Question Help me clean my pc!

[robz9514]

Hello, I need to clean my pc and my gpu but I'm a noob and need some help.

Recently my gpu temp has gone upwards of 86-87 celsius while playing games like WoW and Overwatch on the lowest graphics which it shouldn't be doing (I have a GTX970), When Im playing on low graphics and frame cap at 90 the computer fan is going wild when there's a lot going on on the screen, and its a bit frightening. I did read that some computers imbeds the graphics card within the motherboard and Im wondering if cleaning the pc will help with my problem? The computer is turning 3 years old i October and I am looking for a replacement within the upcoming months.

I have no idea where my gpu or cpu is located. I will go out later today and get thermal paste, compressed air and some baby wipes cause thats what the videos told me. I am generally afraid of removing things within my pc because I have never done anything like this before. Is it an easy process or dangerous? I do have tools to remove screws etc.

On the picture I have marked 1,2,3.
1. Is this where I apply thermal paste
2 and 3. Is this the graphics card?

https://imgur.com/H3DVkyJ

https://imgur.com/gdsam85

Excuse the mess, Im cleaning it later today. Is this computer well built? I bought it store bought on a 10% discount. Below are my speccs. Is it worth cleaning or should I instead focus on a replacement?

Processor: Inter Core i7-6700
Memory: DDR4 6G
Graphics: NVIDIA GeForce GTX970 4GB
Storage: HDD 1TB, SSD 128GB
Optical Drive: DVD RW
Network: Integrated LAN 10/100/1000, Wireless LAN + Bluetooth

 

[Obakasama]

2 is where the CPU is located. That black circular fan is attached to a heatsink, itself is installed on top of the CPU. Thermal paste is applied on top of the CPU, and then the heatsink (or CPU cooler it's also referred to) is installed on top.

3, the thing which has Asus on it is the graphics card.

Both can have temperature issues. Use a can of compressed air to clear the dust.

The PC specs itself aren't bad; a solid system. Will depend what games you play though.

 

[robz9514]

2 is where the CPU is located. That black circular fan is attached to a heatsink, itself is installed on top of the CPU. Thermal paste is applied on top of the CPU, and then the heatsink (or CPU cooler it's also referred to) is installed on top.

3, the thing which has Asus on it is the graphics card.

Both can have temperature issues. Use a can of compressed air to clear the dust.

The PC specs itself aren't bad; a solid system. Will depend what games you play though.

Hey and thanks for the answer!

This really helped me out alot, but.. after intense cleaning (I could not remove the graphics card nor apply thermal paste cause the CPU wouldnt loss) I still got alot of dust out of the system and it looks alot cleaner... However, the game still get up to around 90c and its on the lowest graphics with the frame cap at 100.

I guess I must have not taken care of it enu. I wasnt aware of how complexed the cleaning needs to be and this is the first time I clean with compressed air after 3 years of high use. Lesson learned.

 

[Obakasama]

Regular maintenance is something which can get overlooked. Use the straw of the compressed air can to get close to the fins of the heatsink to clear out the dust.

Typically graphics cards tend to be held in place by screws at the back of the case. Then the slot it is in typically has a latch at the other end. Push that down and the graphics card is then free to be removed. In your case it looks like that frame at the bottom is attached to it, but I'm not certain.

 

[punkncat]

I would strongly suggest that you not take anything apart in that machine, given that before this post you didn't know what the parts were.
I don't say that to offend, but there are sensitive components and rails in there. If you don't know how they come apart and go back together it's easy to break something.

First, take your compressed air, locate the fans and cooling blocks to your CPU/GPU and blow them out thoroughly. You should be able to see the GPU fan below the card and right behind the bracket. Make sure to check the case fan and all the vents in the case. Blow out your power supply fan and exhaust as well.

Insomuch as learning how the build is put together I would strongly suggest seeing if you can find some old throw away computer. Pretty much anything from the last decade goes together roughly the same in a general way and you can see how the slot lock for the GPU works, learn how the CPU is in place under the cooler, etc without fear of breaking your working system. There are also some really good "clean my pc" videos on youtube as well as a couple of good disassembly videos to get you up to speed.