RekaTech
Reka on Windows XP@www.RekaTech.co.uk©

Difficulty Level: Average

Overheating is something people often overlook or are unaware of but is all to common. Overheating causes PC's to slow down or crash, usually at the time you least want them to. Without going into to much detail, the CPU (processor) of your PC generates heat as it uses power. The more you work the CPU the more heat is generated. To dissipate the heat generated, a heatsink is attached to the CPU along with a fan. The heatsink is a lump pf metal with lots of fins on it. The principle behind this is that metal is an excellent conductor of heat. The fins increase the surface area of the metal that are exposed to the air. The attached fan blows cooler air over the fins of the heatsink thus cooling down the heatsink which is taking the heat away from the CPU. Over time the fins on the heatsink clog up with dust, reducing the heatsink's ability to dissipate the heat by reducing the surface area and actually insulating it. So, removing the dust clogging up the fins helps the heatsink to work effectively.

Simply turn off the PC, lay the PC down on its side, remove the side panel/case of the pc and locate the heatsink and fan. Carefully without touching the heatsink if possible, vacuum all the dust up that is clogging up the heatsink. (note: you may need to remove the fan, if so be carefully not to move or dislodge the heatsink)

Whilst you have the side panel/case off, why not hoover the dust from the case fans and grills to maximise the air circulation. If you want to go one step further read the articles on case cooling and heatsink lapping.

 

Difficulty Level: Beginner

Case cooling is not something which the average PC user will have any interest in. However, people who mod, overclock and are performance freaks pat particular attention to this. The main reason is they know the cooler the PC, the more they may be able to squeeze out of it performance wise. The simplistic theory behind case cooling is cool air enters the PC case, cools things down and the warm/hot air exits. That is why most PC's have case fans to draw cool air from outside(intake fan),or a fan to expel the hot air from the case (exhaust fan). The majority of people that are aware of case cooling simply install one intake fan and one exhaust fan, but without thought these fans can have a negative effect on case cooling. Let me explain:

There are several principles to take into account regarding installing case fans:

Heat Rises: When installing multiple case fans, make sure the exhaust fan is as near to the top of the PC case as possible so it actually extracts the hot air not the cooler air near the bottom. The intake fan should be as near to the bottom of the case as possible so it draws in cool air from outside.

Air Circulation: the intake and exhaust fans should be at opposite sides of the case if possible. If the fans are place next to each other, then the air drawn in by the intake fan is immediately blown straight back out by the exhaust fan and not affecting the temperatures in the pc case really, you would be better with just an exhaust fan. The ideal location is intake fan at the front bottom of the case, and the exhaust fan at the top back of the fan (near the CPU).

Pressure: Many pc cases have just one fan, and exhaust fan on the back near the top. As it has just one fan it creates what i call negative pressure or a vacuum. Negative air pressure causes cold air to be drawn in via air vents, usually along the bottom of the pc, front of the pc and/or by the processor thus creating excellent air circulation. One arguable bonus to this is that negative air pressure reduces sound, remember the bell test at school in a vacuum?

Personally i always try to create negative air pressure, it will draw air away from any potential hot spots. Always try and get more air moved going out that is entering. If you are going for multiple case fans, aim for the exhaust fan to move more air the the intake fan. The fans i swear by are "Panaflo" fans. They are made by Panasonic/Technics, they are "silent" and reliable. Apparently they are designed and marketed for hospital equipment and hi tech products. They used to be extremely hard to get hold of, I always buy from Dorothy Bradbury but believe that Scan.co.uk now stocks them.