Maintenance Questions from a Newb

XGC Forsakend

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So I have built my first PC with the help of a friend and this site, and I want to make sure I keep it clean and working properly for a long time. Thus, I have generally 2 questions I need to ask (I expect screams of blasphemy and threats of CPU abuse for one of the questions).


Anywho, Question 1:
I bought some air cans and want to blow and clean off any dust that may have settled. I do plan on opening/sliding one of the case sides off to help.
Is there anything in there that I should avoid blowing cool air directly by chance? Maybe "Not have it on for a few hrs before using" or something? Silly question considering it 'Air' but ehh...


Question 2:
Because I have never built a computer before and had little to no knowledge what so ever and relied on a buddy and his room mate for building assistance... there might have been a slight error while installing the CPU and the fan it came with.

While reading the installation instructions for the CPU, I came across a part where I was told to apply thermal paste. Unfortunately, I didn't know I needed some and did not place an order for some and the PC needed to be built that day due to my friend being out of town for 2 1/2 weeks after that night.

Asking him how mandatory or important it was, I was told it would be ok and to continue.

Thinking about it now, kinda bothers me knowing I skipped a step and want to correct it. Want to possibly fix it while dusting out my computer and such since I'll have the case open then.

Here is the question How do I remove the CPU fan exactly? I have a fear of damaging the motherboard because of the plastic arrowhead like hooks it uses to attach its self.

cpu-fan.jpg


Looks something more or less like that, with the turn nobs and then the hooks on the bottom. Do I pinch them and then pull it up slowly and just hope not to damage it?

If it isn't possible to remove without huge risk of damage, how badly did I screw up by not applying thermal paste? ='(

Thanks for any responds
 
First off, apply the thermal paste. I skipped this step as well and a single core 3.06GHz processor I have runs at +165 degrees F, and it should run with a load about twenty degrees cooler than that. I've damaged another CPU doing the same thing but i got lucky the second time.

As for your cooling fan setup, I have a similar one in my secondary PC. Basically you have to turn the knobs counter-clock wise first. When you hear them all click, gently pull them up one by one and turn them clockwise while still holding them up. Then, tug gently and they should pop out just fine. Then, reverse the process to properly reinstall the fan. I recommend practicing this because I did this wrong SO many times before I finally got it right and my PC kept crashing and bluescreening due to overheating from a ****-eyed cooling fan. Needless to say, constant unaddressed overheating=potentially fatal hardware failure.
 
Actually check the temps you're getting, if you're using the stock intel cooler you may find that there was paste pre-applied on the heatsink.

ok, how would I go about checking temperatures? Is there something already on my PC I can use or is it a 3rd party software?
 
ok, how would I go about checking temperatures? Is there something already on my PC I can use or is it a 3rd party software?

The most reliable temp readings can be found in BIOS.

Either there will be thermal paste already applied to the stock cooler or there will be a small tube of it that should have been packed with the cooler. If your temps look okay then you've probably already got the pre-applied stuff.
 

Was in the process of Dloading that but see'ing all those little small checkboxes and additional toolbars made me nervous. Thanks for link regardless.

The most reliable temp readings can be found in BIOS.

Either there will be thermal paste already applied to the stock cooler or there will be a small tube of it that should have been packed with the cooler. If your temps look okay then you've probably already got the pre-applied stuff.


Went the BIOS route...and took me like 8 tries to effectively figure out which button it was out of the 4 displayed.

CPU Temp: 34-35 C
M/B Temp: 30 C

That ok?

Also, no thermal paste came with the fan the CPU came with. Hopefully it was pre-applied but I didn't see anything on the fan when installing.
 
The temps look fine to me. What CPU is it?

Just to be on the safe side, I'd get something to monitor your temps while the CPU is under load. It seems to me that it should be okay, but I wouldn't take any chances with the CPU.
 
Go on Speedfan and click the "charts" tab, check the "core" box
Then Download https://www.jam-software.de/custome...guage=EN&PHPSESSID=36h63888rvpcqlajqp2nnae4v6 then click "Test Options" the select "Stress CPU" then hit play.

Wait about a min, then hit the start button in the bottom left, and search snipping tool. Take a picture of the current image by dragging your mouse over Speedfan and Heavy Load. Try to make it look like this
Capture.jpg
Capture.PNG
Upload your photo to this thread.

I have an aftermarket cooler so don't worry if your temps get above mine, I also bought higher quality thermal paste when I attached my new heatsink to my CPU. If you get of 75C I would stop(don't worry your CPU wont be damaged, it auto turns off before that happens)

Hope this helps
 
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