Question My friend's (old) GPU. He claims that he cleans his system out regularly. I claim otherwise. LOL. (Pics)

[VirtualLarry]

Friend that I sold a gaming PC to, maybe 3-4 years ago, based on a Dell Sandy Bridge mini-tower chassis and mobo and CPU, added RAM (16GB DDR3), an SSD, a 2TB HDD, and a GTX 1050 2GB (it may have been longer ago).

He told me sometime almost a year ago, that his PC was crashing, and his video card was making weird fan sounds. (He called it "warped fans".) I asked him when the last time that he cleaned his rig out (dust, etc.). He said that he had just cleaned it, and that he cleans it regularly. (OHOOHOHOHOHOHO HAHAHAHA.)

I know him better than that. This happened last time to his old rig too. He doesn't clean it, or at least, doesn't clean the GPUs, he just keeps using them until they fail, from dust accumulation, they cook themselves.

And he has the nerve to complain, that he thought that the GPU should have lasted longer. (Well, DUH guy, you have to clean them regularly, if you live in a dusty environment.)

Then he complains to me, and I fix his PC. I put in a dual-fan EVGA GTX 1650 4GB GDDR6 SC Ultra model, to replace his single-fan ITX Zotac GTX 1050 2GB GDDR5 model (pictured).

I am going to blow the dust out, and see if I can salvage this card somehow. Maybe need to re-lube the bearings, if they didn't get dust in them. (Or perhaps, zip-tie a fan to the cooler.)

 

[VirtualLarry]

There, now after a can'o'air treatment later. (*yes, I missed a spot on the top inside edge, I guess.)

Time to throw it into a PC, and test it out on some mining and Unigine Heaven 4.0. And listen for a "warped fan".

Most of that dust, wasn't embedded deeply into the heatsink, just kind of caked-on on the surface immediately below the fan. So possibly my friend did clean it a year ago, but I somehow doubt that he bothered to remove the GPU to clean the heatsink.

I worked on another friend's Mom's PC, and she had a Core2Duo CPU (LGA775), and after five years or so of running, the CPU heatsink was similarly caked with dust, and it was overheating and shutting down. Amazing what a layer of dust can do.

It's like throwing a blanket over your PC, and trying to run it. Most people wouldn't intentionally do that, of course, but how many of "you" would run their PCs without cleaning the dust out for 2-3 or more years? I know I'm overdue for a GPU-removal and cleaning on my main rig myself.

 

[BarkingGhostar]

I seriously read the title of this posting as something p0rn related, like Gag-Protection-Unit for GPU. But I know what you mean about the garbage in the works. I thought mine was bad from time to time but I have to wonder what kind of living environment some people are living in.

 

[mikeymikec]

It's like throwing a blanket over your PC, and trying to run it. Most people wouldn't intentionally do that, of course, but how many of "you" would run their PCs without cleaning the dust out for 2-3 or more years? I know I'm overdue for a GPU-removal and cleaning on my main rig myself.

I did mine the other day (the previous time I opened it would have been when I upgraded to Linux in June 2018), there was very little dust in either HSF. I have to say though, HSFs that put the fan perpendicular to the side panel are irritating to clean out without taking stuff apart.

 

[Mopetar]

A case with some good dust filters/traps goes a long way helping prevent this and it's easier for some lazybones to clean once or twice a year.

I was expecting something much worse. You don't know how gross the inside of a case can look until you've cleaned a PC owned by someone who smokes like a chimney.

 

[mikeymikec]

I was expecting something much worse. You don't know how gross the inside of a case can look until you've cleaned a PC owned by someone who smokes like a chimney.

Animal hair is a pretty good contributor too, in my experience. I agree that smoker's gunk in PCs is super gross.

 

[VirtualLarry]

Been "breaking my brain", trying to get little wires to line up.

Anyways, I resuscitated the card, with a 120mm Scythe fan, zip-tied to the heatsink, with the original fan + shroud removed.

Running around 63-67C mining Zhash. Before swapping the fan, with the existing fan that was basically dead, it was hitting 90C quickly, and then throttling.

I call it a SUCCESS.

Although, I really should have soldered the leads, to the connector, rather than just breaking off bits and jamming the leads from the Scythe fan into the 2-pin fan connector and then plugging it into the board. Not sure how secure the current solution is, longer-term, if the PC gets moved around.

 

[Insert_Nickname]

I was expecting something much worse. You don't know how gross the inside of a case can look until you've cleaned a PC owned by someone who smokes like a chimney.

Gross doesn't even cover it. What truly covers it is the layer of tar and other unmentionables on everything.

...and the smell... I lack words...

Been there, done that. Never again.

 

[VirtualLarry]

Sigh. He said that the PC with the new GTX 1650 GDDR6 SC Ultra is "lagging badly", as compared to his GTX 1050 2GB GDDR5, in 'Genshin Impact'. Does that make sense?

Genshin Impact needs a graphics card thats at least as powerful as a GeForce GT 1030/Radeon R7 260 paired with Athlon II X4 610e/Core i5-650 3.2GHz CPU to match the min specs. This PC setup will deliver 25-35 Frame Per Second at Low graphics setting on 720p resolution. System memory for min is 8 GB. Your graphics card will need to be capable of running DirectX 11. We suggest a 4 year old PC to play smoothly.

 

[Zstream]

Sigh. He said that the PC with the new GTX 1650 GDDR6 SC Ultra is "lagging badly", as compared to his GTX 1050 2GB GDDR5, in 'Genshin Impact'. Does that make sense?

