"Adam S" said:
Please dont use a vacuum cleaner inside your PC case, they are an
_excellent_ static generator and will kill your PC dead! Use a compressed
air can to remove the dust or even take the case outside and manually blow
the dust out by human effort.
Adam S
No vacuum cleaners or compressed air! We had one poster here just
recently, kill a system while cleaning with compressed air. Moving
air can generate static electricity, and when it discharges
into one of the components on the board, you'll end up killing
the board. Manual cleaning is good enough.
First, open the case and observe all the fans running.
If you notice the CPU temp drops with the side off the case, then
not enough air is moving through the case. Delta_T between motherboard
temp and outside air temp shouldn't be greater than about 7C with
the case closed. If your case has removable filters, they could
be clogged with dirt.
Shut down, then disassemble the HSF and check the thermal interface
material. It could be grease or it could be using a pad. If it is
using grease or a paste (pick a name), you may need to reapply said
material, to see a reduction in temperature. Apply a minimal amount
of paste, as it should not be allowed to squirt out onto the bridges
or areas other than the die. I like to experiment, by putting the
amount of paste to cover the head of a pin, onto the die, then
lower the heatsink into it, and see how much it spreads. The paste
should form a thin layer, just enough to remove trapped air from
between HSF and CPU when the HSF is put back in place. You aren't
building an Oreo cookie
If the HSF used a thermal pad, check the pad for scratches or damage.
If the material is still in good shape, you might be able to reuse
it. On a hot CPU like that, finding a good replacement pad could
be a challenge, and paste is easier to find. (Just no Radio Shack
white zinc paste, as it sucks.)
I like to do work like this, with the motherboard outside the case.
Especially as it is easy to chip the die on the CPU while reassembling,
if you are working in a confined space. If your screwdriver slips
while compressing a clip, the board could get damaged as well.
It will also make it easier to clean anything that needs cleaning.
Just take note of where everything goes, on a scrap of paper, before
proceeding. While virtually all the cables will be keyed in one way
or another, good disassembly practice is to note the orientation of
every connector, so you can assemble again, using just the info
you've collected.
Another option is to adjust Vcore, if there is an adjustment on
your board. But if your system was fine for the entire three years,
I would think either the interface material (critical to getting
heat into the HSF fins) or the fan isn't running properly, so
reducing Vcore at the risk of instability might not be worth it.
HTH,
Paul
