Cleaning Motherboard

[Crimsonnaire]

Is it a bad idea to clean the underside of a motherboard with a very slightly moistened paper towel (pressing, not wiping). Could the tiny paper fibers conduct electricity between metal pins?

Thanks very much.

 

[kdfresh09]

yeah, i probably wouldnt do that. you take the chance of causing rust to take place on parts of the motherboard. usualy a can of compressed air does the trick well. just be sure that the power is off and the computer is unplugged. if there is dust that is sort of caked on and needs a paper towel and dampness, 90% rubbing alcohol would be best, since the water level is cut from 100% to just 10%, dramaticaly reducing the chance of rust happening. as far as if tiny pieces of paper towel being stuck on the motherboard after cleaning it, id say try to get as much of it off as possible. certain parts of the board can get rather warm, and there is no need in taking the chance with debree catching a fire. again, compressed air would be best for this as well, and as a whole, looking at eh picture you posted and assuming this is the board that you are cleaning, then compressed air is what you should use, although i cant see how the board needs to be cleaned at this time. it looks good.

 

[Geoff]

I would not do that, there is no reason that anything other than dust would be on the motherboard, which blows off easily with compressed air.

 

[Junglist0682]

I would stick with a compressed air can.

 

[StrangleHold]

Looks clean to me. If its alittle dusty, just use a feather duster and be done with it.

 

[Crimsonnaire]

Thank you all very much for your input.

I opened it up to mainly clean the heatsink and fan. It was horendous! The dust was so thick that it gave me conjestion.

How many degrees higher would you guys say this accumulation would cause the CPU to run? It's an AMD Athlon II X4 635 (2.9 GHz), but I never really overloaded it. I don't suppose it's possible to convert conventional cooling systems to water cooling, would it?

I didn't take off the heatsink, only the fan. I wiped it as best I could, and I think it's pretty decent now, though there's still residual amounts in between the blades. Would it be safe to use the air can blowing down into the blades while it's still on the CPU?

As for the underside, it was rather clean. The only reason I used the moistened paper towel was absorb a possible spot of saliva that might've flown out as I blew on it. I gently pressed it against the center portion of the underside--on and around the metal plate. The paper itself was almost dry, as it sat on the side for over 10 minutes. Come to think of it, I'm more worried that small pieces of dust might've been encrusted onto the underside of the CPU area, as it was previously used to wipe minimal dust off other surfaces. I'll open it up again just to be thorough.

Thanks again for everyone's help.

 

[kdfresh09]

yeah, you can blow some compressed air down into the blades on top of the heatsink. just be sure that the computer is turned off and unplugged, and you will be good to go. having it dirty the way it was before you cleaned it would most deffinatly increase the temps, and cause the fan to work a little harder than it would need to. it looks pretty clean now, so you will run cooler than before you cleaned it. water cooling would be pointless on that system, since its an oem board, (i think by the looks of it), and your not overclocking it at all, so the stock cooler that your using should be perfectly fine, just keep it clean.

 

[Dngrsone]

The paper will not be a problem.

You can blow the dust out of the heatsink while it is attached to the processor; if you remove the heatsink, then you will have to remove and replace the thermal compound that goes between the processor and heatsink.

While certain areas in the machine do get pretty hot, there is no real fire hazard unless there is a catastrophic failure of some sort.

Excessive dust leads to overheating, and there are instances when dust can cause problems with computer operation (dust is more conductive than paper).

... oh, and dust can be very explosive, so don't blow out your machine into an open fire.

 

[claptonman]

I wouldn't recommend a water cooled setting for that old of a CPU, unless you want to overclock and just get a all-in-one cooler.

But just download a temp program and monitor your temps while doing everyday tasks. Coretemp and HWmonitor are good ones. I'd be worried if it gets above 50c just internet browsing.

 

[Crimsonnaire]

Thank you guys very much for confirming matters. I refrained from removing the heatsink because I didn't have any thermal paste.

But when I take it all apart, I figured I might as well upgrade the CPU. According to stock specs, the current PSU is a 250W. If I swap in a Phenom II X6 1100T, would I be correct in assuming that the PSU must also be upgraded? If so, what's the minimum wattage output I would need?

Also, will I be able to get around the crappy integrated graphics interface? The current setting bogs down HD movies every once in a while, and I hate to think that'd stick around with an updated CPU. I'm not sure if I have a video card expansion slot...

And thanks for the heads up on the dust flammability. I got the thickest portions out, and for the remainder I plan to use the air straw to get in crevices. But, in accordance with the topic of this thread, the integrated graphics is the ultimate dirt to be 'cleaned.'

 

[MyCattMaxx]

Your motherboard supports the following processor upgrades: Socket type: AM3
TDP: 95 watt

• AMD Phenom II X4 9xx/9xxe/8xx Quad-Core (Deneb)
• AMD Phenom II X3 7xx/7xxe Triple-Core (Heka)
• AMD Phenom II X2 5xx (Callisto)
• AMD II Athlon X4 6xx/6xxe (Propus)
• AMD II Athlon X3 4xx/4xxe (Rana)
• AMD II Athlon X2 2xx/2xxe (Regor)
• AMD Sempron 1xx (Sargas)

And you do have a PCIe x16 slot for a vid card, not sure what version your slot is though.

 

[Pell]

yes u do have a video expansion slot PCIx16

 

[Crimsonnaire]

That's great!! Thanks. Bye-bye to integrated graphics.

By the way, if I unclip the heatsink clamp and pull on the heatsink without dislodging it from the CPU, is it recommended that I take it off and put new thermal paste? Or is it unnecessary so long as the heatsink never separates from the CPU? (A friend of mine removed and reinstalled the heatsink without putting new paste; still running, but I told him to put paste to be safe.) Would I be correct in assuming that the thermal paste serves the function of closing all the tiny surface imperfections for a solid mesh to transfer maximum heat dissipation to the heatsink?

Oh! I forgot to ask: is it crucial that we wear rubber gloves when handling motherboards? What are the chances of static-electric damage? I didn't have gloves on, but I didn't have a shirt on either; just a pair of jeans and boots standing on wooden floor.

 

[Dngrsone]

Actually, rubber gloves would be a static generator.

If you keep a hand on the case at all times, then static build-up should be minimal.