Hardware issues: Dust and Overclocking
 

So I have two issues with my Core2 Duo system which I've had for 9 months. The first has to do with dust. The system is in a carpeted room and despite regular vacuuming (of the room), there is inevitably a buildup of dust on the vents and more importantly the heat sink. The case is an Antec P150 (sells as the Solo without the PS) and the CPU cooler is the Intel stock. I use a compressed air can to blast the dust off every month or so but during that time the temps go from 59 at load to 69-70. Can anyone suggest a solution to this problem?

The second issue has to do with overclocking. I have a Gigabyte P965-DS3 rev 1.1 The computer was running stable at 3000MHz (8x375). I have experimented with higher FSB speeds and have the computer stable at 7x410=2870. Prime95 performance is slightly better that at 3GHz due to better memory bandwidth.

I tried 8x410 but the computer posts but is not able to boot. I tried upping the volatge from 1.3125 (which is sufficient for 3GHz) to 1.325 (stock) and beyong a couple of notches but that hasn't helped. Failure to boot indicates that heat is probably not a problem. And the stability at 7x410 indicates that chipset cooling is probably not the culprit. What else can I try to get to 8x410? Up the voltage even more?

Garo, when overclocking I suggest buying an aftermarket cooler - almost anything is better than stock cooler.
As far as voltage is concerned I run my E6600 @ 333*9 @ 1.35V (BIOS setting) and my QX6700 @ 355*9 @ 1.4V (BIOS setting) without a problem. The actual voltages reported under stress differ from BIOS settings: 1.29V for E6600 and 1.33 for QX6700.
Bottom line: you can further increase voltages (don't forget about MCH/FSB/RAM) but before that I would change CPU cooler.

Thanks for the response Cruelty. I do plan to eventually buy an aftermarket cooler. Bit of a budget crunch to get over first. I take it that the Thermalright Ultra-120 eXtreme is still the cooler of choice?

Having said that, the Intel stock cooler that shipped with the Core2duos is not too shabby. Most people are getting decent overclocks - over 3GHz with the stock cooler and with sane temps. 60C on Intel TAT/CoreTemp is not a bad temperature. I know that the Thermalright will probably bring it down to low 40s but these HSFs are not POS that the old Intel HSFs were.

However, I don't think my problem has to do with the cooler at all since the machine fails to boot. So temperatures are definitely not the issue. Plus a new cooler won't help with the problem of dust! An expensive after-market HSF is no use if it gets covered in dust every two weeks.

One of the side benefits to an aftermarket cooler other than it's increased heat dissipation ability over the stock cooler, is that most of them are much quieter, even at max rpm. Those stock Intel HSFs are LOUD.

As far as the dust, anywhere there are fans you WILL have a collection of dust. Check your case to make sure there are no large un-filtered openings. And, instead of using compressed air to just blow the dust off, use a vacuum cleaner with a micro-tool attachment to take the dust (lint) away. Just blowing the dust off doesn't get rid of it, and it will eventually just re-settle back on the fans. Be prepared to routinely clean your pcs - I do mine monthly, and immediately see a 6C-8C drop.

Have you tried locking your PCI bus at 33.3Mhz?

Yes I agree that the Intel is louder than better HSFs and that is the one reason I would definitely buy the Thermalright. Thanks for the tip on the dust, I will do a vacuum now. i just checked and you were right in that a lot of the dust had just settled back on.

Regarding the overclock, yes I have locked the PCI bus speed.

I'm guessing that you should supply more voltage to your CPU to eventually reach higher overclock, and I don't think that Intel HSF would deliver sufficient performance then...

Agreed! That is my working hypothesis now as well. I was a bit surprised though, given that I am running stable at 2870MHz with 1.3125V (default is 1.325) I expected 1.3325 would be enough for 3280MHz. I'll try to up the voltage in steps up to a max of 1.35 and keep a close eye on the temps. At the moment I would be happy to know what the limit of my CPU is and wait to push the limit with a new HSF.

I find digging out the the dust with wooden cocktail stick to be beneficial before a vacuum. Repeated until clean.

Perhaps the extra heat from overclocking causes the CPU fan to rotate more and whip up more dust.

We use an electric leaf blower, standing about 10 feet away, to blow computers free of dust.

They emerge spotless but you do have to make sure all the connections are intact when you are done.

We do this once every few months. It sure saves a lot of money on canned compressed air!

