Is a Hamilton Beach TrueAir air purifier sufficient to prevent dust buildup in my PC, or should I also get extra case fans?

[Segundoh]

Is an air purifier sufficient for preventing dust buildup in my PC, or should I also get more case fans? I heard dust buildup is reduced with more case fans; that makes sense, though I don’t know if that’s true. I was looking at this purifier. Is this good enough, or should I get something else? It’s the 160 square foot one since my room is 150 square feet. https://www.amazon.com/hamilton-beach-04384-eliminator-permenant/dp/b003riubg0

I have a Fractal Design Meshify 2 Compact: https://www.fractal-design.com/products/cases/meshify/meshify-2-compact/white-tg-clear-tint/

It comes with 2 140mm front fans and 1 120 mm rear fan. That means I have space for two 120 or 140 mm top fans and 1 120 mm bottom fan. I can replace the 2 140 mm front fans with 3 120 mm fans as well. What would be the best approach to reduce dust buildup

 

[Kaamos_Llama]

Amount of case fans wont make any difference, generally speaking having more intake fans than exhaust should cause most of the dust to get caught in the case filters. If your rig is on your desk, or at the least on a platform off of the floor then there's nothing more you can do that will prevent all of it. I guess the air purifier might help, not something I ever considered. Theres a ton of tree pollen where I am, but not much else dust-wise though.

You'll have to dust it out every now and again whatever you do. You can use an electric duster type thing, or canned air to get in the gaps. I dust off my case filters roughly monthly, and dust out the case maybe twice a year. That includes removing the GPU from the case and blowing the heatsink out, as well as removing CPU cooler fans and blowing through the heatsink. An old paint or makeup brush is good for the fan blades and case corners, but bear in mind theres a small risk of static electricity if you use those on the GPU or motherboard.

 

[Segundoh]

Amount of case fans wont make any difference, generally speaking having more intake fans than exhaust should cause most of the dust to get caught in the case filters. If your rig is on your desk, or at the least on a platform off of the floor then there's nothing more you can do that will prevent all of it. I guess the air purifier might help, not something I ever considered. Theres a ton of tree pollen where I am, but not much else dust-wise though.

You'll have to dust it out every now and again whatever you do. You can use an electric duster type thing, or canned air to get in the gaps. I dust off my case filters roughly monthly, and dust out the case maybe twice a year. That includes removing the GPU from the case and blowing the heatsink out, as well as removing CPU cooler fans and blowing through the heatsink. An old paint or makeup brush is good for the fan blades and case corners, but bear in mind theres a small risk of static electricity if you use those on the GPU or motherboard.

Ah I see that makes sense. I won’t bother with more case fans then since my temps seem to be good and I’m not doing extreme OCing or anything. As my rig is on my desk, it’s good to hear that it’s a lot better than putting it on the floor. Hopefully the air purifier helps out and all.

I see, so cleaning out the dust is unavoidable. I’ll keep that in mind for sure and clean out my air filters regularly as well as my actual PC. I purchased a magnetic screwdriver set that also came with a small brush. Is this brush safe? It has a symbol with a hand on it that’s crossed out which I thought was the antistatic symbol. I can’t find any information on that for some reason, so I hope it means antistatic and not staticy lol. It seems it generally means that there’s a risk of static electricity damaging something, but static electricity can’t really damage a brush, so i was thinking that’s antistatic; I already used it on my PCIE slot to clean out some weird debris that got there somehow.

 

[Kaamos_Llama]

It seems it generally means that there’s a risk of static electricity damaging something, but static electricity can’t really damage a brush, so i was thinking that’s antistatic; I already used it on my PCIE slot to clean out some weird debris that got there somehow.

Cant honestly say for sure if thats an anti static brush. I would use air for any debris on the motherboard or in slots anyway. I'm sure you wouldnt have damaged anything by using a brush once though.

