Tuesday, September 6th 2011

MSI Develops Dust Removal Technology for Graphics Cards

Of late, MSI has been at the forefront of graphics card innovations. The latest is what the company refers to as "Dust Removal Technology". Dust buildup on the surface of heatsink fins can reduce cooling efficiency. Without giving us too many details about its testing, MSI claims that a clean cooler can keep temperatures down by as much as 15°C. Dust Removal Technology uses a simple method of running fans in the opposite rotation, drawing air from the heatsink and pushing it out through its intakes, with 100% fan speed for 30 seconds at system startup can work to reduce dust accumulation in the tough to clean parts of the cooler. Since the "dust removal" happens on each system startup, cleaning happens on a very regular basis. MSI plans to implement the Dust Removal Technology on all its new and upcoming graphics cards.
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63 Comments on MSI Develops Dust Removal Technology for Graphics Cards

#26
ironwolf
Great... Top card barfs dust all over the backside of the bottom card. If they are sandwiched really close, won't the top card then have more dust to suck back up in normal operation?
Posted on Reply
#27
bucketface
zsolt_93The Gigabyte Windforce coolers are also advertised as dustproof apart from being silent.I have a windforce gts450 right now so i'll probably find out if it's effective or was just pure advertising.
i have a windforce hd6850 and it is definitely not dust proof... air compressor cleaned it up easily tho. oh and silent my arse.. my old x1950pro was quiter.. the wind force is almost silent (some airflow nosie) at 36% but the fans make whining noises even 2% above or below that... at 47% the airlow masks the whining again but then starts back up.. the temps are really good though.. at 36% i peak at 69c and i've oc'd

this 30 sec reverse spin up might help reduce dust build up, i just can't see it eleminateing the need to clean out dust every now and then.
Posted on Reply
#28
mdm-adph
ShihabyoooIt's been ages since I shut down my PC. And I'm sure most enthusiasts keep theirs running for months !
Not the ones who pay their own power bills... :wtf: I shut down mine the minute I'm done with the damn thing.
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#29
RejZoR
I made my system to be as silent as possible. And now they made a jet turbine on every startup to remove some dust that i doo not have? Nice...
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#30
HossHuge
TheMailMan78I would rather my GPU old the dust in like a tight sphincter until I clean it out as I see fit.
So you give your GPU an enema?
Posted on Reply
#31
CDdude55
Crazy 4 TPU!!!
I don't understand, the dust would then just sit in the case after it's expelled, it's not like it's taking it anywhere but outside the heatsink, then it just throws it where it wants around the machine.

You'd be better off just taking the GPU out of the case itself and using compressed air.
Posted on Reply
#32
FreedomEclipse
~Technological Technocrat~
mdm-adphNot the ones who pay their own power bills... :wtf: I shut down mine the minute I'm done with the damn thing.
I shut mine down every night, but usually not when i go to dinner, that was until i got an SSD.

I can shut it down and have the system back up and running in 30seconds or less and not having to wait ages for desktop to load is a good thing. If im gonna be gone longer then 15mins, then i'll shut my pc off.
Posted on Reply
#33
bear jesus
Surely an easily removable dust filter would be more effective at keeping dust off the heatsink?

Although i admit for users that do not clean their PC it would probably just cause a larger drop in cooling efficiency, possibly faster as well but that's just a guess.

I have been wanting to strap a filter to my 6970's intake for a while, it's just a pain in the ass to make it easily removable while in use and without voiding the warranty, if a company sold a suitable card with a filter that's easily removable while in use i would be hard pressed to say no to one.
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#34
erixx
Now seriously, this will reduce considerably expected life of the fan.
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#35
FreedomEclipse
~Technological Technocrat~
bear jesusSurely an easily removable dust filter would be more effective at keeping dust off the heatsink?

Although i admit for users that do not clean their PC it would probably just cause a larger drop in cooling efficiency, possibly faster as well but that's just a guess.

I have been wanting to strap a filter to my 6970's intake for a while, it's just a pain in the ass to make it easily removable while in use and without voiding the warranty, if a company sold a suitable card with a filter that's easily removable while in use i would be hard pressed to say no to one.
People are forgetting that a lot of PC CASES come with dust filters. While they might not be 100% effective at filtering ALL the dust but at the same time, a dump trucks not gonna pull into your driveway and empty a few tonnes of dust inside your case overnight while you sleep.

some of you are getting a little paranoid.

