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garfi3ld's Avatar
garfi3ld replied the topic: #24475 04 Apr 2012 07:14
A little late but our latest review
Twodavez's Avatar
Twodavez replied the topic: #24704 19 Apr 2012 23:35
So i have a question, does dust and long term performance factor into the review at all? i have a very similiar CM heatsink, and it's very hard to get all the dust out of the fins, and requires taking off the fan and cleaning behind it, where most of the dust appears. While i'm not sure how else they could fix this, i'm sure with the radiator being more accessable, it might be easier to clean with the water cooling unit. Couldn't you just take it apart and wash it with water? That's much harder to do with a attached Heatsink as additional care would need to be taken for the contact point...

Something i never really see in reviews is the "dust" factor. I find this almost as important as the performance, as if it's filled with dust, it's not going to do what it's supposed to...
garfi3ld's Avatar
garfi3ld replied the topic: #24705 19 Apr 2012 23:42
They all fill with dust though. Cleaning the dust out of water cooling is about the same as the heatsink with compressed air. You would have to remove the fan on ether. Washing with water would actually be easier with air cooling simply because it doesn't have the pump and the wiring for the pump, you wouldn't want to corrode the connection.

There isn't any way to benchmark a dirty performance. I think its expected that you clean the heatsink out to keep top performance. Similar to maintenance on your car.
THUMPer's Avatar
THUMPer replied the topic: #24711 20 Apr 2012 17:45
If I can't get the heatsink clean with air, either it be Canned air or an air compressor I take it off and wash it in warm water.
If you are proactive and clean your sinks on a weekly basis depending on how dusty your house it and how often your PC is on, it shouldn't have too many issues.
Twodavez's Avatar
Twodavez replied the topic: #24715 20 Apr 2012 20:39
So you really take off your heatsink every week, cleak off the processor contact point, wash it/blow it out, then replace the thermal paste and put it back on?

I know i'm complaining here, but there has got to be a better way of managing dust... Wish they could make screens to put over all your fans. Most cases that i've seen don't have this problem addressed, and maybe it's about time we start talking about it. High air flow just means more dust! :angry:

I've heard it's good to use a used dryer sheet to wipe off your monitor beause it transfers a little of the static and repells dust, i must say i do this and it works pretty well. But i'm not sure how it would interact with the PC's power surging through it.

Maybe this requires it's own thread, but i'd like to hear about how people maintenance their PC's especially in relation to the dust issue...
garfi3ld's Avatar
garfi3ld replied the topic: #24716 20 Apr 2012 22:05
I never have to clean my fans, radiators, or heatsinks. Higher end cases all come with filters on the fans to prevent the dust from getting into your case. Of course there will still be some, but a quick clean out once a year handles that for me. Normally this happens when I am swapping something out
Lersar's Avatar
Lersar replied the topic: #24717 21 Apr 2012 00:19

THUMPer wrote: If I can't get the heatsink clean with air, either it be Canned air or an air compressor I take it off and wash it in warm water.
If you are proactive and clean your sinks on a weekly basis depending on how dusty your house it and how often your PC is on, it shouldn't have too many issues.

Exactly. Cleaning doesn't necessarily mean removing the heat sink, some compressed air now and then will be enough to survive you between the removal and cleaning ritual. Some fresh thermal compound is never a bad thing either. It's not anything unique to CM of course.

As far as a dust factor in reviews, I can't even begin to think of where you would start with that. There are so many factors to consider. And like Wes said, every heatsink is going to get dusty. Trying to rate a cooler on 'dustiness' would be like rating a meal on how dirty it leaves the plate.
jj_Sky5000's Avatar
jj_Sky5000 replied the topic: #24718 21 Apr 2012 04:17
Or just build a new pc every couple of months, Problem solved

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