 

[Segundoh]

Cant honestly say for sure if thats an anti static brush. I would use air for any debris on the motherboard or in slots anyway. I'm sure you wouldnt have damaged anything by using a brush once though.

Oh okay, I’ll just assume it’s an antistatic brush for peace of mind then lol. Still, it’s good to hear I haven’t damaged anything; my PCIE slot still seems to be working fine since my GPU’s working without any issues. I’ll be sure to use air in the future though. Thanks!

 

[Brian Boru]

antistatic

I always wear an antistatic wristband when working on a machine.

There's debate around it tho, I've seen many claim it's not a danger anymore. I may be over-cautious, but since I have it…

Btw, I don't vacuum my PC

 

[Kaamos_Llama]

Datavac ok, mums hoover bad. Air compressor or canned air good .

Anti static band is good practice LP. Can also ground yourself on bare metal in the case or elsewhere every so often, as long as you dont start moonwalking in wool socks on the shagpile carpet while youre working Doesnt hurt to be cautious though.

 

[JarlBSoD]

Air Purifyer has "some" effect on dust but it is more effectiv to clean regularry, dust surfaces, vacume etc. Air purifyer is realy helpful against air polutions and pollen though (depending on the type and where it is placed etc). I have one, and even though it collects allot of dust i can't say i have noticed a huge difference on my PC, possibly takes longer before i have to clean it out but nothing i have taken a note on.

 

[Colif]

Amount of case fans wont make any difference, generally speaking having more intake fans than exhaust should cause most of the dust to get caught in the case filters.

You say that like its a bad thing. Better to have the dust trapped in the filters than have it get in anywhere else

If you have more exhaust than intakes, all the dust will get sucked into all the gaps that aren't filtered

in theory... I used to have more in than out, but now its more exhausts than intakes and I still don't see any dust in PC after 5 months. I might be blind or its all trapped in my AIO radiator as I don't see much dust in the front filter of my Meshify S2

fans don't clear dust but they sure collect it. More fans just mean more to clean.

 

[Kaamos_Llama]

You say that like its a bad thing. Better to have the dust trapped in the filters than have it get in anywhere else

Not at all, wasnt meant to come across like that.

Positive vs negative pressure is a situational thing in my experience, depends on the components and the environment as to what works best.

Dust is inevitable either way.

 

[Colif]

Dust is inevitable either way.

lies... goes back to living in his dust free environment where he makes hdd

 

[Kaamos_Llama]

Yea not sure how youre avoiding it, but I've never been able to. Australian climate must be good for people with allergies

 

[Colif]

it could be bad eyesight and my inability to see it without a camera

We have pollen here too, just not a lot around until Spring and thats in a few months time.

 

[Segundoh]

I always wear an antistatic wristband when working on a machine.

There's debate around it tho, I've seen many claim it's not a danger anymore. I may be over-cautious, but since I have it…

Btw, I don't vacuum my PC

I always do as well. Maybe static isn't dangerous anymore, but better safe than sorry! I definitely won't vacuum my PC... I'll get a DataVac or something instead.

Datavac ok, mums hoover bad. Air compressor or canned air good .

Anti static band is good practice LP. Can also ground yourself on bare metal in the case or elsewhere every so often, as long as you dont start moonwalking in wool socks on the shagpile carpet while youre working Doesnt hurt to be cautious though.

I'm just a little worried about compressed air since I head it can expel liquid if I hold it at the wrong angle. I would rather just get a DataVac so I don't do that; if that's true, I'll definitely forget at some point and destroy my computer lol. Anyway, I've been wearing antistatic band and grounding myself by touching the metal parts of my PC case. I am working on carpet which is somewhat concerning, so I put an antistatic mat under my feet... it's a $20 one that might not even work, but it's good for peace of mind, at least. I always take off wool socks and any other wool clothes as well. I hope that mat is good enough and that this is general is good enough!

