Dust

I hate dust.

I did a big clean up today.

I can't believe there was so much fluffy dust behind my computer monitor, so much fine dust stuck to the cables, and so much crap lying around.

I'm tired after hauling and rearranging the room, but I think it is worth it. Lets hope the days of the overheating computers are over (My old crappy laptop overheated at the slightest temperature increase).

Cleaning PC #2

So - the untrusty desktop pc is playing silly buggers again...

Had to open her up again and clean out the video card. I realised that I had put absolutely heaps too much arctic silver on it last time around. So this time, I have redone the thermal paste with a more moderate amount, and tightened the screws a bit harder. I also cleared out a large chunk of dust that had gathered in the heatsink/fan of the graphics card.

I wonder how much longer this graphics card has got to go? I want a new beepy diary phone, but I think I _need_ a new desktop pc replacement sooner than that. Alternatively, I could buy a chunky laptop, but you dont get many upgrade options...

Desktop life expectancy?

So my desktop is starting to flicker and play silly buggers (small freezes, etc).

I suspect it may have been because the weather has been so warm recently, but who knows. The fans inside the case dont really want to spin, so they're not doing the job of drawing out hot air either.

I caved in last night, and opened up the computer, blew out loads and loads of dust, and then proceeded to remove the graphics card (7900GT) and CPU (E6600). I was lucky to have a tube of Arctic Silver and the cleasing stuff (Bottle 1 and Bottle 2, whatever they're called). Grabbed a couple of old rags, cut them up, and proceeded to unscrew, clean and redo the thermal paste.

Admitted today is a lot cooler than yesterday, so I am not seeing any(many?) artifacts at all.

I guess I will just have to wait and see how things turn out...