Computer issues

Costco sells 6 packs for cheap. But any electronics or computer store should carry them. Just make sure you give the heatsinks and electrical caps a good dusting and hopefully, that will solve your problem. Next step is to reapply the heatsink paste, then after that, PSU and RAM could be culprits. biggles604 did provide a good tip of monitoring the voltage rails in the BIOS to make sure they are not under or over volting.

My place is so dusty, I have to get my computer cleaned once every 4 or 5 months.
Stupid dust.

My place is so dusty, I have to get my computer cleaned once every 4 or 5 months.
Stupid dust.

You probably have carpet. Carpet is terrible for holding dust.

Gimp Pimp, try going to the website of the computer manufactuer (or motherboard manufacturer) and see if they have a utility that monitors the process temperature. For example, Asus provides a Windows utility, called Asus Probe, that gives information such as CPU and MB (chipset) temperatures, fan speeds, and voltages. You can configure the utility to alert you when the data point reaches a threshold.

Nice! I wonder how a Rum and Mr. Pibb would taste…

fucking great I bet..

You probably have carpet. Carpet is terrible for holding dust.

Gimp Pimp, try going to the website of the computer manufactuer (or motherboard manufacturer) and see if they have a utility that monitors the process temperature. For example, Asus provides a Windows utility, called Asus Probe, that gives information such as CPU and MB (chipset) temperatures, fan speeds, and voltages. You can configure the utility to alert you when the data point reaches a threshold.

There are two programs that can monitor motherboard parameters.
Motherboard Monitor. A slick program, highly tuneable, I never had any luck getting it to work.

SpeedFan. This program is great. It's not too hard to configure, and very tuneable. It monitors my CPU temperature, and when it gets hot, then the fans in the box all rev up. It also monitors the voltage rails.

Problem is, you need to find out what the normal operating range of the CPU is, and that can be tricky, even more so if you don't know what you have.

edit: I also keep the case open all the time. I read in Popular Mechanics that this makes the CPU burn out faster? True? False? Is it bad in general?

Technically, the case should be closed. Idealy the computer should run and the temperature inside the case should be controlled. The CPU, RAM, mobo, drives and whatever else should all run in a temperature controlled environment. Now… not everything is ideal. The only downside I've heard of thus far to keeping your case open is the change of temperature if you're constantly shutting down/turning on your computer. The constant change of temperature isn't good for the components, or so I heard. I havn't exactly verified this, so maybe the internet would be a better place to look…

Add SiSoft Sandra to that list of utilities…

http://www.sisoftware.co.uk/

After you do all the maintenance, you can run Sandra's Burn In Test to stress your system, and monitor the voltage along the way with one of its modules. If it passes, your system should be stable enough to keep living.

And for general software day to day cleaning, May I also recommend Tune-Up Utilities, 2k6

Computer help from a pair of Steve's

One quick and easy thing I did, for those of you that like your tower under the desk - built little boxes out of 2x4 and plywood and put the tower on that. Most towers have the main air inlet at the bottom front of the case, right above the carpet, Raise it up just a few inches makes for a lot less dust in the case.

Computer help from a pair of Steve's

If we get a third one we can be "Cubed" :lol:

One quick and easy thing I did, for those of you that like your tower under the desk - built little boxes out of 2x4 and plywood and put the tower on that. Most towers have the main air inlet at the bottom front of the case, right above the carpet, Raise it up just a few inches makes for a lot less dust in the case.

This is actually a really good idea. If you are able to get it off the ground, your PC does end up being quite a bit cleaner after running for a while. It helps a ton with airflow as well. I swear some cases were designed using a suspended 3D model…and then they forgot to put it on a carpeted floor where many PC's live their life.

This is actually a really good idea. If you are able to get it off the ground, your PC does end up being quite a bit cleaner after running for a while. It helps a ton with airflow as well. I swear some cases were designed using a suspended 3D model…and then they forgot to put it on a carpeted floor where many PC's live their life.

Or you could buy a premuim case like the Antec Sonata 2 that has an air filter. I have yet to dust in my case.

ANTEC is one of few companies that includes intake filters. I have them on my P180. Most cases that I get, even ones that are considered premium, miss this totally.

Add SiSoft Sandra to that list of utilities…

http://www.sisoftware.co.uk/

After you do all the maintenance, you can run Sandra's Burn In Test to stress your system, and monitor the voltage along the way with one of its modules. If it passes, your system should be stable enough to keep living.

and if it doesn't pass…..
no thanks:lol: