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Graphics Cards

Nouman_khan_jan
Journeyman III
‎01-11-2022 02:41 AM

AMD in A6 HTPC overheating

My home theatre PC is getting old; I put it together in 2013 with a (then pretty flash) AMD A6 3500 APU. Because of the built in graphics card that sounded like a good choice for home entertainment.

Without streaming 4K video or anything else too demanding, the computer increasingly often hangs in the middle of playing video, usually infinitely looping 1s of the show, and becomes unresponsive. Website

One of the first things I tried was opening it up and blowing out dust with a pressurised air canister, but that did not get rid of the problem.

Is this a sign that the hardware is too old for the current TV/film formats? Would reverting the driver be of any help? I'm running Debian 10, this hardware is now proper legacy stuff. That's why I installed one of the last proprietary drivers that mentions the AT.

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3 Replies
fsadough
Moderator
Moderator
‎01-11-2022 05:06 AM

Try most recent Ubuntu. I have no issues with latest Ubuntu on similar APU

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jabbar_kan
Journeyman III
‎02-02-2022 07:45 AM

You said you think it's overheating.. What Kind of CPU temps are you getting? For a PC put together in 2012, it Could very well be you just need to remove the CPU fan/heatsink, clean the CPU and heatsink face, apply new thermal paste, and reassemble. site

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ThunderBeaver
Miniboss
‎02-02-2022 08:10 AM

If you upgraded to windows 10 check your task manager under the process Tab.

If your running a spinning Hard Drive Windows 10 will have them at 90 to 100% load constantly.

I tried all kinds of things to stop this on my PC.

Eventually had to upgrade to an SSD.

As for your overheating check the thermal compound under your APU it may need replacing. If its dry and crumbly or of a putty like consistency it needs to be cleaned and new thermal compound reapplied.

The APU cooler may not be seated evenly if it is working right. May just need to be reseated.

Then also like you say the PC is 9 years old now and may just be severely outdated and overloaded. 

Try reducing your screen resolution to 1024x768 or 1366x768 (Go with what your monitor/tv will support in this resolution range) with a refresh of no more than 60Hz or 30Hz. Doing this can reduce the load on your APU and reduce temps.

 

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