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Wrench

The importance of a clean machine (internally!)

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been having some issues with the dell studio xps, with the GTX240 vid card ... damn thing seemed to be overheating, and shutting down. Not loosing the computer, like a bad PS - everything's still running (speaking working, HD spinning, all power on -in fact the mission I was flying was still running in the background)

 

so, only way out was a hard shut down with the power switch (we all know how much WinDoze loves that!)

 

Pulled the side panel, blew out all the fans, ducts, etc. Even pulled the vid card and blew out ITs fan.

 

but it still did it.

Spent half the night reading the boards at nvidia.com; seems to be a chronic problem with dells with this card as there were 5 or 6 posts on the same problem

 

This morning, I pull the vid card again, and THIS time , I take off the heatsink/fan housing cover. And find the edges clogged with crud. Blew it out, and picked at the rest with a toothpick. The pic below is the crap that came out -- packed hard. I used a cig for scale (ya, as a smoker cleaning the insided is more important!) Sorr for the huge size ...I wanted to make sure folks could see these mini-turds

 

The moral of the story .... not only BACKUP YOU HD!!! but clean out the insides once in a while!

 

The fan is so quite now, I can't even hear it, but can feel the airflow from the side vent

vid-card-crud.JPG

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as a (sadly) chain smoker I clean mine often -once a year in service which does all the radiators/heatsinks handling stuff... guy who works there once told me they found f***ing spiders in one's system some days earlier!:yikes: I think I'd have a hearth attack seeing those monstrosities running inside my system

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You're spot-on with regard to cleaning. When my brother was rebuilding my desktop he said he was shocked after opening up the access panel. Not only was there plenty of dust but also tons of cigarette ash (!) and nicotine stains everywhere. According to him, a great utensil for cleaning fans is a soft bristle toothbrush. Cleans them like new.

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Dang guys, if smoking is doing that to your computers then imagine what smoking does to my lungs! I do not smoke in my house so I do not have to worry about my computer getting smoking related COPD, but it does bring up a good point. Why dont we start a Combat Ace Smoking Secession Support Group? I would consider joining.

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I've seen some pretty nasty computers at my shop - I have a pair of Mechanix gloves that I use when they're too nasty to touch with bare hands. I take an air compressor to my desktop about once a month - also gives me a chance to make sure all cables are secure and such!

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Just did a massive cleaning out yesterday. Even put some new thermal grease on the CPU.

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esp important to clean weekly for those of us that deploy to other lovely countries. last tour here had some sort of bug(the six legged kind) die in the fan and jam it til i cleeaned it on sunday. i had wondered why it was heating up so much that fri and sat!

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The combination of smoke and dust causes truly disgusting formations inside PCs. Years ago I worked for PC shops and regularly had people bring in their machines just loaded up with this muck. There were also some that had living inhabitants, from spiders all the way up to mice!

 

Anyway, the PC needs more regular cleaning the dirtier the environment it exists in, and as far as what your lungs look like... I wouldn't want MINE to look like that.

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been having some issues with the dell studio xps, with the GTX240 vid card ... damn thing seemed to be overheating, and shutting down. Not loosing the computer, like a bad PS - everything's still running (speaking working, HD spinning, all power on -in fact the mission I was flying was still running in the background)

 

so, only way out was a hard shut down with the power switch (we all know how much WinDoze loves that!)

 

Pulled the side panel, blew out all the fans, ducts, etc. Even pulled the vid card and blew out ITs fan.

 

but it still did it.

Spent half the night reading the boards at nvidia.com; seems to be a chronic problem with dells with this card as there were 5 or 6 posts on the same problem

 

This morning, I pull the vid card again, and THIS time , I take off the heatsink/fan housing cover. And find the edges clogged with crud. Blew it out, and picked at the rest with a toothpick. The pic below is the crap that came out -- packed hard. I used a cig for scale (ya, as a smoker cleaning the insided is more important!) Sorr for the huge size ...I wanted to make sure folks could see these mini-turds

 

The moral of the story .... not only BACKUP YOU HD!!! but clean out the insides once in a while!

 

The fan is so quite now, I can't even hear it, but can feel the airflow from the side vent

I live in an apartment near my work site and have the same problem so often that I make it a twice a year cleanout event on my Outlook task list. Vacume cleaner with a hose, old toothbrush, screwdriver, and can of compressed air are the tools for the job. I take it apart and take all fans out to get to the cooling equipment. I do this one component at a time so I don't have any of those pesky left over parts from a more massive strip and search effort. My computer is my baby and I think I spend more time on keeping it clean and shiny than I do on my '85 Corvette.

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I clean mine out once a week. Every Sunday, because my bedroom is a damn computer/entertaiment room so all the electronics get super dusty. Its a never ending task.

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for me it's a monthly event; I'd just never thought to pull the card field strip it (so to speak). Not just a smoker, but a pet owner, so that adds another dimension as well ... cat fuzz!

 

So Remember People: keep it clean and cool!

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Nothing beats an electric leaf-blower for blasting dust out of those hard to reach places :grin:

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Well, been fixing PC's for six years..and although I've cleaned some mucky ones..I (thankfully)have never come across anything alive in there!...nor would I want to

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Fub that. Gas powered leaf blower. I like Husqvarna. Somebody at the [}{] forum poasted that they used a leaf blower. A few poasts later, somebody else poasted a one-liner....at least the guy has no leaves in his computer. One of the things I like about the [}{] is the funny way threads grow, and grow.

 

Spiders mean no bugs (but ants maybe). I lived in a house full of spiders, and no bugs, except there were ants, from time to time.

 

Dave::

I clean mine out once a week. Every Sunday, because my bedroom is a damn computer/entertaiment room...

Yeap. The spilled saturday night beer flows everywhere like avgas on a wing.

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Dang guys, if smoking is doing that to your computers then imagine what smoking does to my lungs! I do not smoke in my house so I do not have to worry about my computer getting smoking related COPD, but it does bring up a good point. Why dont we start a Combat Ace Smoking Secession Support Group? I would consider joining.

 

I second that

 

http://combatace.com/topic/70834-the-give-up-smoking-revolution-thread/

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Wrench your brilliant I've got a nice video card laying on the side that's been giving me problems. I've never thought about taking the cover off!!

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thanks! It's the auto mechanic I was; he has to take everything apart to see how it works, and IF something comes apart, maybe fix the bits inside!

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Some useful tips for keeping the PC cleaner:

 

- DO NOT have your PC stand on ground level. Don't put it under the desk, put it ON TOP.

 

- Get a case which has removable filters for the fans - I've chosen mine, amongst other things, because of that - Thermaltake's Level 10 GT Snow Edition- has many removable filters which you just have to remove and clean and insert back in - excellent at keeping the dust out! If you can't buy one with filters, see if you can retrofit them, even if removing them gives you more of a hassle (probably via screws or something).

 

 

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