heat issues, please help...i am going nuts!

[spoon15]

I recently just built myself my first Athlon System. Now i have a problem though that i can not seem to fix. I think it is a heat problem, but any ideas would be appreciated.
When i am playing Counter-Strike or Q3 my system will do one of 2 things: it either hangs and the sound loops OR the screen goes black and my system restarts as if i just turned it on! I have the side of my case off and i can feel heat waves coming off of the processor. (i put a 12inch floor fan in front but it does not fix the freezing problems)
specs: Athlon 650 (not o/c) 256megsPC133Micron
asus 32mGeforce Pure
FIC board (with updated bios)
SBlive Platnium
IBM 20Gig HDD
300W psw in Enlight case
athlon recommended heatsink & cpu fan
2 sys fans
all drivers have been updated
I am running windows2000 and i have done a full format and reinstall a couple of times now and no luck in fixing the problem

Thanks in advance for your help, i am getting really frusterated with this. i dont want to be discouraged from getting into building computers, but i feel like i have hit a brick wall.

[Maxout]

What type of "Athlon recommended heatsink and fan"??

I would get myself a high Quality Heat sink such as an Alpha P7125...




Put on some good thermal paste...




and watch her stay cool...

[spoon15]

thanks for the help
the heatsink/fan i have is a cool master, it was like $15 and i thought it would be fine, it is listed as acceptable on the AMD site for higher processors then just 650. it only has a single fan on it.
i will try getting a new one. could it be the memory is bad?

[Maxout]

Micron is usually good stuff. I would first try and see if cooling the chip helps. Also are you really cranking that GeForce? Too high an overclock there can also cause problems...

[spoon15]

i am not putting anything more then normal stress on the Geforce. i turned everything down to try and fix this freezing/restarting problem. i got micron bc i thought it was really good stuff, but i suppose it could be a bad batch but unlikely. you are right, i am going to try a new heat sink first. i appreciate your responses, thanks!

[Ruffian]

Why dont you put that 12-inch fan on the side of your case since you have it open? That would be the ideal thing.

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Red sky at night sailors delight. Red sky at morning sailors take warning.

[spoon15]

thats what i have been doing (putting a big fan in front of the open case), it still freezes/restarts and the heatsink gets really hot

[rarraflled]

At least you know your getting good contact between the CPU and HSF. You may need a better fan for your Heatsink. You should be able to pick up a high powered one off of the internet. I don't know much about Athy's but is there any way of getting a temp reading for the CPU or chipset. A overheated chipset could also cause probs. Hope this helps.