Random heat releated slowdown

My PC ever since I bought it has randomly slowed down after what seems
a completely random time period, usually from 1 minute up to half an
hour. By slowdown I mean that if I am playing a game, from running
constantly smooth, in a split second it will go jerky. There is no
excessive reading of the hard drive or anything else instantly visible.
It always slows down to what seems subjectively the same speed. I have
also taken bench marks before and after this slow down and the results
reflect it also.

I reformatted, and still the problem occured. When returned to the
manufacturers they could not find anything and returned it unfixed.
They told me that it wouldn't be heat related, as this only causes
freezing or shutdown of the PC.

Since getting the computer back, I have taken the side of the case off,
and physically stuck a large household fan blowing straight in to the
case. This keeps it very cool, and the slowdown hardly ever occurs now,
even when left on for long periods of time.

Is there anything inside a PC system that would actually slow down if
it got too hot rather than shutting down? I'm hoping somebody knows a
bit more than the guy that tested my computer ;-)

Many thanks in advance,

Matt

<fatboymatt99@hotmail.com> wrote in message
news:1124823220.617172.59330@g47g2000cwa.googlegro ups.com...
> My PC ever since I bought it has randomly slowed down after what seems
> a completely random time period, usually from 1 minute up to half an
> hour. By slowdown I mean that if I am playing a game, from running
> constantly smooth, in a split second it will go jerky. There is no
> excessive reading of the hard drive or anything else instantly visible.
> It always slows down to what seems subjectively the same speed. I have
> also taken bench marks before and after this slow down and the results
> reflect it also.
>
> I reformatted, and still the problem occured. When returned to the
> manufacturers they could not find anything and returned it unfixed.
> They told me that it wouldn't be heat related, as this only causes
> freezing or shutdown of the PC.
>
> Since getting the computer back, I have taken the side of the case off,
> and physically stuck a large household fan blowing straight in to the
> case. This keeps it very cool, and the slowdown hardly ever occurs now,
> even when left on for long periods of time.
>
> Is there anything inside a PC system that would actually slow down if
> it got too hot rather than shutting down? I'm hoping somebody knows a
> bit more than the guy that tested my computer ;-)
>
> Many thanks in advance,
>
> Matt
>

Clock throttling of the processor due to it overheating.

What CPU is it?

--
Derek

Thank you for the quick reply Derek.

It's a P4 3ghz chip, running on a Foxconn K7S5A motherboard.

<fatboymatt99@hotmail.com> wrote in message
news:1124835962.880879.233660@g47g2000cwa.googlegr oups.com...
> Thank you for the quick reply Derek.
>
> It's a P4 3ghz chip, running on a Foxconn K7S5A motherboard.
>

What cooling does the case have? What are the temperatures?

--
Derek

fatboymatt99@hotmail.com wrote:
> My PC ever since I bought it has randomly slowed down after what seems
> a completely random time period, usually from 1 minute up to half an
> hour. By slowdown I mean that if I am playing a game, from running
> constantly smooth, in a split second it will go jerky. There is no
> excessive reading of the hard drive or anything else instantly
> visible. It always slows down to what seems subjectively the same
> speed. I have also taken bench marks before and after this slow down
> and the results reflect it also.
>
> I reformatted, and still the problem occured. When returned to the
> manufacturers they could not find anything and returned it unfixed.
> They told me that it wouldn't be heat related, as this only causes
> freezing or shutdown of the PC.
>
> Since getting the computer back, I have taken the side of the case
> off, and physically stuck a large household fan blowing straight in
> to the case. This keeps it very cool, and the slowdown hardly ever
> occurs now, even when left on for long periods of time.
>
> Is there anything inside a PC system that would actually slow down if
> it got too hot rather than shutting down? I'm hoping somebody knows a
> bit more than the guy that tested my computer ;-)
>
> Many thanks in advance,
>
> Matt

Check voltage fluctuations on the power supply also.

Q

There is a case fan, as well as obviously the fan on the PSU, heatsink
& gfx card. I downloaded a program to monitor the temperatures a while
ago. I could only watch two temperature readings, one rose gradually
depending on how much heavy the processor was worked, but the other one
fluctuated greatly. The reading would jump up and down a good 10
degrees every five or ten seconds, I don't know whether or not this is
significant.

I will monitor them again in the BIOS and take note of the temperatures
and voltage fluctuations.

Thank you for the responses so far, what would you recommend?