Computer Trouble

[dedguy]

on my main computer my motherboard has an auto-shutdown that kills the box if the processor starts to get to hot. now this has been happening more and more until recently it's been shutting down 5-10 times a day. so i finally get around to cracking open my case and what do i find? the Copper Fan shaped heat sink i have on my processor is so caked with dust you can barely see the thing. after cleaning it out everything seems to be running fine again.

my question is how in hell did that much dust get on the heat sink? and it's only on the headsink it's no where else in the box.

[UrashimaNick]

one of your fans which should move the dust around/out of the case may be dead....

Turn it on with just the side case off (if possible), and see if any of your fans arent running.

this could also be the reason for the heating up more than usual (combined with the dust, of course)

[dedguy]

well i only have two case fans (both are running) maby i should add another.

[UrashimaNick]

or it could very well just be the dust, and for some reason it just happens to collect faster on your processor. ive seen pc come back to me from employees who have simply sat at the same desk for 3-4 years, so it just sits at one desk, and the dust you find inside is incredible. dead moths are always fun too... [img]biggrin.gif[/img]

[The_Redeemer]

Heatsinks have a nack for collecting a lot of dust. My guess is that the heatsink is generating static electricity from being strapped to the mobo. Copper has very good conduction properties, so even the smallest current running through it will turn it into dust magnet, you can't do anything about that. What you can do is add some filters to your case, not the cheap kind either. I prefer [link]this type of filter[/link] instead. You'll have to clean them every month or so, but they do a good job of keeping the dust out. Also it doesnt hurt to have a room air filter.

[Naughty Messiah]

Dust really hold onto heat. This is a fairly common problem.

I have had to fix my partners computer a few times for over heating and always when I open it it's just caked in dust. After the last time I told him if he doesn't clean it out once a month I ain't gonna fix it no more.

You gotta keep dem puters clean...

[dedguy]

it's amazing, not only is my compyter not overheating every few seconds but it's just running MUCH better overall. i may just clean out th heat sink every month or so. seems like alot less hassle than installing airfilters into my box.

[The_Redeemer]

Insalling the filters is simple, but remembering to take them out every month to clean with soap and water can become quite tedious though. I like the filters because I don't have to come in contact with my motherboard as often. I try to to handle my computer components as little as possible now due to some static electricity mishaps I've had recently. One being the loss of all data on my once primary harddrive.