Clean Those Fans!

[FourScience]

Just a friendly reminder to everyone....

CLEAN THOSE FANS! I knew my CPU fan (ThermalTake Volcano 11 http://www.thermaltake.com/coolers/volcano/rs/a1725.htm) was getting really dusty inside, but yikes. After cleaning, the temperature decrease was by 10 degrees Fahrenheit, with a slower fan speed. I also cleaned the dust levels in the rest of the case, and learned that cutips are excellent for the hard to reach spots, including the power supply fan! The case fans got the works too, except for the 4 front fans cooling my hard drives (too lazy).

I actually took the CPU fan apart, and off the CPU, to clean it properly. I used a paper clip to reach between the fins where it was really caked, and the cutip got a few hard to reach corners, I think I used like 12 of them. I never thought of how I could clean the power supply fan, until those handy cutips inspired me to use them there as well.

Another tip I have is, if your CPU heatsink/fan have a grill like mine does, take it out. They don't typically help with airflow, and in fact, they increase the fan noise.

So besides the regular defrag (and I'm obsessive when it comes to that), remember to clean your fans!
-4

[MuffDiver]

good Tip 4Sci....  it is always a good idea to get a can-o-air and blow the dust out on a regular basis too.  a little preventive matenance will prevent dust from shorting out your power supply and your cpu from over heating.