When is an ideal time to clean CPU?

[.Im#NuMBeR1]

Hey people!

So I've not cleaned and applied fresh thermal paste on my CPU for over 2 years and I've started to notice my CPU temps increasing more than it used to. The highest temps I'd ever get on full load was about 40-45'C on liquid cooling. Recently I've noticed temps on full load at 50 and 55 with my CPU usually at 35-50 on automatic fan profile. I wouldn't know where to start with cleaning and applying fresh thermal paste on my GPU, however I've done so on my CPU a few times in the past. - The question here is, when is the ideal time to do this?

What are your thoughts?

[TheNuzziNuzz]

I havnt replaced thermal past in a few years and havnt seen a difference.

 

Dust buildup is a bigger concern, canned air will help with this.

[.Im#NuMBeR1]

1 minute ago, TheNuzziNuzz said:

I havnt replaced thermal past in a few years and havnt seen a difference.

 

Dust buildup is a bigger concern, canned air will help with this.

Thank you for your fast response!

 

Dust buildup is certainly a bigger concern, and my system has plenty of it unfortunately. I'll have to purchase some compressed air cans.

[tarfeef101]

Dust, cleaning water blocks/rads/other watercooling parts are probably gonna be more impactful. That being said, to clean your block you gotta replace the thermal compound, so there you go

(if you meant that you're using an all in one cooler,then just a good dusting should do it, but if it doesn't try, why not. maybe your thermal compound is especially bad. but that shouldn't be an issue if it's even decent quality)

[tarfeef101]

Just now, .Im#NuMBeR1 said:

Thank you for your fast response!

 

Dust buildup is certainly a bigger concern, and my system has plenty of it unfortunately. I'll have to purchase some compressed air cans.

No.. don't kill mother earth!!

actually though, compressed air isn't really the best for the environment. you can use it if you want, but tbh I just use vigorous blowing (insert joke here) and it works well for me. Sometimes I'll toss in damp paper towel, but that's been fine for me. (cleaning out filters i just move em through the air super fast then again, vigorous blowing. if it's really bad i rinse em out)

[.Im#NuMBeR1]

My cooler is a Corsair Hydro H90 I believe and I use Arctic Silver 5 thermal compound.

 

EDIT: I have Arctic Silver 5 and Arctic MX-3.

[.Im#NuMBeR1]

The ambient room temp is below 25'C, it's mostly the CPU block and the radiator that heat up and cause my computer to become a 'heater' or 'heater/radiator' and it makes my bedroom then heat up around my computer.

I do have my CPU overclocked from 3.02 to 3.8GHz but the temps are the same as when the CPU was stock clocked anyway so perhaps a couple degrees increment difference. I have no instability what so ever though.

I benchmarked my CPU and GPU with AIDA64 Extreme as well. Also my NB temperature is rather concerning if I'm honest.

 

I also don't know if my GPU is underclocked or what it's meant to actually be set to.

 

Graphics Processor Properties    
Video Adapter    Asus R9280 Series
GPU Code Name    Tahiti Pro  (PCI Express 3.0 x16 1002 / 679A, Rev 00)
GPU Clock    300 MHz  (original: 980 MHz)
Memory Clock    150 MHz  (original: 1300 MHz)