CPU Temp and CDR

About a week and a half a go I was playing KOTOR 2 And my Temp alarm went off . I shut down the game and it stopped. I then cleanned out all the dust bunnies under the Heat Sink fan and used canned air to dust the case I played in the April BWE for a bout 24 hrs over the weekend and not a peep. Here is the kicker I realised I had the game cd (KOTOR 2) In the wrong drive I had it in my CDR not my DVD drive. It was late and I never turned on the light to see I was wrong. So can something like that make a big difference or was it the Dust. Just wanted to know As I am not much of a Tech wizard. I have since gotten Motherboard Moniter and current temp is 39-45c when playing case 35c

BTW this was the first time I did that and the first time in 3 years my computers Temp alarm went off.

Some specs

Pent 4 2.17Ghz
512 Ram
ATR 9000 Graphic card
Motherboard System Board MSI-6533G-L Supports AGP 4x slot
sound SB Live
CDR 32x12x40

Those two issues are probably not related. Have you used the DVD drive like that since? I'd try it again if you really want to know. If the sensor goes off again, I'd be looking into a new dvd or power supply if its like 350 or less. Something has to either be making it hot, or denying electricity so the system has faulty data to set off alarms by, or, that slows down fans so sensors go off.

The best way to test it is do what you did before, if it doesn't happen again, thank the easter bunny for not being a dust bunny cause it is sacrilege in some countries to blow away the easter bunny...Especially with canned air.

Enjoy

Just don't blow me away .
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How's your cooling? I have a lot of air running through my case. Those temps you list are fine. Might it have been a small power spike that threw it off for a sec?
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3 years, eh? Is that how old your mobo is or is it how long ago an older mobo sounded the klaxon?

You know.. last week it was pretty warm where I live. It is now getting into the summer months and ambient heat will start to become an issue where internal cooling wasn't as important as it may become in the next few months. Now, this week .. where I live at least it cooled down quite a bit. So, my question is.. was ambient heat possibly much higher than this week? Increased ambient temp, Dust bunnies, and poor HSF (low quality HSF), poor overall cooling, will start the mass of phone calls and posts to tech support people having strange problems they never had before.

I tried to do the same thing again and no beep. It must have been the evil bunnies I use my DVD all the time and no prob. I just watched some family guy eps last night with it. In honor of the new pope I watched "Holy Crap" and the one where peter remakes The King and I. I figure that was a good test of the DVD and no alarms. I have two fans and the PC is also about ten inches from my window A/C Unit. But it is too cold to run it now. about 40 outside. but during the summer time the A/C goes into the back of the Case. the case is AL and almost always cool to the touch, even in back. to answer Lunarbunny's question the MB is about 2 yrs old Thanks all.

Darkmane are you saying outloud that Ren is having a strange problem that no one has ever heard of before? I told you not to say anything!

Ambient temperature along with barometric pressure are always influential in cooling. It's like the difference between a blower and a turbo. Computer fans are akin to a blower, because they are driven by an unnatural source, whereas turbos are driven by the exhaust which, to make this simple, derives from air so they adjust to the changes in air density, ambient temperature, etc. more easily. Now this is amplified by the size of computer fans x their rpm and the size of their focus. Anyway just some of that trivial information that just starts spitting out of me like similar to the way 2 quad espressos and a bran muffin will.

Remember that if it's possible, try to aim the airflow of the fans at hotter components. The 120mm fan in the front of my computer is aimed right across the northbridge and CPU (just by luck of the position of the drive bays I mounted it in). More air blowing past means more air for the component to try to balance the heat with, causing the heat to dissipate faster. If you're blowing next to the component, but not across, I think it's possible that it will create a pocket of warmer air in the case. I'd hate to have that happen.

Thoase temps are fine for a Pentium. Athlons can go as high as 60 and still be fine.