All right... now that I have installed a water cooling system my fears of having a pump fail out on me while my machine is unattended have become reality.
I just cannot accept the idea that while I'm away my pump can suddenly fail allowing my cpu temperature to reach extreme heights !
If you are like me then I think you'll find the following method very effective in keeping things under control 24/7.
While some bioses give you the option to set a cpu temperature that, once reached, will cause a total system shutdown... not all bioses give you that luxury (at least mine doesn't). So, you guessed it, I had to come up with a way to do it myself.
Here's what to do (you have to be using Windows XP for this tutorial to work correctly, more on how to make it work on other Windows versions soon):
Download the latest version of
speedfan, install it then run it.
Under the "Readings" tab determine the temperature corresponding to your cpu. If you cannot decide which one it is then just run a cpu intensive application like
Prime95 (Options -> Torture test -> In-Place Large FTTs) and pick the temp that goes up the fastest and the highest (this will probably be your cpu temp).
Back to Speedfan... again, under the "Readings" tab
click on "Configure" then
go to the "Events" tab.
Click on the dropdown list next to the "IF" word and pick the temp sensor corresponding to your cpu (in my case it's temp2).
Click on the small dropdown list next to it and select the ">=" symbol.
In the small text box near the ">=" symbol just type the temperature at which you wish to initiate a system shutdown.
Keep the "For 1 times" settings as it is.
Modify the "Allow every x seconds" to "Allow every 5 seconds".
Click on the dropdown list next to the "THEN" word and select "Execute".
Type the following command shutdown -s -f -t 1
Click on "Add".
If everything looks like
this picture then click on "Ok".
Now whenever your cpu temperature reaches the threshold you have set your system will be automatically shut down.
Note: Depending on the user privileges you have in Windows then you might encounter difficulties with SpeedFan simply not executing the "shutdown" command.
In that case there's a way to circumvent it. Just create a file called shutdownpc.bat on your c: drive and open that file then type the following command inside it shutdown -s -f -t 1 then save and close the file.
Now go back to Speedfan's "Events" tab, next to the “Execute” selection type
c:\shutdownpc.bat instead of shutdown -s -f -t 1
Sleep well and relax
… now your system should be protected against mechanical pump failures. Of course recent cpu models all have throttling mechanisms to protect them from overheating but additional protect never hurts.