The Graphics Card That Cleans Itself

[f-gomes]

[citation][nom]iam2thecrowe[/nom]LOL. this will not work. It needs a bit more pressure than a fan can produce to remove dust, running the fan backward will do ah heck all. This will not work. High pressure compressed air doesn't even remove all the dust. What a load of crap.[/citation]

Wrong. More pressure is indeed needed to remove dust that has been accumulating for years. But if the fan does this each time you turn the PC on, clogging will always be kept at bay. This procedure is not supposed to removed months or years of dust. It is supposed to not allow that many dust to compress against the fins.

 

[Guest]

I put filters at all air intake niches all around inner computer case of my new PC three years ago. Still today there's no dust at all, everything is still clean as new.

 

[beayn]

[citation][nom]f-gomes[/nom]Wrong. More pressure is indeed needed to remove dust that has been accumulating for years. But if the fan does this each time you turn the PC on, clogging will always be kept at bay. This procedure is not supposed to removed months or years of dust. It is supposed to not allow that many dust to compress against the fins.[/citation]

You're pretty confident. Did you experiment with reversing your fans on a daily basis to prove this concept?

In all honesty, 30 seconds of a cold heatsink with a reversed fan is unlikely to remove 100% of the dust deposited under heated conditions over 8+ hours... There will be some buildup from dust that sticks due to being heated for long periods.

 

[kawininjazx]

First off, don't vacuum your computer, it causes static. Used compressed air to blow it out. A PC should be blown out every few months, the dust gets in the fan bearings and wear them out. Smokers are the worst, their computers are all yellow inside and the dust gets all sticky, gross.

 

[hp79]

[citation][nom]beayn[/nom]You're pretty confident. Did you experiment with reversing your fans on a daily basis to prove this concept? In all honesty, 30 seconds of a cold heatsink with a reversed fan is unlikely to remove 100% of the dust deposited under heated conditions over 8+ hours... There will be some buildup from dust that sticks due to being heated for long periods.[/citation]

Well, the point is it's not trying to remove 100% of it. It's trying to help prevent dust to accumulate. Of course it will probably not stay shiny clean as new, but still help a lot compared to the conventional fans. Think of the dust on the fan's blade which is pretty common for normal fans. If you rotate it backwards for a little bit, at least some of that dust will be shaken off.

 

[dioxholster]

great idea but why would i want the dust to be blown all over the motherboard and other stuff??? How will the PSU pick all that dust?

 

[dioxholster]

i think Air Conditioners work the same way, the compressor outside cleans itself as well.

 

[gm0n3y]

Is it just me or is Toms an MSI sales site today? That's what, 4 articles in one day praising MSI?

 

[dangolo]

Servers do this already. Whenever powercycled, the fans blow at %300 speed, just loud as hell but really forcing out any dust. By the time the OS is loaded, the fans are back to their appropriate speed.

Even so, seeing it on a graphics card made me smile. I'm sure you all agree that this is a welcome application of good thinking. Way to go MSI!!

 

[buzznut]

Can't see this doing very much at all. A video card with a dust filter would be more effective.

 

[cburke82]

Is it just me or is Toms an MSI sales site today? That's what, 4 articles in one day praising MSI?

I have a twin Frozer 2 6950 and I would recommend that card to ANYBODY. It is quiet it stays very cool and I can over clock the snot out of it compared to 6950's I have had from Diamond and XFX. I had an XFX 6950 unlocked to the 6970 core clocks and shaders. But any further OC and it artifacted like a boss. This card is way way past factory clocks and scores higher on 3D Mark 11 than the unlocked XFX all wile not artifacting at all. Barring some crazy malfunction I will be a MSI customer for life just based on this card lol.

 

[tgoyer]

First off, don't vacuum your computer, it causes static. Used compressed air to blow it out. A PC should be blown out every few months, the dust gets in the fan bearings and wear them out. Smokers are the worst, their computers are all yellow inside and the dust gets all sticky, gross.

There are electronics vacuums that don't build up static. They are built for this kind of work and are relatively inexpensive.

... for example...

 

[Pyroflea]

Neat. A step in the right direction at least. *Shrugs*

 

[eddieroolz]

Its a potentially good solution, just still a bit immature still.

 

[Guest]

Small problem, as fans in this "new invention" will blow all the dust downwards, straight onto my PSU. And on that crappy Antec 900 (nine hundred 😀) case that i have, PSU's fan is facing up, and will certainly collect all that dust. And that thing is MUCH harder to clean than graphics card.

 

[fir_ser]

It’s cool to have this self-cleaning capability as an option in video cards.

 

[Keytask]

What will they come up with next? This could possibly be a good thing because nobody wants dust in their graphics card, but on the other hand if it's blowing dust into your computer, that can be another problem...People really will do anything to make money, won't they?

 

[Guest]

I think anyone concerned enough about dust could simply remove a side cover and use a can of air to blow out dust once in a while.

 

[cburke82]

I think anyone concerned enough about dust could simply remove a side cover and use a can of air to blow out dust once in a while.

That would require effort lol. I think instead of a "self cleaning card" it would be more effective to switch to a tool less case so you and pull off the side with less effort and do a real cleaning once and a wile.

 

[pomop]

Ohai peoples, just an fyi... You should turn off your computer at least once every few days. I shut mine off every night because 1100 wat PSU and 2 6870s + OCed hardware tends to use a lot of electricity, especially when I'm not even using it.

I've noticed when my comp used to be on for days that it would start to get slow. I'd shut down my computer and it's back to normal speed. I can't tell you why because I don't know, I just know it increases performance when my computer was on for days.

 

[pomop]

Oh yeah forgot to mention the topic. I like it, although it's a bit.... boring and ineffective. I'm sure someone a few years ago already thought of blowing the fans reverse to get the dust out, but then figured that the dust is still in the computer so it will just go somewhere else in the tower.

I think the only way to clean it effectively is the compressed air, unfortunately. 🙁

 

[DeGeeGin]

I prefer a can of compressed air, but this works too. I like this. My old 8800 GTX died from too much dust and over-heating, so maybe this technology will clean my GPU if I forget to.

 

[cburke82]

They make instant tire inflators for mountain bikes that use the canisters of air. They shoot out so fast I was thinking of trying one out to see if it works better but not sure if its coming out so fast that it might damage the computer lol.