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Mysteriously high CPU temps solved with a vacuum

H

Hender

Senior member
My Athlon XP 1800+ CPU has been giving me mysteriously high CPU temps lately--like anywhere between 113F and 125F at full load _depending on whether I'm freezing in my room or not), which is a little more than I like to have. I have a Thermalright SK-6 with a Sunon 39 CFM @ 32 dBa 80mm fan turned like a diamond on the heatsink as my primary cooling, which should be more than enough. When I first installed it, I was getting 100F-105F temps, but they had risen drastically lately, and I have no idea why. Case temperature was holding steady at 79F-82F, and airflow is not restricted thanks to rounded cables and cable ties.

So what the heck was going on?

My window to the outside world has been open and blowing 40F air into the room my box is in, so cool air IS being introduced and circulated in this room. I thought maybe my fan was inadequate, so I started shopping around for another heatsink and fan. I was going to pick up the AX-7 and keep my same 80mm fan, maybe get a slightly stronger one, so I open up my case to measure and see if I could get an AX-7 on my board. I pull the fan off the heatsink to measure, and I discovered that literally *every* one of the fins on the SK-6 (and that's a lot, if you know what it looks like) has been completely clogged with dust. Likewise the front intake fans where clogged on my Antec SX1030 case, but I figured I'd solved my problem. I pull out my mini-vacuum, get the dust out of there, and fire it back up.

Motherboard Monitor now reports 64F case temps and 93F CPU at full load, a full 30F drop from what it was before shutting it down.

(Insert Dragnet theme here) Dumb dumb dumb dumb DUMB!

A lesson goes out from me today: vacuum inside your computer once in awhile. 😀
 
Hender... Are you on a medication or something???

Notice you are talking about F isntead of C. Those temps seems to be about right. Most people talk about their CPU Temps in Celsius, maybe that's why you freaked out.

I have Alpha Pal8045, Arctic Silver 3, and Enermax 80mm Fan, which is very quite) and I get 38C idle, 42C under load.

No need to open the windows and freeze yourself to death. 🙂
 
Er so are you saying he should have left the dust in there to build up more? Unexplained temperature increases should be investigated before bad stuff happens.
 
Yup had exactly the same thing happen to me about 2 months ago with my sk6 after i cleaned everything up temps dropped about 8c After that i added furnace filter materiel to each intake fan and haven't had nearly the dust build up that i used to get. Just have to remember to clean those intake filters every month or so.
 
Dust in the fins makes the heat sink a perfect insulator. Air does not circulate, and air is very good a keeping a temperature where it is.
Glad you found it, sooner or later this could have been a killer.
 
LOL at your thread title! 😀 Sounds like something I'd say.

Yeah, dust buildup occurs AMAZINGLY fast. Especially when you have two intake and two exhaust fans like in my Antec 1040. My apartment is dusty (very) as it is..don't know why, as I'm a clean-freak.

I just installed a new mobo/CPU this past Monday. I hadn't opened the case in about 6 months. UGH!:Q I mean, a 1/8th inch layer of dust...you could make snowballs (dustballs?) with it! 😱

Also, my HS was pretty bad too. Being that I had to remove it to install it on my new CPU anyway, I wnet ahead and removed the fan and washed the HS under hot runnign water. Squeaky-clean now. 🙂

Oh, and was said earlier by IMQJump (or whatever his name is 😉) My 1800XP also

<< and I get 38C idle, 42C under load. >>

The exact same temps, which is really nice...4C from one end to the other is pretty cool! My old Athlon B 1GHz was 32C idle and about 45C under load.
 
With compressed air.I have a compressor but you can use canned air😎

Also use Isoproyl Alcohol for the final cleaning of the contact surface!
 
You can also use a bottle of Nitrous Oxide with a regulator set to 200 psig. I really can't think of a better way to blow out pc parts! 😀

Cheers!
 


<< A lesson goes out from me today: vacuum inside your computer once in awhile. >>


Wow, the only time I have seen a HSF totally clogged is when working on a computer that the owner smokes.

How much dust and crud do you have floating around the room?:Q
 
If you have shag carpets, pets, and a lot of airflow, you will get dusty quick! The dust coming out a smoker's pc looks like mud! :Q

The only way to keep your pc really clean is completely shut down the airflow in your case. To prevent the equivalent of a silicon "China Syndrome" one would have to coldplate everything and have their heat exchangers in another room (to make it quiet) or install a chiller downstairs and have a supply and return line running to your local pc circuits. Centralised chilling for multiple pc's is an excellent way to cool many pc's in a room to cut noise and cooling demands in the room.

The other option (much easier to design and likely to be affordable) would be to build a blower box located in a cooler part of your house. Filter its intake well and run a duct into the bottom (or lower side panel) of your pc. This will pressurise your pc with cooler, clean air. You can use a few quiet fans to circulate this cool air within the case to eliminate hot spots. Since the case is pressurised a few inches WC above the ambient air, everything stays real clean. Especially the floppy and optical drives since no air is being sucked into them. In a negative pressure environment, your optical drives' trays become filters and get filthy.

Cheers!
 
You can stick it in a microwave to dry it and see really cool colors.
Seriously a Blow dryer will dry it quick.
 
billyjak, GREAT IDEA!! OH MY GOD! Maybe I should stick my head in a Microwave too! YES!! THIS IS THE SOLUTION....."nimwit.":|

-dejacky
 
I cant say as I would recommend the vacuum cleaner method of cleaning inside your computer.
My experience is the rubbing of particles of dust against the hose and or plastic case generates static electricity
I have been zapped my times. I wouldnt risk my silicon.. give me cool clean air.
My recommendation would be to blow out our hsf and case..
Just my .02c
 
Ya, I would not use a vacuum around your computer parts....I have read that static builds around
the nozzle of the vacuum. I guess canned air is the best, because it contains no moisture.
An air compressor is allright, but it can contain moisture. Compressed nitrogen is the same way...
 
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