How do you maintain your CPU cooler

[deltalives]

I've got an i5 750 overclocked to 3.20ghz, 160 bclk and 20x. Cooling it with an Arctic Cooling Freezer Pro Rev. 2 for the 1156 socket (yes I know it's not an amazing cooler but it served its purpose and was working well till now)

Hmm, did the overclocking only 3 months ago and the max specified temp for the i5 is 73c ish. Soooo, I had some issues with dust back in the initial oc but someone pointed it out and after cleaning the oc was running great at 65c on prime 95. good enough for me

I vacuumed my pc and heatsink out before moving into my dorm but in a week or so was seeing higher idle temps (about 10c on average) so I booted up prime 95.

Instead of running at 65c, my cpu is maxing out around 70-71, just a coupla degrees below max temp. I'm wondering if there's anything else I should be doing to keep it cooling well.



Do you guys find that cpu cooling isn't as effective as time passes or that you need to periodically remove--wash out the heatsink--and reapply thermal paste every few months? Haha seems like a lot of work to reseat every few months but I'm a wondering what could have happened.

 

[4745454b]

Ambient temps go up? If it was cooler at your old place the CPU would have run cooler as well. I mention this because you claim the problem happened after you moved into the dorm. If the ambient temps are the same, perhaps its in an enclosed space now or worse air flow in the room?

 

[JofaMang]

Do not use a vaccuum inside your computer case, it is a static charge risk that you are taking.

As for heatsinks, I take off my 212+ once every couple months and wash it in hot soapy water. Understand that I am a smoker with 2 cats, and I build up residue on my HSF quite rapidly. I blow it all out with compressed air about 1-2 times a month.

 

[davcon]

^+1 I'm considering the same since i smoke.
But compressed air for non-smokers not a vacuum.

 

[J_Sparrow]

or you could stop smoking and get one of those hairless cats! problem solved. thank you.

 

[JofaMang]

or you could stop smoking and get one of those hairless cats! problem solved. thank you.

Well, smoking I am working on, but the cats can stay if I quit smoking. They aren't so bad with basic filtering, but smoke leaves a gunk over time, insulating the HSF. I usually see a solid 4-5c drop in my temps before and after cleaning.

 

[J_Sparrow]

http://www.quietpcusa.com/Fansis-120mm-Fan-Dust-Filter-Washable--P298C0.aspx

found these, glad i read yr thread or i'd have never looked. I'm gonna get some i think. I noticed that on my old 8800gtx, after 6months or so, games would crash or glitch more and more, I took it out and the level of dust on the fan was insane, i used cotton wool buds and a vacuum cleaner to get it all out, was fine for around another 6 months.

Hopfuly the above filters will stop enough dust getting in to clog up my 2 x HD 5870's!

 

[deltalives]

haha true, quitting smoking would help quite a bit but the cats don't have to go. i do have removable filters in the front of my pc that do help catch dust but the side window I have no control over.

@ 4745454b: I'm not sure but ambient temps during testing were only about 10F higher than at home. I'm thinking it might be a combination of dust/dirt stuck in the heatsink and needing a new reseating (especially since the heatsink fins weren't hot to the touch, possibly bad contact).

Hmm, yeah, I think compressed air on the cooler, gfx card, and case every 3-4 months and heatsink washing 2 times a year oughta do the trick. i'll let you guys know how it's goes!

And good luck J_Sparrow with the filters! Yeah, I can imagine how xfire could get lots of crap stuck in your fans lol

 

[4745454b]

10F = ?c? If my math is right, thats your 5C rise in temps right there. If the sink came loose when you moved that could be it as well.

You shouldn't have to redo it every few months. But if it got moved/bumped for 100s or 1000s of miles then it should be redone. What should be done every few months is a cleaning of the fins/fan blades. This alone should keep it working as it did for a long time.

 

[J_Sparrow]

i've looked everywhere on the entire internets and i can only find fan sized filters? anyone know what the foam is that they use, cos if I buy a sheet of that i can just cable tie it on the inside of the side and front panels and solve my dust problem by about 80% at a guess.

-edit-

by the way, if anyone ever gets a sand/corn/thunder fly in their LCD screen/tv, then DO NOT poke the screen it squashes the fly onto yr screen. Just switch off the TV and leave a bright light on above and behind the TV then normally they crawl out and fly to that. Don't bother using your TV or monitor for a few days while they are around. they die out after only a few days.
If one does die behind the screen, the i found if i leave them, they eventually dry out and drop out of site somewhere.

 

[4745454b]

LOL, I won't even ask....

 

[JofaMang]

I use thin sheets of 3m scotch brite for my filters, since one can't filter smoke anyway, and it has low resistance, keeps the cat hair out, and is washable.

 

[deltalives]

yeahh.....well it's filed away for future knowledge lol.

btw, i think you're right. i looked it up on google and increases in ambients about corresponds with increases in cpu temps under load. i felt so stupid when i read your post and realized that it was so simple lol

washable front bezel filters are nice btw . thanks again! good luck with all your guys future projects

 

[deltalives]

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