Air Purifyer has "some" effect on dust but it is more effectiv to clean regularry, dust surfaces, vacume etc. Air purifyer is realy helpful against air polutions and pollen though (depending on the type and where it is placed etc). I have one, and even though it collects allot of dust i can't say i have noticed a huge difference on my PC, possibly takes longer before i have to clean it out but nothing i have taken a note on.

I see. I'll try to clean regularly, dust surfaces, and vacuum regularly and all since that's more effective than an air purifier. I do have pollen allergies, so an ai rpurifier will at least help with that.

You say that like its a bad thing. Better to have the dust trapped in the filters than have it get in anywhere else

If you have more exhaust than intakes, all the dust will get sucked into all the gaps that aren't filtered

in theory... I used to have more in than out, but now its more exhausts than intakes and I still don't see any dust in PC after 5 months. I might be blind or its all trapped in my AIO radiator as I don't see much dust in the front filter of my Meshify S2

fans don't clear dust but they sure collect it. More fans just mean more to clean.

I see, so more intake fans would get them trapped in the filters rather than anywehre else? That is better, at least. You did also say that more fans just collect more dust though, so I won't add any more fans then. Additionally, it'd be nice if I don't see any dust after 5 months too on my Meshify 2 Compact!

Not at all, wasnt meant to come across like that.

Positive vs negative pressure is a situational thing in my experience, depends on the components and the environment as to what works best.

Dust is inevitable either way.

I see, so it kinda depends. I can definitely test out negative vs positive pressure to see which works best. And I see, so I can't get rid of dust no matter what I do.

it could be bad eyesight and my inability to see it without a camera

We have pollen here too, just not a lot around until Spring and thats in a few months time.

I hope I'm also living in a dust-free environment! I don't think I am, but that'd be nice for sure. There is some pollen though I don't know about dust.

Yea not sure how youre avoiding it, but I've never been able to. Australian climate must be good for people with allergies

I'm sure it's better in New Jersey than in Australia, but it'd still be nice to get an air purifier to make my pollen allergies a bit better.

it could be bad eyesight and my inability to see it without a camera

We have pollen here too, just not a lot around until Spring and thats in a few months time.

I'll have to look at it closely with a camera as well. And it's the same here as pollen is only bad in spring. It is spring now though, so an air purifier should hlep there.

 

[Colif]

I see, so more intake fans would get them trapped in the filters rather than anywehre else? That is better, at least. You did also say that more fans just collect more dust though, so I won't add any more fans then.

i would only add more intakes if your temperatures need it. The meshify C doesn't have as many fan mounts as mine does, so you can't go silly. I am glad I didn't buy that case as my current GPU wouldn't fit inside it.

fans can collect dust on them, which makes them louder and can reduce their effectiveness. But the overall benefit of having them outweighs this. All it means is you need to clean them occasionally.

I don't know how I have no dust. I should look. Before I replaced my fractal case fans with Noctua fans, the two fans I had in roof of case were intakes. That was a mistake, but it also meant dust gathered more on roof of case than it would if they exhausts. I used to have to clean top off every few weeks.

Since swapping the fans, the Noctuas are exhausts and the dust seems to have gone away. It doesn't gather on roof anymore since its not being sucked through the filter on it. I need to look at front more, it must be gathering on it or getting through and trapped in my AIO radiator. Temps haven't changed on CPU so I can't really tell. If anything it runs cooler now AIO is my only intake.

Last time I looked at the radiator it didn't look that bad
It is hard to tell when its on

though bottom shows it could use something. Front panel also had dust in it, though not a lot.
There was some dust on bottom filter but it probably fell through from above. I sometimes forget to look in area PSU sits in.
I need to buy something to clean dust out of the radiator. Guy who helped me install PSU & GPU in December was meant to send me a link. When he helps with the 5800x3d later this year, I will ask again.

My room is a mess so amazed PC isn't dirty.

