Maintenance on gaming PC

[The Pizza Thief]

Hi there, I've had my PC for a few years now I have a x61 NZXT AIO water cooler, an i7-6700k and a gtx 970 (gigbayte G1). My question is: What kind of maintenance other than using canned air to clean it should I be doing. I was thinking about re-applying thermal paste to my CPU, is this a good idea if my temperatures are fine at the moment ? Also, is it a good idea to open up my GPU and re apply thermal paste there maybe clean it thoroughly? Lastly, is there any maintenance related to having an AIO cooler, I don't know if after a few years you should drain the liquid. 

Thanks !

 

https://pcpartpicker.com/b/r6tJ7P

[manikyath]

you're missing the software part of a good maintenance.

 

past that, and a goo dusting, i'd stay away from the hardware for the most part.

[The Pizza Thief]

5 minutes ago, manikyath said:

you're missing the software part of a good maintenance.

 

past that, and a goo dusting, i'd stay away from the hardware for the most part.

What do you mean by the software part? Like Ccleaner ? 

[manikyath]

3 minutes ago, Brynjar said:

What do you mean by the software part? Like Ccleaner ? 

- windows updates

- cleaning old junk off your disk (in which "disk cleanup" built into windows plays a vital role)

- cheking the vareous pieces software you use for updates, because not everything will bug you with those

- remove software you dont use (anymore)

- AV/AM scans

- disk defrag (if applicable)

 

EDIT: forgot driver updates.

[deXxterlab97]

There is no need of repaste if temperatures are fine. Other than dusting the fans and case with canned air and some cleaning as well as software part like @manikyath mentioned that is pretty much all there is to mainetainence

[Docretier]

Or instead of buying canned air every time, buy a small air compressor and use it as often as you want. If you use that instead of buying canned air, eventually it will pay for itself. Also you can have a higher and more consistent pressure with a compressor which is great for blasting through dust.

[keskparane]

I use a small pure bristle brush. Been using the same one for over 10 years.

 

And running positive pressure in my case means I only need to do a minor dusting once a year.

[manikyath]

Just now, Docretier said:

Or instead of buying canned air every time, by a small air compressor and use it as often as you want. If you use that instead of buying canned air, eventually it will pay for itself. Also you can have a higher and more consistent pressure with a compressor which is great for blasting through dust.

sounds like you need a datavac:

 

[wasab]

37 minutes ago, Brynjar said:

Hi there, I've had my PC for a few years now I have a x61 NZXT AIO water cooler, an i7-6700k and a gtx 970 (gigbayte G1). My question is: What kind of maintenance other than using canned air to clean it should I be doing. I was thinking about re-applying thermal paste to my CPU, is this a good idea if my temperatures are fine at the moment ? Also, is it a good idea to open up my GPU and re apply thermal paste there maybe clean it thoroughly? Lastly, is there any maintenance related to having an AIO cooler, I don't know if after a few years you should drain the liquid. 

Thanks !

 

https://pcpartpicker.com/b/r6tJ7P

remember to run a full scan with your antivirus from time to time if you are on windows.

 

Remember to defrag the drives too from time to time if you are on a HDD 

 

 

[The Pizza Thief]

17 minutes ago, manikyath said:

- windows updates

I will take care of that, honestly I only use Ccleaner for software maintenance, never tried the disk utility.

12 minutes ago, deXxterlab97 said:

There is no need of repaste if temperatures are fine. Other than dusting the fans and case with canned air and some cleaning as well as software part like @manikyath mentioned that is pretty much all there is to mainetainence

Awesome, thanks.

7 minutes ago, Docretier said:

Or instead of buying canned air every time, buy a small air compressor and use it as often as you want. If you use that instead of buying canned air, eventually it will pay for itself. Also you can have a higher and more consistent pressure with a compressor which is great for blasting through dust.

I will look in Amazon to see if there is any viable option, I don't have much cash right now.

5 minutes ago, keskparane said:

I use a small pure bristle brush. Been using the same one for over 10 years.

 

And running positive pressure in my case means I only need to do a minor dusting once a year.

Can you link me to something similar to what you use, I've never thought about using a brush to get out that stuck dust.

5 minutes ago, manikyath said:

sounds like you need a datavac:

 

Looks cool, I've seen it before. 

[The Pizza Thief]

4 minutes ago, wasab said:

remember to run a full scan with your antivirus from time to time if you are on windows.

 

Remember to defrag the drives too from time to time if you are on a HDD 

 

 

What is it that defraging does? I've never done that and I do have 3 SSDs and 2 HDs

[gcubed]

One thing to keep in mind. With water cooling, using a push fan configuration will cause a dust build up between your fans and radiator that is sometimes hard to get at with a can of air. You have to every once in a while separate the fans from the radiator to do a thorough cleaning.

[The Pizza Thief]

57 minutes ago, keskparane said:

I use a small pure bristle brush. Been using the same one for over 10 years.

 

And running positive pressure in my case means I only need to do a minor dusting once a year.

I found this kit: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B074LZ649V?pd_rd_i=B074LZ649V&psc=1&pd_rd_w=GSR86&pd_rd_wg=hTSIQ&pd_rd_r=c0e46978-de54-455a-8a9b-25e60ae6ae61&ref_=pd_luc_rh_gc_rec_01_01_t_img_lh

[gcubed]

Annnd lest I forget, REAL men use power washers for ALL their cleaning needs. It will even get rid of all those metallic spider webs found on the back of PCB's. >.>

 

[gcubed]

I typically us a Metro ED500 on my computers.

[keskparane]

6 hours ago, Brynjar said:

....

Can you link me to something similar to what you use, I've never thought about using a brush to get out that stuck dust.

....

Like this. Although mine has black bristles and I don't know what stiffness it has. According to info the one I linked is 3 in range 1-10 stiffness.

[Tsuki]

11 hours ago, manikyath said:

sounds like you need a datavac:

 

i love my datavac, but holy shit that thing is LOUD

[LogicalDrm]

What are your temps? Hard to say anything without knowing them.