Vellaura and her PC Adventures - Configuring her new PC :D

ACHIEVEMENT UNLOCKED: PARTIALLY DISSASSEMBLE GPU

Hey all! It's me again reporting on what I hope will be for the last time on my pc adventures.

So basically, I went out to the shops and bought the can of compressed air, it was actually a really good can, with real good consistent pressure and didn't run out almost immediately like most cans I usually buy, it was 18 dollars but it felt like it was worth it. I think I even got some left, if the liquid feeling inside the can is anything to go by, then I still got some pressure in their, which I will hold onto for future cleaning, hoping these cans don't expire aha.

The can being as good as it was unfortunately was no where near enough to get that think layer of dust I've been trying to remove for the longest time, the same layer that was frustrating the crap out of me. So...I had enough.

With the combined forces of frustration and courage I unscrewed the screws in the order described by @itsme1. Honestly your info was just the little bit of push and assurance I needed to take that leap of faith and go through with it.

Success! The screws you mentioned and I that I had initially anticipated removed the plastic shroud from the pcb and heatsink, it was super easy and not very scary at all. The fan was part of the plastic shroud with its own set of screws so it simply fell down to two separate parts, easy pz. Which was all I wanted in the first place, access to the heatsink being blocked by the dust.

I didn't mess with the fan plug at all, looked incredibly flimsy and cringe so I just positioned the shroud in a way it wasn't being pulled on and not in the way.



As you can see, the dust I was frustrated with was actually very thick and caked on pretty well, no amount of pressure was going to get that out, in the end, removing the shroud was the best option. It was actually blocking a lot more of the entrance then I had originally thought as well, so definitely well worth the effort, in my opinion.

Most of the grime I removed with my hands (earthing myself on my case first of course), the rest I used a plastic brush, sort of the same like a toothbrush only longer and not as stiff, the same kind of brush that comes with a beard shaving toolkit to clean the shaving machine (had to raid dads bathroom for that one).

Now I've read some mixed reviews on using a brush, some say they've been cleaning gpus for 15+ years and nothings happened, I've even seen jayztwocents literally brush the crap out of a gpu when he dipped it into alcohol with a toothbrush as well as some other videos with a brush like apparatus. Others say the bristles can create static electricity which can be dangerous. I dunno, I went ahead and used the brush for the tough spots of grime I couldn't reach in between and under the heatsink, because it felt soft and something that wouldn't damage anything on the PCB.

I'd like to hear all your thoughts on this matter, cleaning gpu with a brush, yey or ney?

Anyways, after some intensive cleaning, which I was loving, because I had all the freedom in the world to really polish this thing spotless, aha, well didn't go too crazy because I didn't want to break anything, the heatsink and pcb I just got the real obvious dust and grime but the plastic shroud I went ham, alcohol'd and wiped the crap out of it, except the bit with the fan, I got as far as I could with my fingers but didn't abuse it too hard, especially since I didn't want to unscrew the fan section of the shroud, apparently blower gpu fans can be pretty flimsy.

Once I cleaned it up, I screwed it back on. Inserted back onto the mobo and booted up just fine. Hopefully nothing happens but this has already been a great achievement for me.

The GPU is currently idle'ing at 33c on a 21c day while I am upstairs, not sure if the cleaning had any impact on temps but I can further update this as the weather outside gets hotter or cooler. At least now its got perfect airflow.

Hopefully I can now go ahead and enjoy my pc without any problems and issues.

Thanks again to you all and this community for letting me be able to share my pc trials and tribulations for not only morale support but motivation and clarity.

<3

Hello @Vellaura,

You certainly have had a journey.

At the end of the day, you have performed tasks that seemed daunting at times and come through with flying colours. I think this [ YOU ] will inspire others to also give it a go, and to achieve the personal satisfaction it brings with it.

Thanks for sharing this with the Forum.

I`m sure cleaning the fins will help it stay cooler, that`s some caked on dust there. Yuk You`re doing a great job

Good job, Vellaura.