I have 2 x 120mm ML120 intake fans on my AIO as intake
I have 3 x 140mm Noctua Chromax Black swap fans, 2 on roof and 1 on rear of case.
I have reverse pressure in theory but the 3 140mm fans run slower than the intakes and that might cancel it out. Not a lot of heat stays in my PC... it has negative effects in summer as it all gets blown into my room. Its nice in winter, I noticed last night when I stopped playing and it got cold in here

 

[Segundoh]

i would only add more intakes if your temperatures need it. The meshify C doesn't have as many fan mounts as mine does, so you can't go silly. I am glad I didn't buy that case as my current GPU wouldn't fit inside it.

fans can collect dust on them, which makes them louder and can reduce their effectiveness. But the overall benefit of having them outweighs this. All it means is you need to clean them occasionally.

I don't know how I have no dust. I should look. Before I replaced my fractal case fans with Noctua fans, the two fans I had in roof of case were intakes. That was a mistake, but it also meant dust gathered more on roof of case than it would if they exhausts. I used to have to clean top off every few weeks.

Since swapping the fans, the Noctuas are exhausts and the dust seems to have gone away. It doesn't gather on roof anymore since its not being sucked through the filter on it. I need to look at front more, it must be gathering on it or getting through and trapped in my AIO radiator. Temps haven't changed on CPU so I can't really tell. If anything it runs cooler now AIO is my only intake.

Last time I looked at the radiator it didn't look that bad
It is hard to tell when its on

though bottom shows it could use something. Front panel also had dust in it, though not a lot.
There was some dust on bottom filter but it probably fell through from above. I sometimes forget to look in area PSU sits in.
I need to buy something to clean dust out of the radiator. Guy who helped me install PSU & GPU in December was meant to send me a link. When he helps with the 5800x3d later this year, I will ask again.

My room is a mess so amazed PC isn't dirty.

I have 2 x 120mm ML120 intake fans on my AIO as intake
I have 3 x 140mm Noctua Chromax Black swap fans, 2 on roof and 1 on rear of case.
I have reverse pressure in theory but the 3 140mm fans run slower than the intakes and that might cancel it out. Not a lot of heat stays in my PC... it has negative effects in summer as it all gets blown into my room. Its nice in winter, I noticed last night when I stopped playing and it got cold in here

Do these temps seem concering? My idle GPU temps are 40-50 degrees Celsius and the max temp at load is 70-80 degrees while the max junction temp is 103 degrees Celsius, but it's usually around 95-100 degrees Celsius. I have a 6800 XT. My idle Ryzen 5 7600 with PBO temps are 40-50 degrees Celsius and they max out at 95 degrees Celsius, though they're typically in the 80-90 degrees Celsius range under load. I thought these temps seemed high, but it seems Zen 4 runs hot. I just saw my junction temps max out at 108 degrees Celsius when I was running the Boundary benchmark. It typically ranges from 100 to 104 degrees Celsius, but it jumps up at some points to 107 or 108 degrees Celsius. Is this too high, or is it okay as long as it's below 110 degrees Celsius? It apparently maxed out at 111 degrees Celsius which is definitely concerning although I didn't even see that when I was looking at it; not sure when that happened then.

I see, so it'll be best to invets in more fans, but it'll be a bit more work to clean it. If I need them based on those temps, I'll definitely get them and just clean them more. It's definitely intriguing that you were able to keep it so dust-free. I'll try to replicate what you're doing to try to keep mine as dust-free as posisble. I don't have an AIO, but I can replicate the rest, at least.

 

[Colif]

Max junction temp for 6000 series is 110c. Card throttles down at that point to avoid damage.

it seems it might be normal to run at up to 110.

Operating at up to 110C Junction Temperature during typical gaming usage is expected and within spec. This enables the Radeon RX 5700 series GPUs to offer much higher performance and clocks out of the box, while maintaining acoustic and reliability targets."

same applies to 6800xt - link

40 to 50 at idle is what I used to get, I couldn't tell you what my max junction temp I have had is as I don't normally run the AMD Radeon Overlay but at idle its 35c now. 7000 series max is 110 as well but they generally run cooler or should- there was a problem with AMD made cards at launch but that didn't effect 3rd party like my Red Devil.

