MRG
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- Mar 24, 2007
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Greetings all,
Outside of some blunt object hitting your PC, (Such as your foot when you lose a CS:S match) what is one of the biggest single things that can cause system failure? You already know that HEAT is your PC's biggest enemy, so even if you have more fans mounted on your PC than your average chicken farm does, what can be causing your system to run HOT?
Well i'll tell you. They are nasty little buggers called:
DUST BUNNIES
Don't laugh. These little shits can kill your PC faster than you would believe possible. They REALLY like to attack your power supply. Small little places that your not "supposed" to open, thats prime USDA Dust Bunny territory. Whats that? You just spent 18 years of allowence to buy that new 8800GTX or 1950 XT? Just wait, within a month or two, there will be a heavy layer of DUST on it. That Heatsink & fan thats mounted on your CPU & GPU is meant to keep both cool right? To dissipate heat away right? So whats that GREY stuff that's covering the inside of your PC & is covering the holes to your power supply? Whats that gunk thats attached itself to both Heatsink & fans??
Thats right people. The beginnings of DUST Bunny's, or if you want to get technical, 95% of all dust is HUMAN SKIN, but thats another story. (I Used to work for Kirby) So, if your having ANY performance issues & the last time you opened your PC was when Clinton was in office, well I do believe it's time to do a bit o' cleaning.
Cleaning 101
Do this if your a PC NEWBIE.
1)Buy a can of compressed air. (Wal-mart & all PC Stores carry them. They look like a can of WD-40 w/spray straw)
2)Unplug your PC from the power outlet.
3)Remove all wires & cables connected to your PC
4)Remove the side cover to your Tower
5)Take your PC outside. (If it's raining, take it into the garage or place it in the shower stall)
6)Holding the can 3 to 6 inches away, proceed to blow air over every surface within your PC. Take care to NOT blow air into your floppy drive or CD-ROM drive. Be sure to blow air over both your CPU & Video cards Heatsink & fan. Also be sure to fully blow out your Power Supply, for they have Heatsinks in them as well. Last but not least, be aware that there are small plastic jumpers on your mobo that you don't want to "Blow off" though unless you put the air nozzle right against your mobo, there is little chance that you'll be able to blow the jumpers off.
Do this if your a PC STUD MUFFIN or MUFFINETTE
1)Do the above steps but also disconnect all power leads & cables & REMOVE all components from within your PC. Place the Video card, Sound Card, Network card, HDD, CD-ROM/Burner/DVD drive, RAM, on a soft rag or towel off to the side.
2)Next get a small soft CLEAN paint brush, either with a 1 inch or 1/2 inch wide brush head & proceed to "Brush" your motherboard & ALL componets free of dust. Get in between the resistors & everything on your motherboard. Gently brush out your PCI & AGP slots. Do the same to your RAM slots. Pay close attention to cleaning your video card. Using the brush, clean the hearsink & fan.
3)If you havn't done so for along time, remove your Heatsink & fan from your CPU & clean them as well. Leave your CPU in your motherboard. Be sure to clean off any excess old thermal paste from the CPU & Heatsink. I did all the above steps 2 days ago. I got out the old dish brush & washed my CPU heatsink with soap & warm water. Be 110% sure everything is DRY before you remount the heatsink & fan. Also be sure to apply new thermal paste BEFORE to mount your clean heatsink. If your unsure as to how, please see my Guide on installing CPU's that I have here in the Tech Support section. It'll walk you through how to reinstall everything.
4)If you have above average knowledge about PC's, then I would also advise that you remove the cover to your power supply & then give it a good cleaning as well. Be sure to NOT touch anything inside because the power supply itself can still hold a charge even if it's unplugged. Pay close attention to cleaning the heatsinks mounted inside your powersupply. Again, you can use a paint brush to clean.
5)Put everything back together (If you remember how ) Give your PC's innards one last quick blow with the air can to be sure to get any Dust Bunny stragglers & then your done.
Disclaimer: - I will not be held responsible for any damage caused to hardware by retarded dust bunny hunters, hunting bunnies out of season. All hunts are at the users own risk.
