thisisstupid said:
I'll have my computer turned off for the whole night, and in the morning when I turn it back on and play DK64 for awhile it's fine for about 15-30 minutes then it becomes slow. Eventually my computer just turns off. (It does this a lot, although I'm not sure why) I turn my computer back on, and run DK64 again. For the first minute or two it's fine then it becomes slow again and my computer turns off, etc. etc.
This could be a number of things, and I will try to provide you with full details on the two most common reasons for this problem. It could be a heating issue like you mentioned, I describe that below. It could also be a lobed or leaky (failing) capacitor. Many computers I have fixed throughout time have had this problem. Take the side of your tower off, and just scan over your motherboard. You will see many capacitors of many different shapes and sizes. Capacitors look like little garbage cans, as seen in this pic:
Capacitor Pic. If a capacitor is failed, usually the top of it will be lobed and/or show signs of leakage. This means you need to buy a new motherboard (or if you are an expert, replace the capacitor). Do not touch the electrolytic leakage of a capacitor, it is poisonous to the skin.
Leaky Capacitor Pic
Lobed Capacitor Pic
thisisstupid said:
I have been testing some things and I THINK the problem is my CPU is overheating, but I don't know jack about how to fix this other than to shut down my computer for a long time, which isn't convenient.
All the info below is directed towards heating issues.
Don't do anything you feel uncomfortable doing!
CPU overheating is never a good thing. Eventually you will fry it. There are ways to monitor the CPU temperature, one I know of is to hit Delete or F1 (depending on your board) when your system starts up to enter the BIOS configuration. Usually there is an option or tab to montior your CPU temperature there. I know Pheonix BIOS supports this. If you can't, do a search for a CPU temperature monitoring program. I don't use them so I don't know the names of any.
Normally and safely, it should run between 30-50 degrees Celsius (or lower), anything above that can be dangerous. If it is a cooling issue, clean out all the dust in your heatsink, make sure your CPU fan is working (if it isn't dont even turn your computer on!), and apply some thermal compound to your heatsink where it touches the processor. You can get a tube of thermal compound off of E-Bay for like 3 bucks. Some generic computer companies fail to use thermal compound (also known as heatsink compound btw), which isn't a good thing. It's important to ensure proper heat transfer from the CPU to the heatsink. Below is a pic if you don't know what you are looking for, it should look something like this.
Heatsink Pic - Click here to see.
Use an ESD wrist strap if you are going to be touching anything electronic, or keep yourself grounded to the chasis by keeping one hand on the metal of the tower case, and use the other hand to handle the electronics. Electrostatic discharge is a major electronic killer, and just the slightest touch can fry an electronic board. Gotta remember, they are designed for low voltage, low current, and applying 10,000 volts of static off of your body won't help your matter any.
Graphics cards also have processors integrated on-board. The intention is to reduce processor time from your main CPU related to graphics processing. You might want to see if your graphics card fan still spins (which is over top of the CPU). If it doesn't, replace it. Usually you can't find exact replacements for graphics card fans, so you may have to use your imagination. Heck, even my graphics card doesn't have the original cooling fan anymore.
Make sure you have lots of fans, it never hurts to add more. I have 9 cooling fans in my system ATM, but you have to know if your power supply is going to handle more. If you have tons of junk in your computer, I suggest a 450 Watt PSU or higher. Make sure you don't have your fans opposing each other either. Air should flow into your system from one direction, and out the other. Pointing all fans in will only keep heat in, and pointing all fans out won't allow cool air to travel inward. Below is a pic of proper cooling i made loooooooong ago for a PC building tutorial I made for my friends.
Proper Cooling Circulation
Overheating issues are a serious thing, hardware isn't meant to run above temperatures it wasn't designed for. If you feel uncomfortable doing anything, then I suggest leaving it to a professional with the best description possible of your problem. Good luck.
Sorry if all this was off topic. At least the root of the DK64 problem may be found.
