# MSI Develops Dust Removal Technology for Graphics Cards



## btarunr (Sep 6, 2011)

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.



 



*View at TechPowerUp Main Site*


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## Damn_Smooth (Sep 6, 2011)

I'm not sure this will work. It will probably just build dust up on both sides of the fan. I could be completely wrong though, I spent approximately $0 researching it.


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## Wyverex (Sep 6, 2011)

Looks interesting, but I doubt it will be able to repel all the dust.
If they don't increase the price of their cards because of this, it could be a nice little touch to make their cards a bit more wanted


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## zsolt_93 (Sep 6, 2011)

The 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.


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## sneekypeet (Sep 6, 2011)

Only one real issue as I see it..."with 100% fan speed for 30 seconds at system startup"

So this system only works for those who shut the PC off every night.

Seems the longer it is between cleaning cycles, the less effective the system


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## PHaS3 (Sep 6, 2011)

sneekypeet said:


> Only one real issue as I see it..."with 100% fan speed for 30 seconds at system startup"
> 
> So this system only works for those who shut the PC off every night.
> 
> Seems the longer it is between cleaning cycles, the less effective the system



It would probably happen whenever the PC restarts too, but as someone that leaves their PC on permanently, and only restart when i need to, this wouldn't work too well as you say...


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## Shihab (Sep 6, 2011)

The problem isn't that normal fans can't suck out the dust, the problem is that dust particles stick to the heatsink's surface . Could do better with inventing a paint that is 100% smooth and has the same electrical charge as the "dust". Physics one-oh-one, likes repel !



btarunr said:


> 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.



It's been ages since I shut down my PC. And I'm sure most enthusiasts keep theirs running for months !


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## TheMailMan78 (Sep 6, 2011)

So with this new technology my video card will now fart?


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## PHaS3 (Sep 6, 2011)

TheMailMan78 said:


> So with this new technology my video card will now fart?



:shadedshu


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## erixx (Sep 6, 2011)

nonsense on: no, unless you fart outside-in!?

nonsense off: Asus latest cards also have it, maybe more silently.


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## caleb (Sep 6, 2011)

erixx said:


> nonsense on: no, unless you fart outside-in!?
> 
> nonsense off: Asus latest cards also have it, maybe more silently.



So Asus fart is more subtle?


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## AnnCore (Sep 6, 2011)

**hack**



TheMailMan78 said:


> So with this new technology my video card will now fart?



Close. More like a cat trying to cough up a hair ball.

And I agree it won't work unless the fans regularly reverse spin, like maybe every 12 hours?


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## Jegergrim (Sep 6, 2011)

100% fan speed for 30 seconds seem like taking drastic measures, usually the noise of a fan running at 100% is everything but quiet


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## 95Viper (Sep 6, 2011)

Won't work.  Just blows dust back into case; deposits it in your other fans and components, it will suck it back up, eventually.  Did they develop they DVD Rewinder, too?

Now, when they enclose a maid in each box to do some case cleaning for me... That will work and I'll buy into it.


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## Shihab (Sep 6, 2011)

Jegergrim said:


> usually the noise of a fan running at 100% is everything but quiet



Who knows ? If it's running in reverse, it might suck noise as well 

Speaking of reverse running, wouldn't this method only ditch the dust into the other components ? Would be a pain specially if you had a couple of cards on SLI/Crossfire. Dust sticking to the back of a PCB isn't a pleasant sight


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## robal (Sep 6, 2011)

Take experience from server systems...
To be able to remove dust, you have to have huge airflow and pressure (server fans are capable of making a small hurricane).

Running backwards at 100% is a good idea, but only if that 100% is really powerful.

Cheers,


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## btarunr (Sep 6, 2011)

TheMailMan78 said:


> So with this new technology my video card will now fart?



Yes, it will fart dust. Good luck with that asthma.


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## TheMailMan78 (Sep 6, 2011)

To me its stupid unless it expels the dust OUT of my case. Not all over my mobo and CPU heat sink. I mean I don't need a GPU that just $h!ts dust all over the rest of my components.

I would rather my GPU old the dust in like a tight sphincter until I clean it out as I see fit.


