Evostance

At the moment I have the Stock Intel Cooler on my CPU which is absolutly caked in dust. I don't really have a lot of money at the moment and I tried cleaning out my PC.

I had to use a hairdryer on cold and a hoover to clean it out. It got a fair bit of dust out, just not the caked on stuff. When I play games etc my PC fans are very loud, louder than normal infact and I don't know if this is my CPU fan or my GPU.

So which would be more beneficial, buying a new CPU cooler and some paste, taking my PC to bits, cleaning out the GPU with a hairdryer or buying a can of air and giving it a good blast?

I could spend about £30 on a CPU cooler if that

Inktfish

Tankstations in my neighbourhood got one of those air things.
If that is the same in your area then I would try that one first for free.

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Syrillian

If you have the 30-Quid, then perhaps both a thorough cleaning and a new cooler.

If not, then I would take the time to clean the PC. Using a soft-bristled toothbrush on the caked crap can help significantly, but I would have all the components out of the case.

__________________
WIP: Scarab
Custom Cases:
Silentium, Halcyon, Indigo, Gemini, Prometheus, Anvil
Case Mods:
Liquid Chameleon, VF1000 LAN box

Semper Fidelis

Drin

Hmmmm, in my opinion there is no real reason to buy the can of compressed air in your situation, unless you really dislike taking apart your pc to clean it.

Buying the can would lower your temps (by removing the dust in your system) and be cheap for a quick clean. However the dust would build back up again, and eventually you would have to buy another can.

It would be far cheaper in the long run to buy a new cpu cooler, 30 pounds can net you a cooler far greater than the intel stock offering. You could also clean out the dust while installing it, and be good to go until you have to clean it out again. It would also lower your temps more than just dust removal.

The cheapest possible solution would be to just open up the case, and remove the dust carefully as this costs you nothing but your time. I can see no real reason to buy cans of compressed air in your situation, and while they are nice, a new cooler would be the better investment!

Thats my just my 2 cents. Hopefully you find something that works for you!

Evostance

Thinking about it, my Grandpa has one of those in his garage. Perhaps I should do this and get a new cooler. Only problem is his air compressor is extremly powerfull and I wouldn't want to blast of a capacitor or something

Any recommendations on a cooler + paste? I know nothing about them and I dont want to lap one either..

Syrillian

Have a care when using compressors. The airstream can be "sharp" and overly forceful for this situation. Also (if you weren't aware), condensation/moisture can be emitted from the nozzle, so take care.

__________________
WIP: Scarab
Custom Cases:
Silentium, Halcyon, Indigo, Gemini, Prometheus, Anvil
Case Mods:
Liquid Chameleon, VF1000 LAN box

Semper Fidelis

Inktfish

I'm a noob at paste but the MEGATRON cooler is very awesome.
Flat surface and good cooling skills.
(Promalitech Megahalem)

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Drin

As for cooler and paste recommendations, the megahalems as someone suggested is indeed a fine cooler. However last I heard it is hard to obtain in the UK, and thus very expensive (as you have to import it from Germany). It is also overkill for a dual-core, and as much as I love it I believe it would be a waste in your situation. You would get pretty much the exact same results with a cooler more suited to dual-cores, and save some cash to boot!

Unfortunately I'm not sure of which stores in the UK you would be purchasing from, so all I can do is list widely available coolers, and hope that the prices are similar in your region. If you give us a few to choose from, I'm sure we can help you out!

Here are some good recommendations to start you off:

Xigmatek s1283: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16835233003

Arctic Cooling Freezer Pro 7: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16835186134

OCZ Vendetta 2: http://www.pccasegear.com/index.php?...oducts_id=7650

There are other great alternatives as well, however until we know how much they cost at your place of purchase, it would be hard to make a good list. Hopefully someone from the UK will be able to help you further.

As for paste, OCZ freeze, MX-2 and Arctic Silver 5 are all fine choices that are widely available, and usually pretty cheap. I would personally go for the OCZ freeze as it is easy to apply, cools great, and requires no cure time. However all three are great tbh, and likely to be greater than the paste that your cpu cooler comes with. That said, you could probably get away with using the paste that comes with your cooler of choice with no issues. Good paste will help drop temps further however, with good application potentially droping temps by up to roughly ~2 or 3 degrees, if you are replacing particularly bad paste.

Hope that helps, and good luck with any purchases!

vdek

I think the Megahalem is out of his budget :P And absolutely no point spending that kind of cash for a core 2 duo...

Evostance

So the OCZ cooler seems the best for price

http://www.play.com/PC/PCs/4-/543993...r+Fan+Heatsink

Only problem I could possibly think of is that I have the Kandalf with the side fan. Will it fit?