Hi fellas,

 

Over the last days/weeks i've had like 10 temperature warnings from the ASUS software. Alerts that did not show up in the past. So at first sight i thought about temperatures rising at this time of the year or a high over clock frequency + high cpu voltage etc.... So i rolled back to 4.8GHZ and monitored the cpu temperature while loading and running fsx: and the temp was way higher than what i used to get in April/MAy 2011 when Ryan was helping me out put this machine together. So this morning, as i was in the mood for some maintenance in my case i've removed the cooler over the CPU to see if some more thermal compound was needed and clean up the heatsink etc.... Look what i've found ! thats crazy. I was so amazed that i captured that moment and thought i would share that with the Folks on the PMDG Forum .

 

 

After recording, I've put on my "Monk costume" i've had the dust sucked through the vacuum and GOOD AS NEW ! Temperature are now around 45-50 at all times and the fan noise have changed...

Conclusion: I do not intend to give anybody a lesson but if you love your PC don't forget these kind of details....

 

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VyTfnDND_iA

Just a word of caution: Using a lot of thermal compound will affect the temperatures negatively. You need to use as little as possible.

If you "lapped"(grind and polish the surface) the CPU and bottom of the heatsink, it's often good to not use any thermal compound at all, since copper-copper transfers heat better than copper-compound-copper, when you have two completely flat surfaces.

Using a thermal compound and no pb whatsoever... anyway just wanted to show you that since i was very surprised to see all the dust.

I wish I would have taken a picture of my wifes computer when I opened it to change out her video card. Right away I knew why the card failed, the fan was completely caked with, not dust, but makeup :Hypnotized: . :LMAO: . She would get on the internet to read the morning news then leave the machine running while she applied makeup just a few feet away. There's a joke in there somewhere, just haven't thought of it yet :Whistle: .

 

Steve

There's a joke in there somewhere, just haven't thought of it yet :Whistle: .

 

Steve

 

That was the 'foundation' of the problem.

 

Al

Conclusion: I do not intend to give anybody a lesson but if you love your PC don't forget these kind of details....

You're quite right : it doesn't hurt to state what should be the obvious now & again. I'm not entirely a novice when it comes to hardware, but got caught out recently with that issue. A month or two ago, my flightsim PC had started the unpleasant habit of shutting down totally unexpectedly like someone had pulled the plug out of the wall (and I didn't need to have FSX running for it to happen). When this uncommanded shutting down became more frequent, I took it in to a very helpful local computer place where they found an almost solid cake of dust on the heat sink underneath the CPU fan. They cleaned it, after which the machine was as good as gold. But they did recommend that I bring in the PC from time to time so that they can give it a proper vacuum-out (which would cost only a few bucks, well worth it).

 

As an aside : they also commented that the installed CPU cooler fan was pretty basic so I got them to source and install a better cooler. The MoBo in my machine is one they don't see very often, and the only type of cooler that they could source locally, turned out to be such an overkill that there is potential to overclock the 3.4GHz CPU by considerably more than the current 10% without running the risk of frying the CPU (I now know that the overheat protection does work anyway :Doh:).

Solid dust on the heatsink ! waaaah ....

Just a word of caution: Using a lot of thermal compound will affect the temperatures negatively. You need to use as little as possible.

If you "lapped"(grind and polish the surface) the CPU and bottom of the heatsink, it's often good to not use any thermal compound at all, since copper-copper transfers heat better than copper-compound-copper, when you have two completely flat surfaces.

That is as bad as using too much compound. The point of thermal compound is to bridge the gaps in the surface of the two materials to maximize contact area. The idea is to put as little as possible on the heatsink and spread it around (basically rub it in and then scrape off the excess flush with the surface) and the same to the CPU. You then put the two surfaces together (DO NOT TWIST THEM TOGETHER as I read too often elsewhere!). That will maximize surface contact area whilst minimizing thermal resistance due to the paste thickness.

 

If anyone just puts a blob in the center and then twists the two parts together you are asking for voids to develop in the paste and hotspots to occur on the device. Not only that but you end up with a mess of paste and too much of the stuff as well (it solidifies when heated).

 

Some compounds are CONDUCTIVE meaning that excess blob could short something out. I use a 99% silver compound on my devices - that stuff is death to anything electronic if you drop it anywhere it shouldn't be.

 

Best regards,

Robin.

I've just done what Ryan told me, bought a compound from the brand he recommended , and put just a little bit of it on the cpu. All ok !

I change thermal grease fairly often.. Or at least I did when using that Alumina stuff

that is white.. It dries out and becomes less effective. In fact, I just changed grease

again about 2-3 weeks ago, but this time I bought some Arctic Silver 5, which is the

more metallic blend, and is gray. It's supposed to be slightly better..

And now that it's starting to get good and cooked in, I think it does work slightly better.

I'll be curious to see if it lasts any longer before drying out. I try to use as thin a layer

as I can. But.. I do cover the whole CPU heat sink, instead of just putting a drop in the

center and mashing it down.. I prefer to have the whole CPU sink area making contact.

But.. I use as thin a layer as I can. It's about the same amount as a single drop in the

center. I just spread it out before I mount the heat sink.

Your Video seems to have been removed, but I have found a suitable substitute.

This is how bad the dust & Fluff buildup can get it !!!

 

 

 

BTW: All you with Laptops.. Dust buildup can be just as bad -- but unfortunatly, opening up laptop properly clean the fan and heattube heat exchangers, require a little more care and work.

 

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2AJSowGYoLc

 

Plenty of similar videos on Utube to give you Overheating Nightmares !!

 

That is as bad as using too much compound. The point of thermal compound is to bridge the gaps in the surface of the two materials to maximize contact area....

 

Some compounds are CONDUCTIVE meaning that excess blob could short something out. I use a 99% silver compound on my devices - that stuff is death to anything electronic if you drop it anywhere it shouldn't be.

 

Best regards,

Robin.

Hey Robin,

I'm not talking about your run off the mill CPU which comes straight from Intel. I'm talki about a highly polished and grinded CPU with a perfectly flat bottom, and a cooler with a perfectly flat base. In that case, it's often better to not use any thermal compound at all, because the pressure between the two surfaces will just squeeze out all the compound.

 

Once again, do NOT do this with a CPU you just bought in the store, that's asking for trouble.

Just to give you an idea, this is what I'm talking about: http://www.overclockers.com/forums/showthread.php?t=492571