Enjoy!!
-MRG
Outside of some blunt object hitting your PC, (Such as your foot when you lose a CS:S match) what is one of the biggest single things that can cause system failure? You already know that HEAT is your PC's biggest enemy, so even if you have more fans mounted on your PC than your average chicken farm does, what can be causing your system to run HOT?
Well i'll tell you. They are nasty little buggers called:
DUST BUNNIES
Don't laugh. These little shits can kill your PC faster than you would believe possible. They REALLY like to attack your power supply. Small little places that your not "supposed" to open, thats prime USDA Dust Bunny territory. Whats that? You just spent 18 years of allowence to buy that new 8800GTX or 1950 XT? Just wait, within a month or two, there will be a heavy layer of DUST on it. That Heatsink & fan thats mounted on your CPU & GPU is meant to keep both cool right? To dissipate heat away right? So whats that GREY stuff that's covering the inside of your PC & is covering the holes to your power supply? Whats that gunk thats attached itself to both Heatsink & fans??
Thats right people. The beginnings of DUST Bunny's, or if you want to get technical, 95% of all dust is HUMAN SKIN, but thats another story. (I Used to work for Kirby) So, if your having ANY performance issues & the last time you opened your PC was when Clinton was in office, well I do believe it's time to do a bit o' cleaning.
Cleaning 101
Do this if your a PC NEWBIE.
1)Buy a can of compressed air. (Wal-mart & all PC Stores carry them. They look like a can of WD-40 w/spray straw)
2)Unplug your PC from the power outlet.
3)Remove all wires & cables connected to your PC
4)Remove the side cover to your Tower
5)Take your PC outside. (If it's raining, take it into the garage or place it in the shower stall)
6)Holding the can 3 to 6 inches away, proceed to blow air over every surface within your PC. Take care to NOT blow air into your floppy drive or CD-ROM drive. Be sure to blow air over both your CPU & Video cards Heatsink & fan. Also be sure to fully blow out your Power Supply, for they have Heatsinks in them as well. Last but not least, be aware that there are small plastic jumpers on your mobo that you don't want to "Blow off" though unless you put the air nozzle right against your mobo, there is little chance that you'll be able to blow the jumpers off.
Do this if your a PC STUD MUFFIN or MUFFINETTE
1)Do the above steps but also disconnect all power leads & cables & REMOVE all components from within your PC. Place the Video card, Sound Card, Network card, HDD, CD-ROM/Burner/DVD drive, RAM, on a soft rag or towel off to the side.
2)Next get a small soft CLEAN paint brush, either with a 1 inch or 1/2 inch wide brush head & proceed to "Brush" your motherboard & ALL componets free of dust. Get in between the resistors & everything on your motherboard. Gently brush out your PCI & AGP slots. Do the same to your RAM slots. Pay close attention to cleaning your video card. Using the brush, clean the hearsink & fan.
3)If you havn't done so for along time, remove your Heatsink & fan from your CPU & clean them as well. Leave your CPU in your motherboard. Be sure to clean off any excess old thermal paste from the CPU & Heatsink. I did all the above steps 2 days ago. I got out the old dish brush & washed my CPU heatsink with soap & warm water. Be 110% sure everything is DRY before you remount the heatsink & fan. Also be sure to apply new thermal paste BEFORE to mount your clean heatsink. If your unsure as to how, please see my Guide on installing CPU's that I have here in the Tech Support section. It'll walk you through how to reinstall everything.
4)If you have above average knowledge about PC's, then I would also advise that you remove the cover to your power supply & then give it a good cleaning as well. Be sure to NOT touch anything inside because the power supply itself can still hold a charge even if it's unplugged. Pay close attention to cleaning the heatsinks mounted inside your powersupply. Again, you can use a paint brush to clean.
5)Put everything back together (If you remember how ) Give your PC's innards one last quick blow with the air can to be sure to get any Dust Bunny stragglers & then your done.
Disclaimer: - I will not be held responsible for any damage caused to hardware by retarded dust bunny hunters, hunting bunnies out of season. All hunts are at the users own risk.
Enjoy!!
-MRG