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## PHaS3 (Sep 6, 2011)

TheMailMan78 said:


> I don't need a GPU that just $h!ts dust all over the rest of my components.





That's what i was thinking when i saw this hahahaha


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## Ghost (Sep 6, 2011)

> MSI Develops Dust Removal Technology for Graphics Cards


Nope. http://www.techpowerup.com/115132/S...-Cards-With-Dual-Layer-Fan-Blade-Cooling.html


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## Th3pwn3r (Sep 6, 2011)

95Viper said:


> Won't work.  Just blows dust back into case; deposits it in your other fans and components, it will suck it back up, eventually.  Did they develop they DVD Rewinder, too?
> 
> Now, when they enclose a maid in each box to do some case cleaning for me... That will work and I'll buy into it.



EXACTLY. It's just going to blow all this dust and dirt all over the case and probably get sucked back into the video card. It might a bit but this is more of a selling point than anything. Keeping dust out of the case is a better investment than paying more for some feature like this. I guess if they're not charging any extra it's not an issue though. At least they're trying to improve things =/


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## Zubasa (Sep 6, 2011)

robal said:


> Take experience from server systems...
> To be able to remove dust, you have to have huge airflow and pressure (server fans are capable of making a small hurricane).
> 
> Running backwards at 100% is a good idea, but only if that 100% is really powerful.
> ...


Yet people thinks the Fan on reference ATi cards are noisy 
That is the kind of fan the work-station cards use.
The fan on my 5870 only goes to 4800RPM, I have seen more powerful ones.


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## ensabrenoir (Sep 6, 2011)

Even if it does work it just blows dust into case and create more work for case fans.


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## FreedomEclipse (Sep 6, 2011)

as far as im concerned, there is no better way to deal with the dust problem then taking the graphics card out and giving it a few blasts with some compressed air.

I'll stick to that approach.


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## Mindweaver (Sep 6, 2011)

TheMailMan78 said:


> So with this new technology my video card will now fart?



Not just fart, but fart dust...  I can hear it now.. Your video card is so old it farts dust!  

EDIT:I wonder does it sound like PEW PEW PEW?... LOL


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## treehouse (Sep 6, 2011)

FreedomEclipse said:


> as far as im concerned, there is no better way to deal with the dust problem then taking the graphics card out and giving it a few blasts with some compressed air.
> 
> I'll stick to that approach.



i concur


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## ironwolf (Sep 6, 2011)

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?


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## bucketface (Sep 6, 2011)

zsolt_93 said:


> The 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.


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## mdm-adph (Sep 6, 2011)

Shihabyooo said:


> It'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...   I shut down mine the minute I'm done with the damn thing.


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## RejZoR (Sep 6, 2011)

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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## HossHuge (Sep 6, 2011)

TheMailMan78 said:


> I 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?


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## CDdude55 (Sep 6, 2011)

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.


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## FreedomEclipse (Sep 6, 2011)

mdm-adph said:


> Not the ones who pay their own power bills...   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.


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## bear jesus (Sep 6, 2011)

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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## erixx (Sep 6, 2011)

Now seriously, this will reduce considerably expected life of the fan.


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## FreedomEclipse (Sep 6, 2011)

bear jesus said:


> 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.



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.


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## bear jesus (Sep 6, 2011)

FreedomEclipse said:


> 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.
> 
> ...



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 

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.


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## FreedomEclipse (Sep 6, 2011)

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


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## xBruce88x (Sep 6, 2011)

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.


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## TheMailMan78 (Sep 6, 2011)

xBruce88x said:


> 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.



Need a motion detector for cats also. When a cat walks by it "purges" and activates a webcam simultaneously.


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## Jstn7477 (Sep 6, 2011)

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.


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## BazookaJoe (Sep 6, 2011)

Soooooo, my one rig was getting all, crashy & noisy & overheaty...

Think this new tech could help ME out?


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## FreedomEclipse (Sep 6, 2011)

BazookaJoe said:


> Soooooo, my one rig was getting all, crashy & noisy & overheaty...
> 
> Think this new tech could help ME out?
> 
> http://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.


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## Derek12 (Sep 6, 2011)

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


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## bear jesus (Sep 6, 2011)

FreedomEclipse said:


> 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!
> 
> ...