---


as for putting a dust filter on a 6970.... NOT RECOMMENDED. those bastards run hot.

Compressed air canisters come with a small pipe - its there for a reason and not so you can sip your sodapop through it.

all it takes is a less then 5mins to open up the case, unscrew and disconnected the graphics card. stick the little pipe in and give it a few bursts then put it back in again and youre ready to go.
Posted on Reply
#36
bear jesus
FreedomEclipsePeople are forgetting that a lot of PC CASES come with dust filters. While they might not be 100% effective at filtering ALL the dust but at the same time, a dump trucks not gonna pull into your driveway and empty a few tonnes of dust inside your case overnight while you sleep.

some of you are getting a little paranoid.

---


as for putting a dust filter on a 6970.... NOT RECOMMENDED. those bastards run hot.

Compressed air canisters come with a small pipe - its there for a reason and not so you can sip your sodapop through it.

all it takes is a less then 5mins to open up the case, unscrew and disconnected the graphics card. stick the little pipe in and give it a few bursts then put it back in again and youre ready to go.
I admit my circumstance is not a normal one, i do not use a case and my computer is on 24/7 thus the urge to use a filter on the cards intake that is easily removable while in use, i use a filter on my H50 but that is relatively easy to unscrew while in use.

I agree the 6970 gets pretty toasty but i run the fan at 50% so it runs cooler than normal and i could easily push the fan another 5 to 15% before the noise becomes an issue thus making up for lost airflow... there is a little logic in my insanity :laugh:

Oh and i have never used compressed air for my dusting, i just use a paintbrush and have done for over a decade so it's kind of become a habit to me.
Posted on Reply
#37
FreedomEclipse
~Technological Technocrat~
you have never used compressed air???

There are 7 Wonders of the modern world and Air in a can is one of them - Suggest you go buy one post haste!

I use a brush too if i find some dust hard to get to and needs to be 'dislodged' before i blast it with the Compressed air. but I usually got my pc outside in the garden on a sunny day or standing by with the hoover when im cleaning out my pc indoors so i dont really give a toss if i just blast everything inside my case.

Compressed air is really powerful stuff. A friend of mine bought in a 1st generation P4 rig (Willamette) not long ago complaining of the computer shutting down for no reason.

He's not the most tech savy guy in the world and he hadnt opened up the pc once since he got it to clean inside.

opened it up. there was as much dust at the bottom of the case as the sahara has sand. and the dust on the heatsink was packed so tight it was like a spongecake. the dust was packed up all the way up the fins on the HSF right to the fan so any air that was being pushed over the HSF wasnt hitting the HSF at all.

Took the fan off the cooler. and gave that mofo a good blast of compressed air, managed to clear all of it no problem.

Bro had enough dust in his case to shorten everyones life in the vincinity exponentially and give them cancer. it wasnt even funny.

----

Dont overlook compressed air. some day you will come to a laptop or a PC with corners and other tight places where you cant get to and clean. the only answer is use compressed air
Posted on Reply
#38
xBruce88x
One day i'd like to build a rig with a 12v air compressor built in with thin ... pipes of sorts, running to the dust prone areas with a red light up button on the front of the case labled "purge" that blasts all the dust out of the case when pressed. :D
Posted on Reply
#39
TheMailMan78
Big Member
xBruce88xOne day i'd like to build a rig with a 12v air compressor built in with thin ... pipes of sorts, running to the dust prone areas with a red light up button on the front of the case labled "purge" that blasts all the dust out of the case when pressed. :D
Need a motion detector for cats also. When a cat walks by it "purges" and activates a webcam simultaneously.
Posted on Reply
#40
Jstn7477
Every startup, huh? One of my clients didn't reboot her Dell XPS 700 for who knows how long. I upgraded her memory and turned on the computer, which on that Dell means that the fans (which they use huge ones like Nidec Beta Vs) ramp up to 100% for a little bit during post and go back down to normal. Let's just say that nearly the entire room was enveloped in a huge dust cloud for a little while.

Not everyone restarts their computer all the time, but at least it isn't as silly as Sparke's dust removal method.
Posted on Reply
#41
BazookaJoe
Soooooo, my one rig was getting all, crashy & noisy & overheaty...

Think this new tech could help ME out?

