bolts on the back cover of the laptop have different lengths, respectively, unscrewing them, you should simultaneously draw a diagram. Inside the laptop, everything is much smaller and more compactly located than in the system unit and there is a chance to damage something. The cooling system also differs in different notebook models.

Tip: You should clean your laptop or computer at least once every two years. With the same frequency, you need to change the thermal paste. If there are animals in the house, then cleaning should be carried out at least once a year, and preferably every six months, since along with the dust, the fleece of animal hair also gets into the system block.

In the summer time it is usually hot, and sometimes because of external factors the processor on the laptop overheats. What to do in this case, how to cool it? The cooling system draws in air from outside, and if the room is already hot in the hot summer day, the hot air will not help much. For cooling the notebook, you can use external stands with cooling elements. This will reduce the temperature of the motherboard and processor, avoiding the harmful effects of high temperatures on them.

Overheating of the computer due to virus infection

Overheating of the processor can viral virus infection. It is worthwhile to scan for viruses and it is desirable to do this either by cloud antivirus, or to install another, after removing the stationary antivirus. Malicious code in the computer could already infect the antivirus program or disguise itself, because of what your antivirus will not see the infection.

Svchost.exe will ship system

We need to check if svchost.exe is loading the system - it's an auxiliary process for services loaded from dynamic libraries. But sometimes under the guise of a system process, a virus or malicious code can be hidden that continuously starts any system process, loading the CPU, resulting in overheating.

• To determine whether this is a virus infection, you need to enter the "Task Manager" - Ctrl + alt + Del.
• Open the Processes tab and see if the svchost.exe process is 100% loaded with a single-core processor, 50% for dual-core and 25% for 4 cores. If there is one, then this is the culprit. Because of it, the processor overheats, that Means that it should be disabled.
• The normal Svchost.exe process will be active under the SYSTEM or Network Service username. If this process is active under the account name, then, most likely, it is a virus. After disabling the loading process, scan and install a new fixed antivirus.

Driver Conflict

Because of software conflict, the processor overheats, what should I do?

• Just as in the case of the Svchost.exe process, you need to enter the "Task Manager", in idle mode the process "Inactivity of the system" should occupy about 99%. If this is not the case, and some other process consumes some of the resources, most likely this is conflicting software. Probably, the driver or any software is incorrectly installed.
• If the processor overheats and turns off the computer due to conflicting software, then what should I do? In this case, you need to determine which program this process belongs to and reinstall it. Very often the drivers conflicted with the operating system in pirated assemblies conflict. Here, only one tip is to use licensed software and avoid various hacked, pirated programs and operating systems. When using unlicensed software, in particular for operating systems, there is a high probability of errors in downloading and installing automatic updates. As a result, there is conflict and overheating.

The phone is heated

Often you can see how the processor overheats on the phone. This is most often associated with a large number of simultaneously running processes, applications, during a long conversation or on charging. Overheating of the phone during charging most often happens because of a poor-quality charger or a battery that has already worked out its time or damaged, and if the connector pins are dirty. To cool the phone, you need to download applications that monitor the CPU CPU temperature and promptly warn of a critical temperature.

Summing up

Problems with overheating, although not always obvious, and often difficult to determine, are solved in most cases very quickly, except for the breakdown of the cooling system, where replacement of components or the whole system is required. Now you know why the processor overheats, and how to fix it. A healthy PC, easy work and a pleasant pastime for your favorite computer!