Just a reminder - clean your video cards!

H

heelix

[H]ard|Gawd
Joined
Aug 2, 2004
Messages
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Just figured out what the heck was wrong with my box. I've been getting all sorts of weird artifacts, crashes, etc lately. Figured it was just Windows 7 the last few weeks, updating drivers and doing clean installs. Then figured some extra cooling would not hurt, since it could be heat related. (Also, saw the notes about recent drivers running hotter than normal) Put a fan on the video card which did not seem to do much of anything.

I was looking for RivaTuner to crank the internal fan up to 100%... but could not remember the name of the program. Ran realtemp thinking that was it, only to get a reading on the GPU temp.

Idle @ 85C, in game @127C! Yikes.

Yup, that would explain the instability the past couple weeks. Pulled out some compressed air and filled my room with dust. Lots of it. Guess you miss noticing the kruft in the newer two-slot coolers vs the older exposed heatsink/fans.

Back to mid 50's in game.

Anyhow - for those who have not cleaned their cards in the last year or so, now might be a good time.
 
[H] should have an annual "Clean Your Box Day" to encourage this sort of thing.

Hmm maybe that's not be best name, but you get the idea :D
 
I am a huge fan of the idea of Clean your Box Day. Even more for female [H] readers.
 
Rarely have I ever seen artifacts turn out to be a software issue. Glad you figured it out. I have seen dust weave itself into blankets in every place it shouldn't be. I never have dust issues on my pc's. Dunno, may be the nice air filters in the house. But some of these computers I get after just a year of service, are giving the user BSODs. So I rip out the trusty infrared temp gauge, videocard 100C (boiling point), Processor, 85C right when the computer blue-screened. And that was surface temp...

Side Note: if you use an air compressor to blast computers clean, make sure you have a water trap on it. I have seen idiot's fry parts this way. Little water droplets will cover the mobo and poof it goes when they plug it in.
 
I clean my computers like every 5 or 6 weeks. It can get pretty dusty in there if i leave it for long periods. The Lian-Li v2110 is a nice & big spacious case with lots of room, but it's cooling performance is pretty mediocre. I also leave the side panels open all the time because of that. I also have 2 cats so... you get the idea.
 
My antec 1200 case comes with removeable dust filters in front of the 3 intake fans on the front and the one on the side, so components inside receieve very little dust, a very nice feature.

Oh yeah and we're doing the thing....erm....also....my computer is erect, ah fail...
 
My computer also comes with filters, and living Las Vegas they get coated with 1-2 weeks of cleaning them :(... But they do a pretty good job of keeping stuff out. My old case would get real nasty though.


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PrincessFrosty said:
Oh yeah and we're doing the thing....erm....also....my computer is erect, ah fail...
Click to expand...

heheh that was hysterical :D
 
i recently took apart my 4870 to clean it out as it was packed with dust...card is about due for another cleaning soon along with the rest of the PC.. I wish I still had access to a board washer as those things are awesome for cleaning crap
 
I take the air compressor to my rigs every couple months. The Antec 900 is a dust magnet. (Doesn't help I live in a dusty attic!) The 800D with it's filter, plusthe one I added to the back, (H50 intake in push/pull.) and taping off the vents, is not so bad.
 
This is definitely true, my buddy gave me a 8800GTS that was artifacting on bootup. I took the shroud off and it was utterly disgusting on the amount of dust that accumulated around the heatsink fins.
 
i also find that if you keep your pc on the desk it gets 200 times less dust, also vacuuming daily is a good idea! i clean mine out when i upgrade / move hard drives etc, usually twice a year even with filters dust gets in
 
Speaking of cleaning, can those white pads between the heatsink and memory chips be replaced?

I'm thinking of taking the heatsink apart for cleaning and replacing the thermal paste which is probably dried, but I might damage those white pads in the process
 
I had to cut up a vaccum cleaner bag because I suspected it held something that had gone missing in it. As terrible as it was - I have seen computers very close to that level of dust dirt and grime. From a factory to a home in 2002, to dying and being donated for gutting and parts to me in 2010. My machine is on the floor and it's less dusty than when I had it up on top of the desk, in fact the dustiest machines I've gone through have been desktop-placed. Mostly placed in a poorly ventilated area that has them sucking in their own expelled air - unlike my current floor placement.
 
We did some drywall work over the last couple years. I'm pretty sure that did not help things. Anyhow, I had cleaned everything else, over the years, but never thought about the inside of the video card. What a mess.
 
