Did you use too much or too little thermal compound? I always recommend an amount similar to the size of a large grain of rice, in the middle of the CPU, or a thin cross using a similar amount.

There is no such thing as too much thermal paste when it comes to having issues with the temperatures.

Please check the mounting pressure of the heatsink and make sure you have enough thermal paste applied to cover the entire die/heatspreader.

Does your motherboards vrm support split rail CPUs like the mmx series? And is the correct voltage set? Also how's the airflow in your case and does your heatsink have a fan?

Definitely need more info here. What motherboard are you using? Can you also provide a photo the motherboard with the processor and heatsink installed?

With what little info we have to go on my primary suspicion would be issues within the motherboard voltage regulation rather than an overheating CPU.

Law212, when asking for help troubleshooting your hardware please provide as much info about the system and its components as possible. This almost always narrows down possible problems.👍

Sorry guys, I appreciate the replies. I will get more info and post back. I havent had time to look at the P1 in a while. In the meantime I have been using my P4 and trying to get my 486 working well. Ill get as much info as I can and post back. Thanks again to everyone. I'm not very good with retro systems.

BardBun wrote on 2020-12-05, 02:16:

There is no such thing as too much thermal paste when it comes to having issues with the temperatures.

No such thing as too much thermal connectivity. Just issues with too much electrical connectivity.

douglar wrote on 2021-02-10, 15:12:

No such thing as too much thermal connectivity. Just issues with too much electrical connectivity. […]
Show full quote

BardBun wrote on 2020-12-05, 02:16:

There is no such thing as too much thermal paste when it comes to having issues with the temperatures.

No such thing as too much thermal connectivity. Just issues with too much electrical connectivity.

🤣

I've seen enough systems with too much thermal paste, but that would be insane 😀 What some people don't realise is that thermal paste fills microscopic air gaps, which is why it works, but you will soon find it is less thermally conductive than metal, so too much does have an adverse effect.

OK well since I got my 486 working well, its time to go back to the pentium 1.

It still randomly freezes or reboots when playing games.

its a P1 200 MMX
Sound blaster live 5.1
Voodoo 3 2000
32 megs of ram
windows 98

Could it be the machine is overheating?
Especially the voltage regulator with the little heatsink on Voodoo 3 PCI cards gets extremely hot. The case seems to have next to no airflow and cable clutter could create hot spots.
Try running the system with the cover off and a fan pointed on the graphics card. If this helps with the freezes tidy up the cables and see wether you can mount a fan into the case to provide some internal circulation of air, especially over the graphics card.

And see wether this capacitor is still well attached.

I assumed it was over heating, but I couldnt find a program that would work on win 98 to monitor temperatures.

Ill check those things you mentioned later tonight. Thanks a lot.

Law212 wrote on 2021-02-24, 16:52:

I assumed it was over heating, but I couldnt find a program that would work on win 98 to monitor temperatures.

Ill check those things you mentioned later tonight. Thanks a lot.

Oh yeah, I forgot most of the initial question. Pentium MMX CPUs aren't prone to overheating even with a small heatsink but the Voodoo 3 PCIs are. Also with all the cables in the way and not knowing what motherboard you're using it may be the motherboard VRM. A bit of airflow and cable management can't hurt either way. 😉
Good luck and tell us how it went!

Doornkaat wrote on 2021-02-24, 17:38:

Law212 wrote on 2021-02-24, 16:52:

I assumed it was over heating, but I couldnt find a program that would work on win 98 to monitor temperatures.

Ill check those things you mentioned later tonight. Thanks a lot.

Oh yeah, I forgot most of the initial question. Pentium MMX CPUs aren't prone to overheating even with a small heatsink but the Voodoo 3 PCIs are. Also with all the cables in the way and not knowing what motherboard you're using it may be the motherboard VRM. A bit of airflow and cable management can't hurt either way. 😉
Good luck and tell us how it went!

I was considering replacing the GPU with another card. Maybe an ati rage 128?
When i get home and the wife releases me from her grasp ill get to work on the P1.

Law212 wrote on 2021-02-24, 15:52:

OK well since I got my 486 working well, its time to go back to the pentium 1. […]
Show full quote

OK well since I got my 486 working well, its time to go back to the pentium 1.

It still randomly freezes or reboots when playing games.

its a P1 200 MMX
Sound blaster live 5.1
Voodoo 3 2000
32 megs of ram
windows 98

Pics give a good picture of the state of the system, but hardly help in ID...

- which motherboard do you have? Brand + model?
- did you change the voltage jumpers when exchanging CPUs?
- what are the voltage jumpers currently set to?

Overheating V3 isn't going to help, but if you're overvolting your 2.8V CPU at 3.3V (or worse, 3.52V if VRE is enabled) it's not getting any better.

dionb wrote on 2021-02-24, 19:18:

Pics give a good picture of the state of the system, but hardly help in ID... […]
Show full quote

Law212 wrote on 2021-02-24, 15:52:

OK well since I got my 486 working well, its time to go back to the pentium 1. […]
Show full quote

OK well since I got my 486 working well, its time to go back to the pentium 1.

It still randomly freezes or reboots when playing games.

its a P1 200 MMX
Sound blaster live 5.1
Voodoo 3 2000
32 megs of ram
windows 98

Pics give a good picture of the state of the system, but hardly help in ID...

- which motherboard do you have? Brand + model?
- did you change the voltage jumpers when exchanging CPUs?
- what are the voltage jumpers currently set to?

Overheating V3 isn't going to help, but if you're overvolting your 2.8V CPU at 3.3V (or worse, 3.52V if VRE is enabled) it's not getting any better.

Thanks, Ill get all that info when I open it up a gain tonight.
I didnt change any jumpers at all.

Law212 wrote on 2021-02-24, 19:44:

[...]
Thanks, Ill get all that info when I open it up a gain tonight.
I didnt change any jumpers at all.

Then you are definitely running the CPU 0.5V too high. Fortunately for you the P55C is one of the most overengineered pieces of silicon out there and it can take a lot of abuse - but it will get far hotter than normal, which is bad news in a cluttered, cramped case with other major heat sources too.

So i ran the computer with the case off and it lasted a lot longer. I was able to play through street fighter alpha all the way and then almost all the way through alpha 2. Then alpha 2 crashed to desktop . Since it didnt freeze or reboot. I started up tomb raider, which played fine. I got tired of it and booted up doom 2. Doom 2 played for a feew minutes then the system rebooted. The heat seemed to be coming from the voodoo card.

dionb wrote on 2021-02-25, 01:10:

Law212 wrote on 2021-02-24, 19:44:

[...]
Thanks, Ill get all that info when I open it up a gain tonight.
I didnt change any jumpers at all.

Then you are definitely running the CPU 0.5V too high. Fortunately for you the P55C is one of the most overengineered pieces of silicon out there and it can take a lot of abuse - but it will get far hotter than normal, which is bad news in a cluttered, cramped case with other major heat sources too.

How would I know and what do i do?