"Blow Out" Cleanings

How frequently should a system be opened and blown out to clean
accumulated dust, etc.? The system is used daily, being on about half
real time.

On Fri, 11 Sep 2009 14:45:36 -0400, Steve Giannoni wrote:

How frequently should a system be opened and blown out to clean
accumulated dust, etc.? The system is used daily, being on about half
real time.

Depends on the environment, and how hot the system is running.

With two cats, and living near a high traffic street, I usually
clean the cpu heat sink every three months. I have an app that
monitors the cpu temp, and whenever it gets over 55C, it's time
to clean it. When it's clean it usually stays around 48C. That's
with boinc/setiathome running, so the cpu is always at 100% usage.

What is considered a good/bad temperature for a system will vary
a lot depending on what cpu is being used.

Regards, Dave Hodgins

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On Fri, 11 Sep 2009 14:52:14 -0400, "David W. Hodgins"
wrote:

On Fri, 11 Sep 2009 14:45:36 -0400, Steve Giannoni wrote:

How frequently should a system be opened and blown out to clean
accumulated dust, etc.? The system is used daily, being on about half
real time.

Depends on the environment, and how hot the system is running.

With two cats, and living near a high traffic street, I usually
clean the cpu heat sink every three months. I have an app that
monitors the cpu temp, and whenever it gets over 55C, it's time
to clean it. When it's clean it usually stays around 48C. That's
with boinc/setiathome running, so the cpu is always at 100% usage.

What is considered a good/bad temperature for a system will vary
a lot depending on what cpu is being used.

Regards, Dave Hodgins

Exactly, if everything else in the room gets dusty it's a
good sign the PC is even worse. Open and check for dust
buildup every few months initially, then you have a better
idea what interval any particular system/environment
requires.

On the other hand if a room is dusty enough that a PC needs
cleaned more often than once a year I'd recommend a room air
cleaner to combat the problem, it'll keep the people in the
room happier too and cut down on dusting off everything...
or if decent filter panels are on the PC it becomes a room
air cleaner.