Posted on Reply
#42
FreedomEclipse
~Technological Technocrat~
BazookaJoeSoooooo, my one rig was getting all, crashy & noisy & overheaty...

Think this new tech could help ME out?

img.techpowerup.org/110906/BazookasDustyPc.jpg
I think we need a montage...

Secondly think of DUST FILTERS.

you can get some 120mm ones for less then $5

they are not that expensive at all.
Posted on Reply
#43
Derek12
I think the dust would stick to the bottom of case and some would out, and not the rest of computer,

now instead of cleaning the card, now go to clean the case floor which is easier :)
Maybe with SLI/Crossfire would be problematic

I think it's a good idea but the fan must be good quality. And a option to disable it in some case configurations or multicard
Posted on Reply
#44
bear jesus
FreedomEclipseyou have never used compressed air???

There are 7 Wonders of the modern world and Air in a can is one of them - Suggest you go buy one post haste!

I use a brush too if i find some dust hard to get to and needs to be 'dislodged' before i blast it with the Compressed air. but I usually got my pc outside in the garden on a sunny day or standing by with the hoover when im cleaning out my pc indoors so i dont really give a toss if i just blast everything inside my case.

Compressed air is really powerful stuff. A friend of mine bought in a 1st generation P4 rig (Willamette) not long ago complaining of the computer shutting down for no reason.

He's not the most tech savy guy in the world and he hadnt opened up the pc once since he got it to clean inside.

opened it up. there was as much dust at the bottom of the case as the sahara has sand. and the dust on the heatsink was packed so tight it was like a spongecake. the dust was packed up all the way up the fins on the HSF right to the fan so any air that was being pushed over the HSF wasnt hitting the HSF at all.

Took the fan off the cooler. and gave that mofo a good blast of compressed air, managed to clear all of it no problem.

Bro had enough dust in his case to shorten everyones life in the vincinity exponentially and give them cancer. it wasnt even funny.

----

Dont overlook compressed air. some day you will come to a laptop or a PC with corners and other tight places where you cant get to and clean. the only answer is use compressed air
It's not like i will not use it or think it's not good (i got my mom to start buying it so her computers can be safely dusted), it's just i have never had a reason to do so even when cleaning laptops as i just take them apart (only cleaned ones out of warranty) thus it's super easy to use a paintbrush, i would happily use it if i had a reason to but even my scythe ninja was easy to handle with a brush.

It would likely do very well at cleaning my filters but once again the brush only takes a couple of seconds, honestly i would love a good reason to use air but i think i enjoy taking things apart to dust and maybe replace thermal paste too much :laugh:


Hmm, i wonder how over the top complicated it would be to add a refillable compressed air container to a card that is computer controlled to let a blast out every now and then blowing the dust out the back... yes i know silly but i bet it would work much better than the reverse fan feature and sound very scary when it fails and leaks,
Posted on Reply
#47
TheMailMan78
Big Member
sneekypeetThis brings up a great point everyone seemed to gloss over. So who is the innovator here? and why is MSI laying claim to be the first when they obviously aren't:D
Meh they all rip off art so why not engineering ideas?
Posted on Reply
#48
TheGuruStud
sneekypeetThis brings up a great point everyone seemed to gloss over. So who is the innovator here? and why is MSI laying claim to be the first when they obviously aren't:D
If you brag about it, beat your chest, and make enough fancy looking and shiny products, then people will think you did it 1st. Ask apple. Or any other "industry leader" that pretends to have the best hardware/products.
Selling is about lying and most of the time he who sells the most lies the most. (that should be an ancient chinese proverb lol)
Posted on Reply
#49
NC37
zsolt_93The Gigabyte Windforce coolers are also advertised as dustproof apart from being silent.I have a windforce gts450 right now so i'll probably find out if it's effective or was just pure advertising.
Nah they aren't dustproof. I've found mine full of dust on my 460s. MSI doing something like this means nothing. Their fans will just not only suck but also blow! ;) :laugh:
Posted on Reply
#50
Wrigleyvillain
PTFO or GTFO
Compressed air is an essential tool to be sure but I also bought one of these mini vacuums. Doesn't just blow the dust elsewhere but sucks it up. Admittedly though due to the thickness it can't get in small nooks and crannies well but this attachment kit would certainly help that. At stock I find it invaluable for cleaning the flat surfaces of my case inside and out as well as my radiator and my keyboard.
Posted on Reply
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