On Wednesday 06 February 2013 09:39:23 you wrote:

On Tuesday 05 February 2013 08:18:20 nev young wrote:

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On 04/02/13 08:05, Peter Alcibiades wrote:

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Can you think of anything else to try?

I did have something similar a few years back and it turned out to be the northbridge* chip overheating. There was no sensor for that chip but just looking at the board I could see some discolouration round there and on the reverse of the main board.

I fitted a small fan to keep it cool and it's been fine ever since though a little nosier.

• or is it southbridge.

Any how it's a chip on the main board with a heat sink stuck to it.

Nev

Thanks for this, yes,it does seem like a plausible explanation - and I've found a few northbridge coolers on Amazon, including a flower passive one from Zalman, quite well rated, and a wonderful heatpipe one with a fan in it. Quite large, have to check if it will fit. Quiet PC carries this as their sole northbridge cooler.

Apparently soutbridge is not a problem as its heat output is very low.

So thanks, will have a go.

Al