If there's one thing that can cause havoc for anyone
with a computer, it would have to be dust, dust bunnies, and dust monsters. Chances are if you've
had your computer for more than six months there is some level of dust
building up inside. While dust under the couch may be bad to look at dust in
the computer can cause problems.
As is the nature of this airborne creature, dust always settles on the regions
which have the most air flowing over them. That means expensive heatsinks and
power supplies are the foremost target. What can dust do to you processors
heatsink? Well, over time the dust builds up and acts like an insulating layer,
blocking air from directly contacting the heatsink's surface. In extreme
instances the dust can build up to such a high level that it fills up the spaces
in a heatsink and prevents it from doing its job.
The effects of a dust build up are not always easy to recognize. But you may
find your computer starts to run a bit hotter than it did previously, and may
indeed be less stable if you overclock it. Dust can have an adversarial effect
on fans if it manages to find it's way to their bearings. Dead fans in
power supplies are rare by they are common. While a bad fan in a power supply is
not going to immediately kill you computer, you may smell the flux as it starts
to flow around the components not being cooled. A dead fan on top of a
processor can mean system hangs and in the worst case scenario, a fried chip.
If you have a case with an intake fan, try to lessen the amount of dust being
brought into your computer by putting a filters of some kind over top of it.
Standard air filter material, the same kind you may find in an air conditioner or
furnace, porous spongy foam, or even pantyhose have been used successfully to
limit the amount of dust a computer inhales with out reducing the amount of air
being circulated.
While dust can be really helpful
for figuring out the airflow patterns in your case, it is doubly a pain in
the arse. It insulates heatsinks and can lead to overheating. In the
pictures on this page, a BP6 with dual 366@550Mhz Celerons ran 24x7 for
about 8 months straight before getting a good cleaning. It ran a few
degrees cooler after all dust covered components were cleaned
off.
Finally, if you run that computer 24x7, be sure to crack it open every couple
of months and clean it out. Guaranteed it will run a bit cooler. It may even be
a bit more reliable. When you do, remove the dust building up on heatsinks and
fan blades with a vengeance, dust on the mother board will have less of an
impact overall.
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