Computer Problem-> Thoughts of a rebuild

[dyna-ti]

Up until today i was experiencing some problems with my system whilst gaming on bf3

My system is old now by most comparisons but it at least let me run most games at about 50-60fps if i kept the settings in low-medium
As follows
Athlon x2 6000+ @2x3.2ghz 64bit
Gigabyte MA770-UD3 motherboard
4gb ram @400mhz(i know i know)
XFX nvidia geforce 9800GTX+ 512mb(not overclocked....Yet)
750wt psu
W7 64bit

During gaming in bf3 all would go well but then i would start lagging to hell with my frame rate dropping to 3 or 4 fps :shock: It was weird because it would come in waves. One moment it would be running great then drop then seemed to catch up with itself and run fine again. That would continue for a few mins then drop down again.
At first i thought it was because bf is a pretty graphically intensive game and in close quarters type of play it must be a huge strain on gpu's,that my aging system was finally unable to cope with all the tweaks to the graphics and card drivers by the bf people.
As a result i went back to the older(but still fun) bf2 which i know my system can easily run maxed out.
Then it started happening in bf2 NIGHTMARE
It was at this point i thought about downloading a gpu tweaker and giving this overclocking lark a go. First thing i downloaded from nvidia was their system monitor and ran it. It gives % usage on all the components as well as fan % and core temps.
During bf2 it was reading 105 degrees C I reckon it was much higher in bf3.

I looked at the case which sits under my desk and doesnt really get touched. OH MY GOD :shock:
The dust was shocking. In fact i didnt have a clue it could attract that much, i mean my dyson hoover(ironic eh?) doesnt have that much dust clinging to it
All case vents were completely covered to the depth of about 2mm and after i took of the side ...............
Any1 want to see the pics i took ?.


Leads me on to , i think i need something a bit more current. So if anyone is good with spec for cash, can they reply?.
Obviously any system has to be built with modern fps's in mind. If a computer can run them then it is capable of doing pretty much anything else flawlessly.

I thought my xfx card would still be good but @512mb i think thats just too little nowadays and probably a 2gb card would be a better idea. Add 8-16gb ram, though i doubt th moby could handle all that so looks like a new one of them and processor. Anyone excell at this stuff, really enjoy looking up all the details? I take advice well and like to view and understand all im putting together.

Not got a huge budget

 

[dyna-ti]

Case inlet vents

 

[gibbleking]

cof ps 4 ...cof....

or re seat the cpu and graphics cpu with new thermal paste and install better heat sinks...

 

[gibbleking]

i built my last pc in a perspex case with dark lights, glowie fans ect...the only downside was seeing all the dust it sucked in.your cpu must be overheating badly as my dell xps gaming laptop runs that on max settings(bf2) without any issues easily....

 

[PurleySquire]

Dust and electronics are not a good combo. Have you thoroughly vacuumed out all that dust, fluff and who knows what else? This will also make the machine run cooler and therefore faster and more reliably.

 

[dyna-ti]

Dust and electronics are not a good combo. Have you thoroughly vacuumed out all that dust, fluff and who knows what else? This will also make the machine run cooler and therefore faster and more reliably.

Enter industrial suction power

 

[dyna-ti]

The real problem is the gpu fan which is clogged up with something i dont know what :? Dust, gunk, some sort of residue. all totally blocking the intake fan on the card. Given its placing i cannot remove the card due to its size. it needs to tilt and it cant because the case gets in the way. It was built first then put in the case and the mody screwed down. To attempt to remove would likely cause more problems
Unfortunately it leaves a gasp of about 3" to get a toothbrush and a couple of homemade wooden picks to slowly scrape out the gunk. Also due to the tight spot i couldnt get the extractor close enough to do any real good so had to rely on picking it out with the wooded picks and extracting it where it fell. TBh ive probably only shifted 3/4 of it but at least its sucking in air and the card temp is sitting at 83c full on bf3 so thats something, lag gone so i can play at least. Shame the graphic quality is pants but thats just the old system and only a rebuild would sort that

 

[xerxes]

I always have dust filters on the inlet fans, this sort of thing: http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/3-Dustproof-1 ... 0871602371. You can pop the front off and remove the filter to clean the dust off; I usually run them under the tap, then shake them dry.

Also, I always have more fans, with filters, blowing into a case than out, that way, the dust is caught by the filters. If you have more exhaust fans than intake fans it creates a slight vacuum that sucks dust into the case through every little gap and not just through the filters.

 

[ajm]

The real problem is the gpu fan which is clogged up with something i dont know what :?

From the pictures it looks to me like someone's been smoking near that machine... There's nothing worse for clogging up and killing off those little fans than the tar in smoke... I've seen some really truly disgusting fans in PCs belonging to smokers over the years, the effect on someone's lungs doesn't bear thinking about!

 

[Raging_Bulls]

CPU is plenty powerful for your use, but the RAM and graphixs card are showing their age indeed.
Oh, and you might want to think about investing in a better CPU cooler if you really like to game.

As for cleaning, every 3-4 months I block all the fans with a pencil and use a small compressor to completely blow all the dust out. You won't believe how much a PC attracts, even if you have what they call a 'High Air Flow" case (I built my pc in a HAF X).

A friend of mine smokes and usually holds his cigarette within 10" of his HAF X' side intake fan. Cleaning that one out every few months really is a disgusting task.

And as Xerxes said, positive pressure inside the case does help. Looking at those pictures, I can imagine that this would be a problem with yours due to the lack of fans in general.