Sunday, October 15, 2006
Overheating
Computer technical people are worse than plumbers! In a plumbers house there is often leaky taps because the plumber is usally to busy fixing everyone else’s water leaks rather than paying attention to their own plumbing problems. The same is often for computer techs. Well it is for this little duck!!!
The hot weather means a couple of issues for computer users. Overheating and my work shop has landed two computers needed TLC because of overheating and guess who’s machines they are? MINE they have so much fluff and dust in them I could use it to make a small portion of felt cloth. Last Saturday when Sydney in New South Wales hit 38 degrees my processor hit 96 degrees and the computer shut down to save it from combusting.
Ok so its time to get out the vacuum cleaner and make sure your PC’s has some important hot weather preparations. Dust needs to removed from the heat sink around the processor and video card processors. Fans need to be checked that they are running properly. Noisy fans need to be replaced. Often fitting additional system fans are very important but understand that wherever there is a flow of air there will be a flow of dust.
Make sure your PC has enough breathing room to allow space both behind, under and on the sides for air to circulate around the machine. Keep it off the carpet as well as this attracts a lot of dust.
Also consider air-conditioning your home, not for you but for your computer! You think I’m joking don’t you, well how many offices are air-conditioned but have a minimal compliment of personnel but have numerous computers? How many of us on a hot day find an excuse to go and hang out in the server room when we are at work? Your getting my drift?
Overheating can cause your computer lock up, reboot suddenly or slow down. Often the processor will throttle back it computations so that it doesn’t get to hot. So the more heat you can dissipate and the cooler the processor the more efficient it will run.
The following text comes from http://www.pcguide.com/ts/x/ggen02-c.html
Overheating is one of the main enemies of a reliable system. A PC that runs hot will have a shorter life span for its components, and at extremes of temperature, the possibility exists that the system will be unstable. It is even possible (though rare) for the overheating components to be damaged. The importance of system cooling is discussed in more detail here. One problem with diagnosing overheating problems is that symptoms can be related. For example, a processor overheating can lead to other components overheating; similarly, ventilation problems within the system case can exacerbate a problem cooling a processor that runs hot.
The hot weather means a couple of issues for computer users. Overheating and my work shop has landed two computers needed TLC because of overheating and guess who’s machines they are? MINE they have so much fluff and dust in them I could use it to make a small portion of felt cloth. Last Saturday when Sydney in New South Wales hit 38 degrees my processor hit 96 degrees and the computer shut down to save it from combusting.
Ok so its time to get out the vacuum cleaner and make sure your PC’s has some important hot weather preparations. Dust needs to removed from the heat sink around the processor and video card processors. Fans need to be checked that they are running properly. Noisy fans need to be replaced. Often fitting additional system fans are very important but understand that wherever there is a flow of air there will be a flow of dust.
Make sure your PC has enough breathing room to allow space both behind, under and on the sides for air to circulate around the machine. Keep it off the carpet as well as this attracts a lot of dust.
Also consider air-conditioning your home, not for you but for your computer! You think I’m joking don’t you, well how many offices are air-conditioned but have a minimal compliment of personnel but have numerous computers? How many of us on a hot day find an excuse to go and hang out in the server room when we are at work? Your getting my drift?
Overheating can cause your computer lock up, reboot suddenly or slow down. Often the processor will throttle back it computations so that it doesn’t get to hot. So the more heat you can dissipate and the cooler the processor the more efficient it will run.
The following text comes from http://www.pcguide.com/ts/x/ggen02-c.html
Overheating is one of the main enemies of a reliable system. A PC that runs hot will have a shorter life span for its components, and at extremes of temperature, the possibility exists that the system will be unstable. It is even possible (though rare) for the overheating components to be damaged. The importance of system cooling is discussed in more detail here. One problem with diagnosing overheating problems is that symptoms can be related. For example, a processor overheating can lead to other components overheating; similarly, ventilation problems within the system case can exacerbate a problem cooling a processor that runs hot.
# posted by Peter Saville - IT Consultant @ 10:45 PM 