We used to have a huge air compressor but the air in it was always slightly humid so that didn't work out too well.

well... my 20 year old shag carpet... don't ask
leaves a lot of dust i usually clean them every 6 months. Which might sound excessive but is not really. You have 2 choices clean more or filter the dust

the thermal take xaser 3 from a few years ago had dust filters over all the fans that way the inside stays mostly dust free.

Well that's a good point. The Antec P150 comes with a dust cover for the front air intake. It works but not well enough. Has anyone else tried other filtering mechanisms? I'm thinking some sort of fine mesh or something.. Muslin maybe?

Because of overheating I had to cut a hole in the side panel of one case, adapt a piece of PVC tube as an air duct. Since the front panel intakes (Antec P160) used an air filter, I made one for the side intake as well : a car air filter covered by metal tray did the job.

No filter solution is perfect because of the many holes existing in other places than the "official air intakes : round the 5 1/4 bays for instance.

Jacob

Exactly! My guess is that most of the dust comes in though these holes. Anyone figured out how best to cover them yet?

There is no perfect anti-dust solution for PC, unless you put an entire machine in a big jar (perhaps an idea for a case-mod :rolleyes:), or work in some controlled dust-free environment.
From my experience: some time ago I've had a Lian-li case with air filters. For the first 6 months I have not even cared to open the case to check the dust - I was just cleaning the filters every week or so. After 6 months I have noticed dramatic decrease in thermal performance of this system, however at first I associated it with summer-time :smile: Eventually, I had to decrease overclock, however temperature was still high... When finally after ca. 10 months after purchase I have opened the case, I was shocked: there was no "classic dust" but something that looked more like some "thin powder" - it was even more difficult to get rid of than standard dust. Since then I am not buying cases with dust filters, after all it is not that hard to clean your PC once or twice in a month :tu:

I've dealt with dust problems for several years in a much tougher environment than most homes. One of the toughest problems is extremely fine carbon dust which is common in most industrialized countries. This dust is attracted to electrical components by static charges. With time, it builds up enough to conduct. Once this dust builds up, it can only be removed by a combination of brushing (with a non-static brush, just think NOT nylon) and with high pressure air.

Reducing dust problems in a home is much easier than you would think, but it is expensive.

1. Locate sensitive equipment in a room away from any entrances. This is obvious since dust tends to swirl in when doors are opened.

2. Avoid rooms with thick carpeting. This is where a good berber carpet should be considered if you have to have carpet.

3. Use a low dust home heating system. Arguably the best is a heat pump, but it is not usable in many locations. A wood heater is arguably the worst possible option when it comes to dust in the air. Wood heaters leak smoke and fine particles of ash into the air. A wood furnace is preferred because most of the particulate material can be kept outdoors.

4. Install an electrostatic air filter in the building's heating and cooling system. While standard air filters will remove up to 70% of the particles from air, they let the finest and most problematic particles through. Of all the suggestions, this is the most important, but also the most expensive.

5. Purchase a room size electrostatic filter and run it in the room with the computer.

6. Practice good housekeeping by keeping all lint generating materials out of the room with the computer. This means most items made of cloth should be removed from the room. Use blinds instead of curtains.

DarJones

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I'll be using a vacuum from now on. I just blew the dust off the my Sempron CPU fan, restarted the PC and the PSU went POP as it sucked in a lump of fluff. My daughter said 'Hey, it smells like Party Poppers!'.
One dead PC. :sad:

[QUOTE=garo;114045]Well that's a good point. The Antec P150 comes with a dust cover for the front air intake. It works but not well enough. Has anyone else tried other filtering mechanisms? I'm thinking some sort of fine mesh or something.. Muslin maybe?[/QUOTE]

I will try to get a photo mine are getting a little dusty.


[QUOTE=Flatlander;114116]I'll be using a vacuum from now on. I just blew the dust off the my Sempron CPU fan, restarted the PC and the PSU went POP as it sucked in a lump of fluff. My daughter said 'Hey, it smells like Party Poppers!'.
One dead PC. :sad:[/QUOTE]


Cheap psu i have seen psu's drop like fruit files..... dont go cheap on a psu ;)

[quote=moo;114129]
Cheap psu i have seen psu's drop like fruit files..... dont go cheap on a psu ;)[/quote]
It wasn't a cheap PSU, but it was a big ball of fluff!