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<blockquote data-quote="AtlBo" data-source="post: 703929" data-attributes="member: 32547">Finally got back to this.&nbsp; Saw improvement and thought I had the problem solved on freezing but, unfortunately, it wasn&#039;t permanent.&nbsp; The freezing came back after a couple of days.&nbsp; So I finally found time and broke down and removed the heatsink, cleaned and reset the processor, repasted, cleaned and reset the heatsink, etc.&nbsp; This time when I replaced the heatsink I was very careful to &quot;drop&quot; the pins slowly into the holes allowing the heatsink to rest on the pins.&nbsp; Made sure to go 100% by the Arctic Silver guide for the Q9400.&nbsp; Think I may have tried to force the pins down too soon when I reset the heatsink previously after originally changing processors.It&#039;s booting and running clean now.&nbsp; The heatsink fan was noisy before and even the rickety sound is gone.&nbsp; Could be the heatsink may have actually been a little bit off kilter from one corner to another maybe causing the fan to wabble.&nbsp; I noticed it&#039;s slightly magnetically drawn to the upper part of the housing and there is a little bit of vertical play between the fan and the housing along the fan axle.&nbsp; The magnetism keeps it vertically stable.&nbsp; It&#039;s very sturdy, however, and I think the play is intentional.&nbsp; So I believe the heatsink must have been a little bit off kilter.&nbsp; Quiet not for an older PC.Did have a couple of other small issues.&nbsp; First, fans kept running in sleep mode.&nbsp; I had reset the BIOS to defaults, so sleep was set to S1.&nbsp; Set to it S3, and that solved that issue.&nbsp; Second, I had noticed before resetting the processor the temps of the two processor dyes weren&#039;t identical, with the first dye being up to 10C hotter.&nbsp; Those have evened out now.&nbsp; I had read up on the issue and attributed it to the quad core architecture, although mentions of the issue being linked to improperly placing the heatsink or improperly pasting had stuck in my mind.Appreciate the help again.&nbsp; Really enjoying the old crate now.&nbsp; It&#039;s amazing going from 1000 passmark to 3300 on the same motherboard LOL.&nbsp; It&#039;s really stable now too.&nbsp; Video was having issues before, but not now.&nbsp; I think the HD 4550 graphics card is the only thing keeping me from running 1080p@60 fps.&nbsp; It doesn&#039;t stress the processor, but frames do drop at 60 fps.&nbsp; 1080p@30 fps is great though.&nbsp; <img src="data:image/gif;base64,R0lGODlhAQABAIAAAAAAAP///yH5BAEAAAAALAAAAAABAAEAAAIBRAA7" class="smilie smilie--sprite smilie--sprite130" alt="(y)" title="Thumbs up&nbsp; &nbsp; (y)" loading="lazy" data-shortname="(y)" />&nbsp; I highly recommend getting an old &quot;pet&quot; like this one for you guys who like hardware.&nbsp; Great fun.Well, I did finally get around to this before repasting/resetting the heatsink.&nbsp; Installed the 500w Rosewill PSU fist into this PC as a test.&nbsp; Thought this might have solved the issue, but it did not do so.&nbsp; I booted in and had a good session, then the issue reappeared so on to the processor.Reiterating, it appears this is discussed around the internet for a reason.&nbsp; Looks like you are correct that there tends to be an issue with the quad cores being sensitive.&nbsp; They are great fun though.</blockquote>

[QUOTE="AtlBo, post: 703929, member: 32547"] Finally got back to this. Saw improvement and thought I had the problem solved on freezing but, unfortunately, it wasn't permanent. The freezing came back after a couple of days. So I finally found time and broke down and removed the heatsink, cleaned and reset the processor, repasted, cleaned and reset the heatsink, etc. This time when I replaced the heatsink I was very careful to "drop" the pins slowly into the holes allowing the heatsink to rest on the pins. Made sure to go 100% by the Arctic Silver guide for the Q9400. Think I may have tried to force the pins down too soon when I reset the heatsink previously after originally changing processors. It's booting and running clean now. The heatsink fan was noisy before and even the rickety sound is gone. Could be the heatsink may have actually been a little bit off kilter from one corner to another maybe causing the fan to wabble. I noticed it's slightly magnetically drawn to the upper part of the housing and there is a little bit of vertical play between the fan and the housing along the fan axle. The magnetism keeps it vertically stable. It's very sturdy, however, and I think the play is intentional. So I believe the heatsink must have been a little bit off kilter. Quiet not for an older PC. Did have a couple of other small issues. First, fans kept running in sleep mode. I had reset the BIOS to defaults, so sleep was set to S1. Set to it S3, and that solved that issue. Second, I had noticed before resetting the processor the temps of the two processor dyes weren't identical, with the first dye being up to 10C hotter. Those have evened out now. I had read up on the issue and attributed it to the quad core architecture, although mentions of the issue being linked to improperly placing the heatsink or improperly pasting had stuck in my mind. Appreciate the help again. Really enjoying the old crate now. It's amazing going from 1000 passmark to 3300 on the same motherboard LOL. It's really stable now too. Video was having issues before, but not now. I think the HD 4550 graphics card is the only thing keeping me from running 1080p@60 fps. It doesn't stress the processor, but frames do drop at 60 fps. 1080p@30 fps is great though. (y) I highly recommend getting an old "pet" like this one for you guys who like hardware. Great fun. Well, I did finally get around to this before repasting/resetting the heatsink. Installed the 500w Rosewill PSU fist into this PC as a test. Thought this might have solved the issue, but it did not do so. I booted in and had a good session, then the issue reappeared so on to the processor. Reiterating, it appears this is discussed around the internet for a reason. Looks like you are correct that there tends to be an issue with the quad cores being sensitive. They are great fun though. [/QUOTE]

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