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Article Title: The Importance Of Maintaining Your CPU & System Fans

Article Author: Daryl Quenet
Article Category: HOW-TO Guides
Times Read: 3988
Date: 2005-07-14 20:00:00
Pages: 2

In this age of high performance computing heat production should not be overlooked. With the lowest value processors clocking in at 1800 Mhz, generally there is going to be a lot of power usage. Whenever you use a lot of power you are going to generate heat through inefficient power usage and waste (power leakage).

Now as computers improve so do the components and technologies employed in designing and producing them. These new improvements and technologies help reduce the amount of inefficient power loss, as well as overall power usage. However in the real world when they employ new technologies cooling down the current chips is only a byproduct. Their main goal is preparing for future higher frequency chips, and adding additional features into new cores. Then as time trickles by the lowest end chip will once again higher frequency higher power usage chips.

Over the years I have worked on a countless number of machines, and seen some really electronically unhealthy computers. How do you think your mouth would look if you never brushed your teeth? Well that’s how your computer can start to look inside. The environment your workstation is based in can contribute greatly to its dust bunnies. I live in an agricultural land reserve, and the air tends to be extremely dusty. So my machine requires maintenance roughly every 5 – 7 months.

The picture below is my Athlon XP 3200+ (hot chip) with a Thermaltake Extreme Volcano 12. This heat sink has been sitting on this processor for around 7 months (note the dust build up). I replaced the stock heat sink within the first 3 months due to the operational temperature of the CPU (idling at 54 degrees down to 45 degrees). The design of your heat sink / fans can also have an impact on the amount of maintenance required. On the Extreme Volcano 12 the entire base is made of copper (this is common for enthusiast heat sinks) and there is also a large amount of small fins to improve the heat transfer process. The downside is obvious however (if your in a dusty environment) when you look at the pictures, however even with all that dust it was still running cooler then with the original stock fan (I have bought at least 4 different Volcano models since my Athlon 1000mhz).