The games I play are hardly stressing to the card though. One day it will have to try.

I am using Afterburner to control my fans so unlike letting Radeon software run its zero fan mode, my GPU temp is always 33c (or lower) at idle. Junction is about 3c warmer

I don't know how useful the bottom intake would be on the C. Until I looked at manual I thought it mounted on the PSU shroud but now I see its under the detachable part of the PSU shroud so it will be obstructed a little by the shroud. Page 14 - https://www.fractal-design.com/app/uploads/2019/07/Meshify-C-2021-02-17.pdf

it might blow cool air direct at your card. The distance between front on your case and mine means it wouldn't do a lot on mine apart from blow the intake air out of case

More intakes would help as might help GPU stay cool but as I said, it might be normal.

ambient temps play a part too. If its hot outside PC, it won't stay cool.

 

[Kaamos_Llama]

I'm just a little worried about compressed air since I head it can expel liquid if I hold it at the wrong angle. I would rather just get a DataVac so I don't do that; if that's true, I'll definitely forget at some point and destroy my computer lol. Anyway, I've been wearing antistatic band and grounding myself by touching the metal parts of my PC case. I am working on carpet which is somewhat concerning, so I put an antistatic mat under my feet... it's a $20 one that might not even work, but it's good for peace of mind, at least. I always take off wool socks and any other wool clothes as well. I hope that mat is good enough and that this is general is good enough!

I see, so it kinda depends. I can definitely test out negative vs positive pressure to see which works best. And I see, so I can't get rid of dust no matter what I do.

Datavac or similar is definitely best, but I used canned air for years without any problems. Never thought of using a mat, the electronics factories I worked in many years ago just used wristbands at the desks/stations. Sounds like a good idea for peace of mind

General good tips are to remove any hdd cages that are not in use, and remove the PCI-E slot covers at the back to let a bit more air out that way.

What CPU cooler are you using? Another exhaust at the back top position might help your temperatures all round. Adjusing fan curves and checking temps using a benchmarking program like 3D Mark to stress GPU and CPU is a good way to check what works best.

 

[Segundoh]

Max junction temp for 6000 series is 110c. Card throttles down at that point to avoid damage.

it seems it might be normal to run at up to 110.


same applies to 6800xt - link

40 to 50 at idle is what I used to get, I couldn't tell you what my max junction temp I have had is as I don't normally run the AMD Radeon Overlay but at idle its 35c now. 7000 series max is 110 as well but they generally run cooler or should- there was a problem with AMD made cards at launch but that didn't effect 3rd party like my Red Devil.

The games I play are hardly stressing to the card though. One day it will have to try.

I am using Afterburner to control my fans so unlike letting Radeon software run its zero fan mode, my GPU temp is always 33c (or lower) at idle. Junction is about 3c warmer

I don't know how useful the bottom intake would be on the C. Until I looked at manual I thought it mounted on the PSU shroud but now I see its under the detachable part of the PSU shroud so it will be obstructed a little by the shroud. Page 14 - https://www.fractal-design.com/app/uploads/2019/07/Meshify-C-2021-02-17.pdf

it might blow cool air direct at your card. The distance between front on your case and mine means it wouldn't do a lot on mine apart from blow the intake air out of case

More intakes would help as might help GPU stay cool but as I said, it might be normal.

ambient temps play a part too. If its hot outside PC, it won't stay cool.

Oh okay so is it fine even if it maxed out at 111 degrees C? It seems that it throttled down since I didn’t even see that, so it seems it is good based on that link. Additionally, I forgot I was actually overclocked. It seems that the junction temp maxed out at around 100 to 105 degrees Celsius at stock settings and the GPU speed is about 70 degrees C which is at least lower.

