Quote:
Originally Posted by Leo.G
Heatsinks are aluminium and once removed, taken outside and bulk of grub brushed off with cheap reject shop paint brush (I buy them in various sizes for cleaning electronics (anything)) then a good scrub in a sink and a good dry. I don't vacuum the things, straight in the tub.
Quick question regarding the photos you put a link to, why do you have heatsink compound on both the heatsink and the processor?
It's only required on the processor and it's better not to apply it too thick, a thin, even coating is best. Many people (and manufacturers) claim it's better to only use 5 small dabs, one on each corner and one in the middle and not spread it out. I've tried that method and it has worked well but I still usually spread it evenly, force of habit (we'll do 20-30 processors in a row from our server gear).
Though I have a back yard where I can do that and a decent compressor in a shed to use for the purpose. Those little air brush compressors and most tyre inflators are toys depending on how much you spend (fit for their intended purpose) and won't blow dust from a computer, heaven knows I've tried when I can't be bothered going up to the shed late at night in the rain
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I originally put only a tiny smear on both the heatsink and CPU
but the temperature rose too fast and had to stop the 55% CPU program.
The reason is that the 4 clips holding down the fan and heatsink assembly
were not clamping it tightly enough.
There is no adjustment with that assembly - it's a cheap system -
so I put slightly more compound on and it worked perfectly.
Not to worry - the nano diamond compound has very low
thermal resistance.
Those cans of air spray are not powerful enough to clean the
dust off heatsink/fan assemblies.
A vacuum cleaner won't do anything either.
You need a powerful air compressor and one with a water trap too.
However - sometimes the dust will not come off the fan blades unless
you wash it off so a disassembly is required.
In my case the heatsink blades were nice and shiny so
they didn't need a full immersion wash.
Disassembly?
It's worth it sometimes to see what's going on.
I've seen heatsink compound go brown from being cooked so much -
That was in a laptop where the air duct was clogged from a thick layer of dust
that was a like a piece of carpet completely blocking it.
However - disassembly is not for the faint hearted and
those without the experience to test with a program to run the CPU hard
and a temp monitor program too.
cheers
Allan