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Yea, calling BS on that. Can you explain the physics behind that? Because from that standpoint alone it makes no sense.
Dust doesn't make the fan work harder. In fact it's gotta be so full of dust it's coming out the vents to even start blocking the air flow...
I have cleaned so many PC's in my time I couldn't even being to tell you. Cleaning the dust does not make fans quieter. This is a hill I will die on.
Dust causes the heatsink fins and fan blades to lose efficiency causing the fan to work harder and stay on all the time as it tries to bring the temperature down. And a constantly moving fan running at max speed with dusty blades will create more noise.
For fun, I just asked ChatGPT if dust can cause a laptop fan to become noisy and here's the answer.
Yes, dust can cause a laptop fan to become noisy. Over time, dust can accumulate inside a laptop and clog the fan, causing it to work harder and spin faster to maintain proper cooling. This increased workload can cause the fan to make more noise than it normally would, and can also cause it to wear out more quickly.
If you notice your laptop fan making more noise than usual, it may be a sign that it's time to clean the fan and vents. You can do this by using compressed air to blow out any dust or debris that may have accumulated inside. Alternatively, you may want to take your laptop to a professional for cleaning to ensure that it's done properly and safely.
Dust on fan blades inhibits the air flow on any fan, not just computer fans.
I KNOW this because it happens with my fans at home. I clean the blades and it's like new again. Duh.
It even happens on tower fans. I have one in my living room. It's not exactly cool in my area. I didn't take it apart to clean it, that would be difficult. I used a leaf blower, worked great.
Just depends. You can get anything from banshee turbo jet laptops to ones that don't even have fans at all. For just normal office use, browsing, streaming videos Surface Pro 8 doesn't even turn the fans on. Heavier use though it does. It's not anywhere near turbo jet like a gaming laptop or desktop replacement under load but it's packing a lot of hardware in a very thin design so it's louder than most laptops would be with similar hardware and similar loads. If you're going to be running heavier sustained CPU utilization, I would get something else with better thermals. For my uses though it's just fine.
Never said the fan blades didn't spin. They blow out way more air when they are clean. If you have ceiling fans, try cleaning them to see what I mean.
I guess you guys don't do fans in Cleveland? We do in Texas. Couldn't live without them actually.
Okay, so the heatsink blades covered in dust have increased thermal resistivity, so a faster airflow is needed to extract the same amount of heat, by the fan controller having to run the fan at 100% speed most of the time, that is louder.
Still some people claimed this happens less in newer laptops. Maybe because they dont always blow air, so the dust accumulation takes 5 years instead of 1 year or something like that. But I haven seen any written article about it.
Never said the fan blades didn't spin. They blow out way more air when they are clean. If you have ceiling fans, try cleaning them to see what I mean.
Riiight. So that little rim o dust on the edge of a ceiling fan cuts its output by a reasonable amount. Yea, OK. I didn't say they don't spin. No amount of dust would stop them. You've obviously not dealt with some of the horrific cases I have. Never has "canned air" made a fan quiet.
Quote:
Originally Posted by flamadiddle
Happily spinning maybe, but not moving air efficiently. And making more noise due to friction, unbalanced blades, resonance and running at max speed.
The amount of dust that would cause that to happen would be SIGNIFICANT. Far more then most people have in their PC's, I promise you. Unless you are a smoker with 2 husky dogs.
THAT'S my point...the amount of accumulation on ANY fan that would degrade its performance significantly would have to be SUBSTANTIAL. Not a little dust on the edges.
Quote:
Originally Posted by buenos
Okay, so the heatsink blades covered in dust have increased thermal resistivity, so a faster airflow is needed to extract the same amount of heat, by the fan controller having to run the fan at 100% speed most of the time, that is louder.
And I promise you the amount of dust in your computer isn't doing this. Unless you are that husky owner smoker...
Why don't you solve this debate for us? Get a can of air. Blow it out. Blow it out again. Any difference? Anyone want to take bets?
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