cleaned my system and went from 40c idle to 34c idle!

[Eviltwin17]

hey i just thought id put this out in the open, i cleaned my case along with my heatsink and other components today, my cpu temps went from 40c idle to 34c idle. I figured maybe that would encourage some of you enthusiasts to clean your pc every once in a while. I tend to clean mine every 3-5 months or so. Now that ive shared my results with you, what about your cleaning results, how much does cleaning help your temps?

System Specs:

Athlon64 X2 4800+ @ 2.8ghz
2gb Corsair xms DDR 400
GeForce 7900gto
250gb western digital
Asus a8n5x mobo
xfi xtreme music

 

[doolittle]

I would say whenever it needs it, I recall one neighbor of mine could hardly go once a month since she had a number of dogs & cats until I asked her to get one of those tall "ionic breeze" room air filters, it was reduced to cleaning the filter once a week and the pc once per season.

So if you have a really harsh environment it is best to have another device besides your PC that has filtering/cleaning the air, preferably one that is specific for that function

 

[Eviltwin17]

nice article, keeping your pc clean is important in routine maintainance, im surprised that most average users dont realize this

 

[jaguarskx]

Dust acts like an insulator, so it is best to clean the inside of your PC at least twice a year.

 

[tool_462]

My case is easy to clean, I do it almost every week. I just lift both side panels off and blow My radiator gets sucked with a vacuum every couple months, it doesnt get dirty at all really.

 

[rodney_ws]

I'm water-cooled on my desktop so this isn't as big of a deal for me since most of my cooling takes place outside of my case (or at least I THINK that's an accurate statement). No matter... I think it's great that you dropped 6c just by doing a little spring cleaning... I can't imagine how many people buy new cooling crap just to push their temps lower when you did it for free just by doing something so simple.

 

[dsidious]

I would say whenever it needs it, I recall one neighbor of mine could hardly go once a month since she had a number of dogs & cats until I asked her to get one of those tall "ionic breeze" room air filters, it was reduced to cleaning the filter once a week and the pc once per season.

So if you have a really harsh environment it is best to have another device besides your PC that has filtering/cleaning the air, preferably one that is specific for that function

I have two cats, no filtering device, and I cleaned up my older PC (bought in 2000) only once, when I replaced the disks and added RAM and a DVD-RW. Not sure if it was in 2004 or 2005. It works perfectly, at least when it comes to Tetris and playing DVDs, and I use it every day.

Tell your neighbor to invest $15 in a good cat brush and to use it daily

Edit: use the brush on the cats, not the PC. The PC will be fine.

 

[doolittle]

Originally her brand new dell went DOA after 8~9 months after she got it, she calls me up and I pop the hood and the entire case is littered w/ dog & cat hair and the cpu HSF is caked & the fan is locked up - turns out they like to lay at the bottom of the case near her feet when it is running since it is a PentiumD space heater :lol:

after about 20 mins of disassembly & the air gun I test it out but no life I told her to call dell since it's under warranty, they replace the CPU & HSF all is well - to solve the pet problem she got a shoe-rack type of shelf it sits about 1" off the ground and the pets can't lay directly adjacent to it. She says the big air cleaner really helps to keep the flak down since both shed like mad, she actually got two more for her living room & bedroom. Prior to that I could hardly walk in her house since I am allergic to both but now I can tolerate it for up to an hour at max.

Personally I would have said forget the expensive air cleaners & brush, one trip to the animal shelter and get a nice HDTV :twisted: