FYI: dust on CPU fan will crash render

gzabetas wrote on 4/20/2005, 1:46 PM
I was looking for a fix on this foum and now that I found the solution wanted to let other future searches know.

If when rendering a project your machine shuts down (crash):

a) test your system with PC tools like memory/hard-drive/CPU/motherboard

b) try taking out your memory and reinserting (mybe change slots)

c) test for heat (the CD with your motherboard should have some utilities)

d) Use canned air and dust your system.


After the other tests, this last one did it for me. The CPU fan had a coat of dust blocking heat in the CPU.


Also I had the sides of the case open (not always good as air sometimes will not circulate).


FYI

Comments

Chienworks wrote on 4/20/2005, 2:12 PM
Heat is definately a killer. Some friends of mine have a seven year old PC that wouldn't run more than 5 minutes without crashing. They vacuumed out the CPU fan and power supply, and now it runs for days at a time with no troubles.

Running with the case off can be a very bad thing. The case is designed to make sure that air circulates over the power supply. Without this circulation even the fan on the heat sink does no good as it just keeps moving the same hot air around and around.

On the other hand, we have one old server here at work that gets very hot in the summer. I take the case off and put a couple of household fans on either side, one blowing into it and the other pulling air away from it. Been doing that for 3 summers now and it's been ok. Then again, if it did melt down i would be able to get the bosses to sing a req for a new one. ;)
gzabetas wrote on 4/20/2005, 7:29 PM
You are right about the sides needed on the case. I never knew that it helped the air ciculate. I've been popping drives in and out I got lazy I guess.
Thank God for cans of compressed air.

Know what you mean about the Reqs for new hardware. Working for a bankrupt airline myself, it is impossible to get funds these days for new hardware.
cheers