[SOLVED] ~ OT? Dust in a computer Solved

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keep the room closed at all times and only use the a/c. the office where i work is little more than a box with only 2 doors and 2 a/c units. i recently opened up my case after a year and found surprisingly little dust. that's not to say there isn't any, but there was surprisingly little. it's impossible to have it dust-free, so this is the best you could hope for.

industrial cases with filters at the air intake.

perhaps something like this:

filters need regular (but not frequent) cleaning.

I keep mine away from the floor(tabletop or higher) and have almost no dust buildup.

You should see the ones cat owners give me to fix.

Tom

I don't fit the sides since I'm often messing about with them. This seems to help avoid a lot of dust collection.

Also avoid any video card, CPU + cooler, chipset that requires a high speed fan. Better to have a large heatsink and a slow 60-80 mm fan than a small heatsink and a fan that screams. It'll last longer and be quieter too.

In fact I have 2 identical mobos. On one the chipset is convestion cooled with a larger heatsink, the other has a smaller heatsink + fan. Look for heatsink upgrades in this case.

Do you really need a case fan too ? I'll bet half of them are fitted by the sake of an overbloated spec.

Graham

That's pretty effective too.

Graham

Get a fan free PC ?

Graham

:default wrote: :> Any good solutions to keep the dust out? Anyone doing anything along :> those lines - and how's it working? :> :> I have a desktop that's less than a year old and is packed with dust :> already. I can't make the environment dust free so that leaves :> modifying the computer. :> :> It, like most computers, is run with negative pressure, 90mm case fan :> and ~50 mm PS fan exhaust air from the case. Holes in the side bring :> air in - along with disk drive doors, and various unintended case :> vents. :> :> Easiest idea I've come up with is to remove one side panel and fit :> something like a furnace filter in its place. :> :> More difficult, but maybe more bullet proof, build an external box and :> mount a blower in it and hang an automobile air cleaner or furnace :> filter on the box and use it to pressurize the case with a length of :> 4" clothes dryer exhaust hose.

:I keep mine away from the floor(tabletop or higher) and have :almost no dust buildup.

I agree. Every PC I have opened which sits on the floor is usually choked with dust, particularly if in a carpetted room. In contrast, table mounted computers have very little dust accumulation. That is one reason I selected a table top PC enclosure - although this is not mandatory.

Yeah, exactly. Long hair named Tribble.

A minor point perhaps - but one can never own a cat - one merely serves at the pleasure of a cat.

air conditioning isn't an option and moving it higher ain't an option

I guess I'll scope out furnace filters first, since I can do that without major effort and its easily reversible if it doesn't work out.

help

That's kind of where I was heading with the furnace filter replacing the side. The side has holes strategically placed to direct air to the processor fan and card banks.

I think both my processor fan and case fan are too energetic. I was worried about the lack of air conditioning - but may have shot myself in the foot because the dust stops the flow and it is an insulator.

and a

upgrades

I may give the heat sink idea a go. Thanks.

sake of

It originally had no fan. I put the weakest one I had in it. The drives run hotter than the CPU.

sake of

High rpm I assume ? I've got this funny idea you can get localised HDD coolers which might avoid the need for the case fan.

Graham

In article , rherber1 @bigpond.net.au says...>

PC

I prefer full towers, but have found that all it takes is a few inches (off the floor) to make a huge difference in dust accumulation. Desk space is too precious for the PC. ;-)

My office opens onto a fab shop, both machining (coolant vapor) and welding (weld fume) and grinding (grinder dust).

Every few weeks or so, I shut down the computers (my office is also the "server room"), and blow the dust out with shop air. I constrain the fans from spinning with a pencil or pen.

Good Luck! Rich