Roman79 said:
[H] should have an annual "Clean Your Box Day" to encourage this sort of thing.

Hmm maybe that's not be best name, but you get the idea :D
Click to expand...

more like a tri-annual clean your system day with high pressure air.

You guys cant go a solid year without major dust accumulations on the heatsinks etc.

I have air filters on my fans on my system and still get heavy dust accumulation.
 
I opened my case up a couple months ago..and my duorb was completely covered in dust. I was amazed the fans were still running. I clean it every other month now.
 
Cleaned mine out this weekend. Took both my GTX285s apart, cleaned em, applied new TIM (MX-3), applied MX-3 to my CPU heatsink. Cleaned all my intake filters.

I switched out all 4 of my 120mm fans and 92mm CPU fan as well. Had Nexus Real-Quiet fans and went completely in the other direction and am now using Scythe S-Flexs (the SFF21Fs)...

Bit louder, but I can turn the voltage down a bit if need be. But my cards and CPU temps are lower!
 
shawnoen said:
Cleaned mine out this weekend. Took both my GTX285s apart, cleaned em, applied new TIM (MX-3), applied MX-3 to my CPU heatsink. Cleaned all my intake filters.

I switched out all 4 of my 120mm fans and 92mm CPU fan as well. Had Nexus Real-Quiet fans and went completely in the other direction and am now using Scythe S-Flexs (the SFF21Fs)...

Bit louder, but I can turn the voltage down a bit if need be. But my cards and CPU temps are lower!
Click to expand...

Scythe S-Flex all the way. How long did all that take?
 
I cleaned my 4870 and my wife 4850 today and reapplied tim, knocked off like 5 celcius on each card.
 
For whatever reason my PC tends to attract a lot more dust in my new house than I experienced at my old house so I always keep a couple of cans of compressed air handy....I blow everything out almost weekly and then occasionally I'll go in and do a more in depth cleaning. When I pulled my old 8800GTS G92 out to replace it a while back I was surprised at how many dust bunnies came out after I pulled it and blew it out instead of leaving it in it's slot and blowing it out.
 
Just a couple hours. I had to shorten some of the fan wire and extend others. Then sleeve em all. No biggie!

I might try the lower RPM S-Flexs though. The SFF21Es I believe. Wanna see how much quieter they are.

cory1234 said:
Scythe S-Flex all the way. How long did all that take?
Click to expand...
 
I clean mine every week, usually with compressed air. If I notice the fans getting gummed up then I take some Q-tips and alcohol and go to town.
 
I usually do a major dust-off every six months. If I still had dogs or cats, that would probably be once every three months, at least. Back when I used to work at a PC repair shop, people would bring their broken computers in full of tobacco tar and cat dander, all gummed up inside their fans and vents. It was quite displeasing to my senses. That stuff builds up pretty quick if you don't keep tabs on it.
 
With my Antec P180 case ( dust filters ) I can get away with doing it once every two years. I should do it once a year though.

My previous place had 6 cats and my video card was like an untrimmed bush.
 
Roman79 said:
[H] should have an annual "Clean Your Box Day" to encourage this sort of thing.

Hmm maybe that's not be best name, but you get the idea :D
Click to expand...

I say we have a "knock the dustbunnies out of your box day". May as well go wild with the joke :p
 
ya cleaning the card could make a huge diff depending on how much dust you've acquired over time lol
 
lol Actually took my air compressor to mine earlier today. My room is sooo dusty it's annoying as fuck. Spray it at 100PSI and this massive cloud just shoots out of my computer. So clean though now, the top of my 5850 is so shiny again.
 
My P180 gets pretty filthy quickly. This is despite having filters at the front.

I abhor cleaning the case, it's one of those horrible, tedious & mucky jobs.

This thread has jogged my memory, my case is in dire need of a cleanout with a compressed air can.

Normally I take my base unit in to the garden to do it, hopefully a bird won't crap on my mobo when it's open!
 
I got the Xclio Windtunnel case and it has two huge 25cm fans on the side of it, a 12cm one in the front and another 12cm one at the rear. Now I don't know where the hell the dust goes to, but I have never cleaned out the case since I got it and I have it almost a year now!!

My old antec p180 case I had to clean all the time, it's was just like Spicey's above, got very dirty, very quickly. And still have to clean out, it's doing server duties in the backroom.
 
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