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 


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,


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## sneekypeet (Sep 6, 2011)

Ghost said:


> Nope. http://www.techpowerup.com/115132/S...-Cards-With-Dual-Layer-Fan-Blade-Cooling.html



This 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


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## Frick (Sep 6, 2011)

BazookaJoe said:


> Soooooo, my one rig was getting all, crashy & noisy & overheaty...
> 
> Think this new tech could help ME out?
> 
> http://img.techpowerup.org/110906/BazookasDustyPc.jpg



Meh, that's not so bad.


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## TheMailMan78 (Sep 6, 2011)

sneekypeet said:


> This 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



Meh they all rip off art so why not engineering ideas?


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## TheGuruStud (Sep 6, 2011)

sneekypeet said:


> This 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



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)


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## NC37 (Sep 6, 2011)

zsolt_93 said:


> The 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!


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## Wrigleyvillain (Sep 6, 2011)

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.


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## Steevo (Sep 7, 2011)

I want a regular fan to do this so my radiator is self cleaning, blowing it out backwards while vacuuming it from the front is a pain, specially while it is running.


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## qwerty_lesh (Sep 7, 2011)

I hope they offer a way of disabling this "feature"


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## LAN_deRf_HA (Sep 7, 2011)

This will prevent some fan death as it will expel the larger chunks of dust to a degree, but the fine stuff tends to be pretty sticky. Needs compressed air. Also that style of fan is the one least likely to die on a gpu. The fans that really need cleaning are those blower style ones on slim profile cards. Those are pretty much the only fans I've seen die on a card and it's always related to clogs. As for throwing dust into your case I'd rather wipe out the bottom of my case than pull dust balls out of my card with tweezers.


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## AsRock (Sep 7, 2011)

Shihabyooo said:


> The problem isn't that normal fans can't suck out the dust, the problem is that dust particles stick to the heatsink's surface . Could do better with inventing a paint that is 100% smooth and has the same electrical charge as the "dust". Physics one-oh-one, likes repel !
> 
> 
> 
> It's been ages since I shut down my PC. And I'm sure most enthusiasts keep theirs running for months !



Never mind the fans will not work as efficient in reverse


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## [H]@RD5TUFF (Sep 7, 2011)

Wonder when they will start shipping cards with this "technology" in it.


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## MN12BIRD (Sep 7, 2011)

Now I know I saw this feature on a card like 2 years ago.  Seriously.  I'm pretty sure it was on a Palit card.


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## Mussels (Sep 7, 2011)

sneekypeet said:


> Only one real issue as I see it..."with 100% fan speed for 30 seconds at system startup"
> 
> So this system only works for those who shut the PC off every night.
> 
> Seems the longer it is between cleaning cycles, the less effective the system



and since i use sleep mode and never restart my PC...


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## [H]@RD5TUFF (Sep 7, 2011)

wonder if it actually works


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## qubit (Sep 7, 2011)

*Dumb idea*

I think this "feature" is a dumb idea for all the reasons brought up in this thread.

However, for me, the real killer would be the bloody noise. 30 seconds of loud, irritating fan noise is too much, especially if you're in a quiet environment while other family members are trying to sleep.

And what about when I'm restarting my PC multiple times for troubleshooting or installing Windows and patching? This thing would be making noise all the time.

Mama mia this thing would drive me mad! 

Can it be switched off?


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## wolf (Sep 10, 2011)

> Off late, MSI has been at the forefront of graphics card innovations.



should it read, "of late," ?

thats the first thing I noticed, but it always brings a smile to my face to hear blokes jump straight to fart jokes, blowing jokes etc. warms my heart 

Personally I love blasting my pc gear with compressed air every so often, it's .... satisfying.


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## CyberDruid (Sep 11, 2011)

Finally a Graphic Card with the proper amount of suction.


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## tritron (Sep 11, 2011)

The only card that can be dust free is fan less. What we need is special coating that would repel dust. I belive we need better chipset that will generate zero heat = zero wasted energy


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## Shihab (Sep 11, 2011)

AsRock said:


> Never mind the fans will not work as efficient in reverse



Why wouldn't they ?



tritron said:


> What we need is special coating that would repel dust.



Oi ! Don't steal my idea


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