Maybe the game detected the graphics card change and modified settings?

 

[Magic Carpet]

Sigh. He said that the PC with the new GTX 1650 GDDR6 SC Ultra is "lagging badly", as compared to his GTX 1050 2GB GDDR5, in 'Genshin Impact'. Does that make sense?

He may have figured, he could bug you for some more and get everything replaced in that box, not just the GPU. Smart tactics

 

[VirtualLarry]

EVGA GeForce GTX 1650 SC ULTRA Review: TU117 Revisited - PC Perspective

EVGA GeForce GTX 1650 SC ULTRA Review: TU117 Revisited EVGA has opted for a dual-fan, dual-slot cooler design with this compact graphics card, which should

pcper.com

At least according to the games tested in that review, the EVGA GTX 1650 GDDR6 4GB 'SC Ultra' model is approx 50% faster than a 1050 ti 4GB GDDR5 card, in the frame-rate graphs. (40FPS for GTX 1050 ti, 60+ FPS for GTX 1650 D6 SC Ultra). Given my knowledge of the GTX 1050 2GB, that would put it at roughly 30-32FPS. Which means that I was mostly correct, the GTX 1650 4GB GDDR6 cards are around 50-100% faster than a GTX 1050 2GB GDDR5 card.

So there's no hardware reason for "stuttering and lagging", that I can see.

He did mention that his daughter, was having trouble with Fortnite, playing on "DX12 renderer BETA" mode, but he said that she switched back to "DX11 Mode", and it was playing OK again. (Anyone want to guess what mode that they were playing on Windows 7 64-bit? Yeah. What is he doing choosing a different rendering path, and then complaining that my upgrade caused "lag".)

 

[richierich1212]

Why should be bother to do anything when you’re hooking him up, Larry? 😂

 

[GodisanAtheist]

Ah nothing like a good "Compulsively Helpful to a Fault" Larry thread to wrap myself in in a cloudy day!

It is incredible what a killer dust is in PCs and how few people recognize the problem.

I recently was doing a teardown rebuild of my current PC into a newer case and decided to clean out the AIO fins and GPU fins with the pressurized air. Ended up putting the PC back together in my old case (980Ti was too long for Antec A100 case, stupid oversight) but the sound levels when doing anything plummeted.

Like a boiled frog, I hadn't noticed my PC getting louder and louder and louder over the years (I even picked up headphones thinking how I need to muffle the sound of my PC) until I cleaned and rebuilt and came to the stunning realization that I actually had a nearly silent PC that was just worked against the dust!

I don't even have pets or smoke, and my PC stays on my desk, so was a surprise to be sure!

 

[aigomorla]

meh ive seen a lot worse...

consider yourself lucky you don't see or deal with idiots who do not understand what galvanic corrosion is, and insist since thermaltake PR said using a sacrificing node is OK to mix metals, it means your allowed to mix alu and copper in the same loop.

 

[bigboxes]

Gross doesn't even cover it. What truly covers it is the layer of tar and other unmentionables on everything.

...and the smell... I lack words...

Been there, done that. Never again.

I always tell my customers not to smoke around their PC.

 

[UsandThem]

I always tell my customers not to smoke around their PC.

Even if they smoke inside the house/apartment anywhere, that gunk will still find it's way into the PC.

But if they smoke right next to it, it will just happen faster. Cigarette smoke just gets on/into everything.

 

[bigboxes]

Even if they smoke inside the house/apartment anywhere, that gunk will still find it's way into the PC.

But if they smoke right next to it, it will just happen faster. Cigarette smoke just gets on/into everything.

You pretty much know it right when you open it up. It is disgustingly gross. That smell. It's like burying your nose in an ashtray.

 

[Mopetar]

It wasn't anything I've seen personally, but the worst dust situation I've ever heard about was a really old PC at a grain elevator that had been there for over a decade without ever getting cleaned. Apparently there were just mounds of dust inside the case.

I still think the cigarette smoke and tar is worse since dust can just be blown away. I've never had to deal with spiders or insects, but I can imagine that cracking open a case to find some dead cockroaches wouldn't be pleasant either.

 

[VirtualLarry]

So there's no hardware reason for "stuttering and lagging", that I can see.

Evidently... said friend, when he got back the PC and hooked it up, hooked up the 144Hz monitor... to the Intel onboard graphics.

No wonder the Nvidia control panel wouldn't load.

Well, all's well that ends well, I guess.

 

[Insert_Nickname]

Evidently... said friend, when he got back the PC and hooked it up, hooked up the 144Hz monitor... to the Intel onboard graphics.

Tip; it can be a good idea to block unusable ports with dust covers for non-technical users. If there are multiple possibilities to plug something in, you can bet someone will make the wrong choice.

Not that it always works of course...

(I've even seen OEMs do this. With metal plates)

 

[VirtualLarry]

Solved! - What's my bottleneck? G4560, 8GB DDR4, R7 260X 2GB? Worth gaming on in 2019 at all? (For friend's kids)

Asking for myself, kind of for a friend. Built that rig for them, maybe two years ago. Something is wrong with it now, and said friend hasn't brought it by for me to take a look at, and months have gone by. Is it even worth fixing? Assume upgrade / repair budget is $100-150. Would it be better...

forums.anandtech.com

I'm going to be slightly pissed, if the reason for my friend telling me that that older PC that I built him a few years ago for his kids, that he said was "laggy", was ALSO because he plugged the HDMI to the monitor into the Intel iGPU on the mobo.

I mean, it makes sense (NOW).