why cleaning out your system is very important!

BiGBrOwNPimpsta · May 12, 2007, 09:53 PM

I've been rather sick for the last few months, down and out for most of the time. And I live in a condo which makes it hard to clean up after a mess with no hardwood floors. My system recently became insanely sluggish. I reformatted and changed to vista (which I found to boost performance in the past). It was still poor, and it felt like a CPU problem. So I checked the temps and at idle it was a 90 degrees!!!!!! I dusted the sucker out with compressed air and a vacuam on my balcony (weather is better now). Reapplied a lot of thermal grease on the CPU and now I'm back down to 45 at idle. I didn't dust the system out for a year and it messed up everything. I was gonna buy a new comp right away, but I'm gonna hold off for a few more weeks. I did open a thread in the hardware section asking for consultation about my new Q6600 system I will be purchasing.

So guys, remember to dust out your systems thoroughly, wiring is neat for airflow and reapply thermal paste every few months. In addition, check your temps in your BIOS ever few weeks to see any differences. This will help prolong your parts.

Basic info some people don't know, and just letting you know of the consequences if you were lazy like me.

GutterPunk · May 12, 2007, 10:18 PM

yeah like every month here.

OmegaRED · May 12, 2007, 11:29 PM

I would say the moral of the story is to check your PC temps every few weeks (at minimum) so you know how hot the components are running or if a fan needs replacing. 90 Degree cpu is insane...you could heat a small room with that PC in the winter.

**MIG-31** · May 13, 2007, 02:09 AM

I do a spring clean once a month,two at the latest.

Spent half of yesterday trying to find out a problem which my sisters pc,simply kept freezing every 5 minutes..

Turned out that the cpu's heatsink was so clogged up with dust (after several months of renovating the house) the was no air being pushed through the fins causing it to overheat.

Mr cairo · May 13, 2007, 02:18 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by BiGBrOwNPimpsta

I

So guys, remember to dust out your systems thoroughly, wiring is neat for airflow and reapply thermal paste every few months.

i thought thermal paste actually improved as it aged i seem to recall that reapplying should be done on a yearly timescale at the most ???

BiGBrOwNPimpsta · May 13, 2007, 02:25 AM

it looked like it was running thin, and at times it starts turning black. that means you should clean it off and reapply. i find a new application drops temps a lot

Dyre Straits · May 13, 2007, 03:36 AM

I get inside my cases quite often so, I make sure to keep the innards cleaned up pretty well.

One thing for those with carpeted floors: It's best if you don't put the PC right down on the floor because it will gather more dust faster there. I actually keep my own cases up on the desk away from the floor/carpet. Dust settles on the lower areas and those who do place their PC on the floor will need to check and clean more often.

Good advice and reminder!

BWX · May 13, 2007, 03:45 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by cairo

i thought thermal paste actually improved as it aged i seem to recall that reapplying should be done on a yearly timescale at the most ???

True.. I never change it.. it gets better with age. Well, at least if you use the good stuff like Arctic silver, etc.

Also you should check temps all the time, check them at least once a week just to monitor them to make sure they haven't changed drastically for no apparent reason which would signal a big problem. Waiting a year to clean out a PC is just crazy.. anyone who builds a PC should know that. Clean out the dust once every couple of months at least!

Mousey · May 13, 2007, 06:43 AM

i'm constantly cleaning my fans when i'm bored anyway, and it helps when you can get the friggin heatsink off the apply thermal paste >_<

BabylenTatarsky · May 13, 2007, 07:47 AM

My cat wees on the back of my computer a lot. Stupid cat.

[hobo]eclipse · May 13, 2007, 07:55 AM

ya always a good idea to clean house, ima just about to do just that actually, been a month or 2 and my rig sits on the floor. we have small "burbor" carpet, its no shag but dusty no the less. my vid cards squirell cage fan is horendous at the intake area... Maybe once i get al cleaned up ill post ou some pics in the rig and cpu place forums.

**dj_stick** · May 13, 2007, 09:43 AM

i'll be cracking out the air compressor tomorrow, cleaning this one, and the other machines in the house

GutterPunk · May 13, 2007, 10:24 AM

I only change my thermal paste if my temps move up higher than normal.

zaim · May 14, 2007, 01:28 AM

i've had people tell me they've bought a new computer because their 1 year old computer was running slow.. aka windows was running slow

BiGBrOwNPimpsta · May 14, 2007, 06:37 AM

today i'm ordering my new pc, getting a coolermaster mystique case. has 2x120mm fans with air filters, should help out with dust a bit.

GutterPunk · May 14, 2007, 06:42 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by zaim

i've had people tell me they've bought a new computer because their 1 year old computer was running slow.. aka windows was running slow

Some guy told me he wanted to get a new computer cuz windows registry was corrupt and we had to format and reinstall. He refused to want to do any work on it.

BWX · May 15, 2007, 01:20 AM

Some people are rich enough to do that all the time though... 3 grand (or whatever it cost to buy a new PC) is nothing to them.

BlueMak · May 15, 2007, 06:25 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by BWX

Some people are rich enough to do that all the time though... 3 grand (or whatever it cost to buy a new PC) is nothing to them.

I bet it feels great to be rich.

BWX · May 15, 2007, 06:34 AM

Yeah but most rich people have absolutely no time for anything but getting richer.. and a PC is just a working tool to them. Think how horrible life would be..

Mousey · May 15, 2007, 11:38 AM

^ it's more rewarding to build your own, you value it more

i'm gonna keep upgrading this one

Mousey · May 15, 2007, 11:39 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by BabylenTatarsky

My cat wees on the back of my computer a lot. Stupid cat.

lol... stupid cat indeed
*peeeeeeeeee* *ZAPIFICATED*

OldBuzzard · May 15, 2007, 12:40 PM

Another side benefit of water cooling. Not worrying about cleaning out those danged HSFs. Not saying tht there's NO dust in my system, but it's a lot easier to deal with.

I do have to clean off the radiator on the Exos about once every 6 mo. or so, but that's a lot easier than those HSFs.