It’s good those idle temps seem good though my junction temp seems high then. I see, so 7000 GPUs run cooler. That definitely makes sense. And I see, I’ll try using Afterburner instead then. I see, so the bottom intake fan probably won’t even help that much. It’s good to hear those temps are normal anyway, so I won’t really worry about the temps and extra fans. Right now, it’s about 70 degrees Celsius in my room, so it’s fairly hot.

Datavac or similar is definitely best, but I used canned air for years without any problems. Never thought of using a mat, the electronics factories I worked in many years ago just used wristbands at the desks/stations. Sounds like a good idea for peace of mind

General good tips are to remove any hdd cages that are not in use, and remove the PCI-E slot covers at the back to let a bit more air out that way.

What CPU cooler are you using? Another exhaust at the back top position might help your temperatures all round. Adjusing fan curves and checking temps using a benchmarking program like 3D Mark to
stress GPU and CPU is a good way to check what works best.

I’m just a bit worried about compressed air since I heard it can expel a liquid at certain angles. DataVax would be good for peace of mind then as well as those two lol.

I forgot I was actually overclocked. It seems that the junction temp maxed out at around 100 to 105 degrees Celsius at stock settings and the GPU speed is about 70 degrees C which is at least lower. I’ll remove those PCIE slot covers as well as the HDD cages though.

I am using a Noctua NH-U12A. Is that decent? I’ll try to add another exhaust fan then and also change my fan curve while running doing a benchmark program. Thanks!

 

[Colif]

Right now, it’s about 70 degrees Celsius in my room, so it’s fairly hot.

No way is it 70c in your room, you sure you don't mean F?

i don't even have my pc on if its 40c outside, you would be melting at 70c

 

[Segundoh]

No way is it 70c in your room, you sure you don't mean F?

i don't even have my pc on if its 40c outside, you would be melting at 70c

My bad, I meant 70 degrees F lol. 70 degrees C is definitely impossible except, I guess, in some extremely specific places.

Also, I was playing with the fan curve and tried raising my fan speed to 100% to see if that'd help. That lowered my max GPU temp to 69 degrees C and my max junction temp to 99 degrees C with the same benchmark and the same OC settings. This is about the same as my stock settings with the stock fan curve; my stock settings at 100% are 70 degrees C and 94 degrees C. Does this seem more reasonable? I forgot to mention this GPU is a brand new one that's only a month old.

 

[Colif]

Does this seem more reasonable?

yes

I don't need to OC my card, its 225% better than the card I had before according to the charts here - https://www.techpowerup.com/gpu-specs/geforce-rtx-2070-super.c3440

Perhaps in a few years when it feels slow. Its already running in its OC profile as card comes pre overclocked... the difference between stock and OC isn't big though.

I probably need to play games that use it more. Only had it 5 months now.

it gets to 50c in some parts of my country. 40c is too hot as far as I am concerned. I don't use PC if its that hot. I prefer it to stay under 30c/ Currently 14c outside, thats about right.

 

[Segundoh]

yes

I don't need to OC my card, its 225% better than the card I had before according to the charts here - https://www.techpowerup.com/gpu-specs/geforce-rtx-2070-super.c3440

Perhaps in a few years when it feels slow. Its already running in its OC profile as card comes pre overclocked... the difference between stock and OC isn't big though.

I probably need to play games that use it more. Only had it 5 months now.

it gets to 50c in some parts of my country. 40c is too hot as far as I am concerned. I don't use PC if its that hot. I prefer it to stay under 30c/ Currently 14c outside, thats about right.

Oh okay it’s good to hear that’s more reasonable then. And I see, wow, I didn’t realize how much of an improvement it is between different generations and all. That is impressive. Mine came pre OCed as well, but I had to raise the minimum clock speed to 100MHz less than the maximum speed to reduce stuttering. I’ve only had this for a month so far. And jeez 50 degrees C is crazy hot. It fortunately never gets that hot here, and that makes sense that you wouldn’t use it in that case.