My mother usually informed me to dust, but I by no means did, mainly because I was lazy, but also because I could not find any tangible benefit to dusting. I just did not see how I’d benefit from my space or my things being less dusty. Well now I’ve gotten a bit older, and I finally discovered a reason to dust – a cooler operating computer. I am going to give some background on my own program and conditions initial, then operate exams before and following dusting, as nicely as explain how and what I utilized to dust. Be sure to take a appear at this article – with photos and graphs – as well as a whole great deal more, at aworldofhelp.com.

I’ve had the computer in query for a small over two many years, a dual AMD Athlon MP workstation that while no longer the top of the line, is nonetheless plenty quick sufficient for what I do. The computer is operating at standard speeds and specifications, and has usually been very stable – but not one hundred%. When the program was about a yr aged I had been getting by with the occasional, approximately as soon as weekly lock up. At that point, I finally spent the time to attempt and diagnose the problem.

To be perfectly obvious, I am talking about a lock up, where every thing stops responding, the screen freezes and I have to reboot, not simply an software crash, which I can generally just blame on Microsoft. My initial believed was that the computer was overheating, particularly the CPUs. I was a small hesitant though because I was operating AMD retail processors at standard specifications with AMD retail heatsinks and enthusiasts, and I figured that should have been a fine setup. But I’ve had CPUs overheat before when I was sure that was the problem and this just felt like it now. I did some research on-line and it looked like the AMD cooling solutions had been relatively underwhelming performers, so I broke down and purchased new heatsinks and enthusiasts. These nonetheless weren’t top of the line, but they reduced my CPU temperatures immediately by about twenty%.

In unscientific testing I’d say my computer was absolutely more stable following the reduction in temperature. I estimate the weekly lockup grew to become a month-to-month or even every other month-to-month lockup. This obviously isn’t ideal for a program that really should be 99.99% stable, but it was a large enhancement, and I allow the problem go for a while. I will note that as numerous of you numerous presume, this computer is usually on, twenty-4 hrs a day, 7 days a week.

Anyway now it is another yr later on and my computer is increasingly unstable again. I am not going to go out and get better heatsinks and enthusiasts again, as I am sure the enhancement would be less than before. My next though was about how dusty the whole program is. I know I should have dusted it as soon as in the final two many years, but I by no means got around to it. I’d say I live in an typical environment in terms of dustiness, not particularly better or worse, and I just by no means believed it would make a very significant distinction in my CPU temperature. As you will see, I was completely wrong – which incidentally may make my mother correct.

Almost all users should really consider the outcomes of each exams, possibly giving more excess weight to the 1 which most closely matches your common computing. Even if you operate predominantly business applications, you will almost certainly sometimes do some thing that falls under this content material creation test, editing photos or an occasional house movie, for example. So consider all the exams, do not just concentrate on 1 graph.

Should you dust your computer? Yes, why not, it can’t hurt. But really, there are tangible benefits of cleansing your computer, even if it seems stable correct now.

Computers and electronics in common do not like heat. Dust blocks enthusiasts in your situation, which generally awesome you CPU, video clip card and motherboard components. Dust also blocks enthusiasts and their airflow into and out of your situation. Cool air requirements to be brought into a situation, and then the host air dispelled. If the airways are blocked, program temperature can rise quickly. If your computer is stable but the CPU is operating as well scorching, you reduce down on its lifespan, possibly quickly.

Much more essential to numerous people though, might be the outcome of that initial heat associated computer lock up. Even if it is by no means been a problem before, if your computer crashes at the wrong time it can be catastrophic. Generally mine just locks up when I am absent from it, or overnight, and I just turn it back on and restart Firefox and haven’t lost something essential. But final week it locked up with unsaved graphs for my final article and Excel selected no to car save. I spent the hour it took to redo them considering ways to eliminate these lock ups.

Of program, decreasing heat is also usually a priority for people who overclock their CPU. For these that do not know, overclocking is operating a CPU at a higher frequency than it was sold to operate at. For example, you could take your Intel Pentium 4 that is operating at a “clock” rate of 2 GHz, and attempt to operate it at 2.1 GHz, 2.5 GHz, quicker speeds, or anywhere in between. I have an aged dual CPU program that was meant to operate at 366 MHz. Rather I ran the chips at 500 MHz every, which was a huge efficiency gain. Overclocking is really a great way to get more “totally free” efficiency out of a program, as lengthy as you can maintain stability. Generally the single greatest element for achievement is decreasing heat as much as possible.

An additional thing to note is that while it is very essential to keep CPU heat to a minimum, tough drives, video clip cards, and other components all need to be kept awesome as nicely. In reality, I do not really know for sure that my CPUs are the current problem. I think they are, but my next guess (if I am correct that it is a heat problem) would be my video clip card, because I’ve checked, and it runs really scorching.

Consider this as nicely, if my CPU had been to really stop working because it was as well scorching, it would most likely be a gradual process, and I could fix the situation by purchasing a substitute. If my tough drive crashes and eventually loses data, that could be a much more problematic situation. I could replace the drive, but recovering the data could be far more difficult than just replacing a CPU.

