Windows 10: When is an ideal time to clean CPU?

Hey people!

So I've not cleaned and applied fresh thermal paste on my CPU for over 2 years and I've started to notice my CPU temps increasing more than it used to. The highest temps I'd ever get on full load was about 40-45'C on liquid cooling. Recently I've noticed temps on full load at 50 and 55 with my CPU usually at 35-50 on automatic fan profile. I wouldn't know where to start with cleaning and applying fresh thermal paste on my GPU, however I've done so on my CPU a few times in the past. - The question here is, when is the ideal time to do this?

What are your thoughts?

:)

 

lv or ideal ??

you can check the voltage by running

kernel-config show

then load up another 'load' like ulv and run the above command again and compare the power useage. if you don't trust it just load lv again,

you can also profile these and control them fromyour desktop (in theroy) so you could overclock to higher amounts and back down to 850 at the touch of a button (widget) i need to figure out the commands first but i'll let you know

 

lv or ideal ??

just had a look and 'ulv' and 'xlv' are almost identical to 'ideal' except they both use a bit more power @ 500mhz

'ulv' will last longer on stand by where as 'xlv' will last longer whilst idle, all 3 are exactly the same above 500 mhz

so if you wan't more stand by time use 'ulv'

if you want more run time use 'xlv'

 

I wouldn't touch the CPU thermal paste unless absolutely needed. Cleaning out all the "dust bunnies" inside the case, including fans and the CPU cooler fins would be the first thing to do. Only if that doesn't help would I even consider redoing the thermal paste. I build my own desktops and have never had to reapply thermal paste and I've got one that I built back in the early Win 7 days that's still going without any CPU temps problem.

 

I have a liquid cooler - Corsair Hydro H90. The CPU pump block feels really hot, hotter than it usually should be.

 

My latest new computer [18 months ago] has an interesting feature, when it gets sufficient dust inside and on the CPU heat sink fins the fan noise will surge up and down. Blowing it out settles the noise down. A computer I built a few years ago with a fan on the ATI Radeon graphics card will change sound when it gets a lot of dust on it. I'm not a gamer [don't really overwork a computer] and don't have a preference for the fan cooling for that card, usually a good heat sink on the chip is sufficient.

 

Hi,
I change thermal paste when temps are odd
Use Noctua NT-H1 or thermal grizzly kryonaut which ever is easiest to find.

 

Overclocker normally use Arctic Silver 5 High-Density Polysynthetic Silver Thermal Compound AS5-3.5G - Newegg.com
It is more expensive but can bring down the temp 5-10 degree C.

Your temp under load is 50-55 degree is considered good, nothing to worry and need not to apply new paste.

Once a month, use an air blower to blow out all the dust inside the case will also help.

 

I wouldn't worry about it, assuming your PC specs are correct, I have a Phenom 1090T on one of my rigs, haven't touched the processor since it was installed back in 2010 other than clearing out the dust every 6 months or so, runs at 55C max under load using air cooling forget what but its a cooler with copper heat pipes and a large fan, I did use Artic Silver when I installed it.
May just be in your case the ambient room temperature is a bit higher than normal?

 

There was a spot in the middle where it had little to no paste at all as my water cooler block spreads it out. It's all sorted now though. *Smile Even though I've been out all day my system has been on for almost 8 hours. Temperature was idling around 50-55'C. It's been between 30 and 38'C for the last 8 hours.

 

I was going to say that if the system was running fine and your temps were all normal, not to bother.

If you know what you are doing, there's no harm in cleaning both surfaces and reapplying. Take some good measurements first, then do so after to see if you've made a difference.

 

The ambient room temp is below 25'C, it's mostly the CPU block and the radiator that heat up and cause my computer to become a 'heater' or 'heater/radiator' and it makes my bedroom then heat up around my computer.

I do have my CPU overclocked from 3.02 to 3.8GHz but the temps are the same as when the CPU was stock clocked anyway so perhaps a couple degrees increment difference. I have no instability what so ever though.

I benchmarked my CPU and GPU with AIDA64 Extreme as well.













My NB temperature is rather concerning if I'm honest.

EDIT: I also don't know if my GPU is underclocked or if it's meant to be at the clocks it is set at.

 

Leave the heat sink and thermal paste alone. It sounds to me that you have air flow restrictions, make sure the fans and inlet screens are clean and nothing inside the PC (cooling hoses, wiring harnesses) is restricting airflow.
BTW the CPU block and rad are supposed to feel hot if the're doing there job.

 

I usually just clean the CPU heatsink fins, Fans, and such, never touched Thermal paste on any of my CPUs over the years, and never had system over heat i don't think, then again they could've, but i don't overclock, so perhaps i didn't notice lol

 

It is very normal that all components get a bit hotter with age. Not much, but enough so that the compounding effect is what you see on the CPU temps.


As others has mentioned, clean ALL dust from the computer, including the PSU. Also make sure you have some sort of gloves, so you don't apply grease from your fingers when touching components. That will make the dust stick even faster. A thin layer of dust on all components can have a surprisingly high impact on temps.


I don't own any Corsair AiO- pumps so I have to ask. Do you have any means of measuring the water-pump RPM and flow? Is it up to specs? It could be that the pump performance is degrading a bit.


45 or 55 degrees temps are nothing to worry about.