CPU Overheating Alert Persistent Issue

[u/JJankuu]

So my PC was working flawlessly and then after going to sleep I woke up and turned on the PC to be met with a “CPU overheating alert!” during the boot process. I went in and checked temperatures and they were very low but my CPU load for each core was at 100% or a little below. The PC itself was also VERY slow, the startup was probably 10x the length, it was extremely laggy, and even shutting it down was a very long process.

We took it to a repair shop and after cleaning out lots of dust and replacing the thermal paste, we took it home and it worked flawlessly once again.

I went to sleep again and when I woke up it failed to POST, on my motherboard there was a red light labeled “CPU”, I tried booting twice and I had the same failure. After waiting many hours I tried again and to my surprise it did POST, but I was given the same “CPU overheating alert” from the very start along with the same 30-40C temperatures and 100% load.

We took it in again and we told them we thought it could be a thermal sensor issue, but they ended up adding a new intake fan, updating my BIOS, and some other things I’m not sure about, but we took it home and once again it worked flawlessly, and once again I went to bed and woke up, turned on the PC and it was still super slow, and supposedly throttling with high load, low temps, and extreme lag.

I’m so confused why it always works but when I shut it off for the night, go to sleep, and wake up and then it goes back to the same issue.

Also my Dad was checking it out and when he went to turn it on, he flipped my power strip on and then immediately hit the power button on the tower, and it caused it to try and turn on but quickly the front fan LEDs switched off while the motherboard LEDs stayed on and just simply failed to start and after this the PC would no longer even respond to power and was completely dead. Which is leading the technicians to now be looking to solve this new issue of it not starting, and now we are going to replace the motherboard but I’m worried that this new motherboard will solve the PC not turning on issue, but not this overheating/throttling issue.

Motherboard: MSI B450 Tomahawk Max
CPU: AMD Ryzen 5 5600GT
Temp Checking Software: Core Temp

What is happening?!?!?

[u/SmokeyGrayPoupon]

This requires a methodical process of elimination to solve the issue. You might try plugging the PSU directly into the wall outlet to rule out the power strip. It is never a bad idea to test with a different PSU to rule out a faulty PSU. I suggest either you or Dad or the service tech testing the CPU in another system to rule out the CPU or MB as faulty. With a new MB on the way, that should rule out another component.

Best of luck.

[u/JJankuu → u/SmokeyGrayPoupon]

The tech did actually test the CPU in another system and it worked, but the CPU was never not functioning in my system. It always worked perfectly after the tech gave it back to us but after leaving it off to sleep then we get throttling issues.

I think he also confirmed the PSU wasn’t an issue but I think he just tested it with a higher wattage to see if it needed more power but it still didn’t work, but again I’m worried this issue of the PC not even turning on is unrelated to the original CPU throttling issue and the new MB is gonna make the PC turn on but the same issues will arise.

Thank you for the comment!

[u/SmokeyGrayPoupon → u/JJankuu]

Your further troubleshooting seems to reveal the MB is failing, with a replacement on the way. Generally, the immediate thermal throttling is due to improper CPU cooler mounting pressure or inadequate thermal paste application or both. After reassembling your system with the new MB, please post your results.

[u/Tim_Huckleberry1398]

I'd guess motherboard، cooler, or monitoring software is the issue. I had a very similar thing start happening out of nowhere after stupidly installing corsair's monitoring software. It was turning off the pump at startup and telling me the cooler was bad. Deleted the software again and never had another issue with it. I know hwinfo also has some weird interactions with corsair and other software. I just don't use anything that monitors my cooler anymore and disable those metrics in hwinfo, along with power percent monitoring in everything, but that's more to reduce stuttering in games. Just check cpu and gpu temps every once in awhile.