I opened up the program and noticed more dust than computer. All the enthusiasts had been covered in dust, and their airflow was totally blocked. I place the situation back on and took temperature readings of my computer each idle and when working. The exams are all operate are on the following program:

CPU – Dual AMD Athlon MP 2000+ (1.67 GHz) Motherboard – AMD K7-D RAM – 1024 MB RAM (2 x 512 MB registered DDR 2100) Video clip Card – Matrox Parhelia AGP 128 MB Hd – Segate 5400 rpm- st320410a Windows XP SP2

I picked that unexciting tough drive because it was the only 1 I had that reports temperature.

For the idle readings the computer was freshly booted into Windows. To get the computer operating at full load I ran two instances of Prime95, a math software that will max out a CPU (2 copies operating, 1 every for 2 CPUs), and copied 2 GB of Audio on the tough drive to another folder on the exact same drive. The entire process took about half an hour.

Without something to compare them to, these numbers for the most component are not terribly fascinating. My only response was that 63 degrees Celsius seems pretty scorching, and the idle CPU temperatures are not as well wonderful both. Keep in mind, every CPU type has a different recommended temperature range. 63 degrees might be as well scorching for mine, but could be both appropriate, or maybe way as well scorching for your own. Regardless, you hopefully will discover a relative reduction in temperature following dusting.

Dusting the computer

As I stated, I’ve by no means dusted a computer before, but I came up with what ended up being a affordable plan. I purchased compressed air and a little brush from staples for $7 total and utilized a rag I have right here. I produced sure to unplug my computer, grounded myself to discharge static electrical energy by touching some thing metal other than my computer, opened up the situation and was ready to go.

As lengthy as you make sure your computer is unplugged, do not get something wet, and are gentle while you have it opened, you really should not harm something. For the most component, the inside of your computer is delicate, but it isn’t brittle. The most notable exception is your CPU. If you had been to disconnect it and pull it out of the motherboard you would expose pins on the bottom that are in reality very delicate.

You could do a really thorough job by taking every thing apart and getting all the dust out, but I did not want to spend that much time performing it and I figured if I left every thing connected their was less opportunity I’d mess some thing up. So I utilized the air, brush and rag and got the dust off the computer, taking the most time to clear the enthusiasts and the holes they blow out of.

I ran the exact same exams again, and the outcomes had been dramatic.

Idle, CPU 1 noticed an 18% reduction in temperature, while CPU 2 is 10% cooler. That’s very essential, as all these hrs my computer is sitting performing very small it is going to be significantly cooler.

At full load, CPU 1 is 21% cooler and CPU 2 is 12% cooler. These are again very extraordinary outcomes, and very essential as nicely. I have had lock ups when video clip encoding and performing other CPU intensive tasks, and now the chips should be operating cooler while performing these.

It is fascinating that initially CPU 1 was hotter than CPU 2, and following the cleansing they switched. An essential reality is that the temperature reporting on this type of dual AMD Athlon program is generally uneven. That stated, CPU 1 was simpler to dust around because the DVD drives had been in the way of CPU 2, so I most likely did a better job cleansing the former and there is nonetheless likely space for enhancement in cooling the latter.

One other note, I kept track of the fan speeds before and following cleansing, and I noticed about a 2% increase in the CPU fan speeds following I dusted. I wasn’t expecting this at all, and certainly can’t be particular that this will usually outcome from dusting, but it could be very fascinating for overclockers trying to eak out every final bit of fan efficiency.

The tough drive temperature noticed a 9% enhancement while idle following dusting, and again a 9% enhancement at full load. It is a nice temperature reduction for a mechanical component that will be grinding absent for 1000′s of hrs over the existence of your computer.

The situation temperature stayed the exact same throughout all the exams.

Conclusion

All in all I was surprised the outcomes had been so dramatic. I anticipated couple of degrees for the CPUs and perhaps 1 for the tough drive, but to see a twenty% reduction in temperature is just great. There is defiantly space for enhancement as nicely. The CPU enthusiasts have covers that I could have taken off and gotten more dust out, and as I mentioned reaching 1 of the CPUs was tougher than the other. Additional, I’d say I got most of the dust inside my computer, nicely over 90%, but I nonetheless noticed some that proved more challenging to clear that I was prepared to bother with. Taking all the cards out and completely cleansing the whole program would have no doubt led to even better outcomes.

My program has taken care of the cooler temperatures so far, a week following the cleansing, and I haven’t had a lock up because. I can’t be particular I’ve solved the lock up problem, but it does appear I have for now. At the very minimum, I can be sure CPU heat is not the problem, as now they are operating at very appropriate temperatures. Your own outcomes will vary, and might not be as dramatic if your computer wasn’t as dusty as mine. Regardless, you should see some reduction in component temperature following cleansing your program.

All in all I suggest you take a appear around and inside your computer to see how it appears. If it is dusty, $7 and an hour of your time seems like a great investment to increase the existence of your computer and prevent program lock ups. I suspect numerous people suffer the occasional heat caused lock up, it just isn’t obvious what the problem is, and they do not occur frequently sufficient to be a serious concern. But remember, even if you only have 1 heat caused lock up in the entire existence of your computer, it could arrive at the worst time, or trigger permanent harm.

Steve Perlow is the founder of aworldofhelp.com, where you can find the aworldofhelp Leading Picks in desktop and notebook systems. Go to aworldofhelp.com to get answers from actual people to your concerns about technology, travel and more.