Solved Timing for thermal paste renewal

[mjf]

What is the general opinion about
(1) giving your CPU cooling fins a good clean with compressed air
(2) replacing thermal paste

I've noticed a few deg C increase when running on high load.
Would you do these independently or together in a single service?

Does 12 months seem reasonable?

 

[marsmimar]

Hello Michael -

I live in a dusty location so I use compressed air about once a month. It always amazes me how much crud accumulates in such a short period of time.

As far as replacing the thermal paste, I think you're going to get a variety of responses similar to this other forum thread:

How long until the thermal paste should be replaced? - CPUs - CPU-Components

Since you're entering your summer season it doesn't surprise me that you might see a few degrees warmer temps. Have you considered aiming a small portable fan at the case for some added ventilation/air flow?

 

[Britton30]

I use a Shop Vac with a mini-tool set to clean my CPU cooler's fins and fan blades too. I look at it and time varies from a couple of weeks to more than a month, summer is more dusty.

My opinion on thermal paste is that it's not a regular maintenance item and leave it alone unless swapping coolers or CPU. I think even if it gets hard it does the job. A lot of thermal compound I've seen on chipset heatsinks is rock hard.

 

[mjf]

Thanks Guys.
I don't think the thermal paste is the issue so much in regular maintenance as you say.
I looked at the inlet filters and they were caked with dust and the amount of dust laying around inside the case was surprising.
I'm a lazy man and Maybe it's time for a dust out and a spring clean

 

[ganjiry]

I use a Shop Vac with a mini-tool set to clean my CPU cooler's fins and fan blades too. I look at it and time varies from a couple of weeks to more than a month, summer is more dusty.

My opinion on thermal paste is that it's not a regular maintenance item and leave it alone unless swapping coolers or CPU. I think even if it gets hard it does the job. A lot of thermal compound I've seen on chipset heatsinks is rock hard.

:shock: MY mate used to hoover his pc untill he bought a GTX 560. When he installed the card was the last time he hoovered his pc cos he killed his card. you'd have thought the hoovering would f been done before installing the card though.

+1 though. I just take a can of compressed air and a soft brush every couple of weeks and then once every couple of months i get the alchohol out n clean all fans n wotnot. I do hoover my filters though but remove em first.

 

[Solarstarshines]

Since im using a ( WaterBlock ) I clean my fans and Raditor on a regular it gets dusty quick
The best way I found to clean the fans were canned air and Q-tips if you want them all shiney new you use Rubbing Alcohol other then this other methods are a toss up
Radiator i clean with Air and Q-tips only -it's a fragile piece to me

Never heard of using a mini vac or hoover on a system but hey im not one to judge

Re aplying paste isn't a issue so much as dust or gunk from out to in and floating through the tower

If you have built a Pc in the last 2 years or even upgrade etc.... you have probably changed the paste already a time or too in general it should last a couple years before needing a change unless otherwise

 

[Britton30]

I like the vacuum since blowing dust laden air into the room doesn't seem logical.
This is what I use.


My brother's old XP PC had a bad PSU which I replaced. His CPU cooler, and old OEM AMD Athlon was solidly paced with dust, the fan had cut it path through it.

 

[DeaconFrost]

About once a year I take my PC out to my back deck with the sides off, and give a good cleaning with compressed air. It is somewhat pointless to do so where the computer normal resides.

I've heard horror stories for years after people vacummed out the internals of their computer.

I also never replace the thermal compound, unless I swap processors or HSFs. If it's put on properly in the beginning, it should be fine.

 

[Cr00zng]

+1 Britton30...

My cases have dust filters that get vacuumed every time the room is vacuumed. I was surprised at first how quickly the filter is covered with fine dust, despite frequent vacuuming of the room.

Thermal paste is not changed, unless the heatsink/CPU changed. Artic Silver does not harden and removing the heatsink after two years took no effort.

 

[Lady Fitzgerald]

I use a Shop Vac with a mini-tool set to clean my CPU cooler's fins and fan blades too. I look at it and time varies from a couple of weeks to more than a month, summer is more dusty.

My opinion on thermal paste is that it's not a regular maintenance item and leave it alone unless swapping coolers or CPU. I think even if it gets hard it does the job. A lot of thermal compound I've seen on chipset heatsinks is rock hard.

:shock: MY mate used to hoover his pc untill he bought a GTX 560. When he installed the card was the last time he hoovered his pc cos he killed his card. you'd have thought the hoovering would f been done before installing the card though.

+1 though. I just take a can of compressed air and a soft brush every couple of weeks and then once every couple of months i get the alchohol out n clean all fans n wotnot. I do hoover my filters though but remove em first.

I've read that vacuums can kill components with static electricity. I only use canned "air" to clean my machines except of my ScanSnap scanner; per the manufacturer, I only use a brush and a vacuum to avoid blowing dust into the sensors (use of compressed air is prohibited).

 

[kbrady1979]

If you used a good quality thermal paste originally, there is no need in changing it unless you remove your CPU cooler. Just take your PC outside and hit it with some compressed air and a microfiber cloth for smooth internals, do not dust anything with a PCB with the cloth though, just use it for the power supply, case structure, drives, etc. Use the air and focus on fans and heatsinks as they usually collect the most dust and that will raise temps quicker than anything.

 

[mjf]

I did a dust clean using a can of compressed air on the PCBs and cooler fins - gently. Cleaned the dust on other surface with a cloth and vacuum cleaner. I think this was just to be tidy. Most importantly I took off the case front, removed the intake filter and gave them a good clean.
Temps dropped around 4 Celsius when all cores were flat out.

It is a bit hard to give the cooler fins a really good clean without removing the cooler and needing to reapply thermal paste when refitting. I didn't do this because I'm lazy - or is it I'm efficient.
I still think the thermal paste does dry out or loose its effectiveness over some time.

Thanks for the inputs.

 

[Britton30]

That's a fair temp drop Michael. I like the vac method because the fan is blowing air in the fins and pulling the dirt in reverse direction seems logical.

Lady F, I have read about static with vacuuming too. I ground myself to the PC case, touch it, and have no problems...so far.

 

[Lady Fitzgerald]

...Lady F, I have read about static with vacuuming too. I ground myself to the PC case, touch it, and have no problems...so far.

I'm a coward so I'll stick to blowing air. I don't let my computers get dusty enough that getting the dust out is a problem (again, because I'm a coward).