A public service announcement

[freakitchen]

Yesterday, since I was moving my computer, I thought I'd give it a bit of a belated-spring clean.

It's never something at the top of my mind - I don't overclock my system, nor do I use particularly hot running parts, my temperatures are always fine. But, I thought I'd do a proper job of things this time - out came the video card, out came the motherboard, off came the front bezel, off came the front fan. And I found this

http://i11.photobucket.com/albums/a1...2072007350.jpg

Frankly, I was shocked. It's not been 6 months since I last did this and whilst my system does sit on the floor, I don't have any pets or live in a particularly dusty house. Since I cleaned this, my system temps have dropped ~10C.

It might not get very hot on this side of the pond, but for anywhere that it does, I suggest taking a quick look inside your case!

[EzyStvy]

Holy cow...Glad you found it before it found you

[Cricket]

Originally Posted by Freakitchen It's not been 6 months since I last did this and whilst my system does sit on the floor, I don't have any pets or live in a particularly dusty house.

6 months is a pretty long time to go between cleanings.

Why is the case fan is outside the chassis?

Cricket

[mbossman2]

let me guess, you had it set on carpet.

[freakitchen]

Yeah Mboss, it's on carpet, the case is too large for me to have it on the desk. Looks like six months is too long, but I posted the picture because I bet there's systems out there that have been ignored for far longer than that. Cricket, the fan screws onto the outside of the metal chassis because there's a black bezel (you can see it at 90 degrees to the chassis in the photo) that fits over the front fan and the rest of the front of the case.

[Cricket]

Originally Posted by Freakitchen Cricket, the fan screws onto the outside of the metal chassis because there's a black bezel (you can see it at 90 degrees to the chassis in the photo) that fits over the front fan and the rest of the front of the case.

What case is that?

All the front fans that I've seen mount inside the chassis...this is the first one I've ever seen mounted outside the chassis.

Still can't believe the amount of dust on the grill...I've seen PCs like this before but they hadn't been cleaned in years.

I would try to put something between the computer and the carpet just so it's raised above the carpet even it's just a few inches. Being right on the carpet is turning your computer into a vacuum cleaner.

Cricket

[freakitchen]

It's a Thermaltake Shark - here's a side view

http://lib.store.yahoo.net/lib/xoxide/ttsharks1.jpg

Note that the hard drive bays are tight up to the front of the case - perhaps a few mm in between the bays and the front. I guess it has to do with the fact that the harddrives mount sideways. In the smaller Tsunami case, the drives mount in the conventional way, and the fan is on the inside

http://lib.store.yahoo.net/lib/xoxide/tsunamisale3.jpg

Putting the tower on a piece of laminate flooring might be an option - that front fan pulls in a lot of air.

[HAL9000]

Even if you put a board or something between the carpet and case, it makes a huge difference.

[doubledragon5]

I havn't seen a case that dirty since I cleaned my oldest daughters machine about 3 months ago..

[inflames988]

yuck. i work in a computer repair shop, saw one of those come out of another PC today...

[daboggeyman]

I found it pays to keep an eye open for thing like that, PCs need a little attention just like your car or anything else you use.