"Dummy DIMMs" and dust prevention?

[VirtualLarry]

I was just thinking, my friend's PC is old, and fairly dusty. He only has two DIMMs installed right now, but has four slots. The RAM I have on order, is a 4x4GB kit. Which means, I probably need to clean the two unused DIMM slots.

Do they make a specific type of contact cleaner? Or is it enough just to use canned air?

Do they make "Dummy DIMMs", to install at build time, to take up the otherwise-empty DIMM slots, to block out the dirt and dust?

I haven't seen much about them. Do they exist?

 

[Coup27]

Canned air is not really much good if the PC is very dusty. What you want is a "DataVac Electric Duster".

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DzLaGHxE6BM

I blast all my machines out every 6 months or so and it's as powerful as a compressed air line. Not cheap, think I paid about £50 for mine but you'll never have to buy canned air again and it's 10x better.

Edit: You can buy from Amazon.com for $57. Definitely a worthwhile investment.

 

[Blain]

Hitting the slots with canned air, followed by a good contact cleaner should be fine.

 

[IGemini]

RDRAM is the only creature I know of that ever had dummy sticks. And they had to be installed on empty Rambus slots to make the computer work.

 

[bradly1101]

I think vacuuming is the way to go too. If the motherboard sits vertically in the case, it probably wouldn't have collected much dust. If it was a major worry, dummy kits would be everywhere (along with dummy PCIe covers).

Aftermarket fan filters are available too.

 

[Elixer]

Canned air is not really much good if the PC is very dusty. What you want is a "DataVac Electric Duster".

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DzLaGHxE6BM

I blast all my machines out every 6 months or so and it's as powerful as a compressed air line. Not cheap, think I paid about £50 for mine but you'll never have to buy canned air again and it's 10x better.

Edit: You can buy from Amazon.com for $57. Definitely a worthwhile investment.

That video is pretty bad use of the device. Blowing out the PSU that way can cause the fan to malfunction. They were never designed to spin that fast, and with that much air spinning the around, it is just asking for trouble.
You are supposed to secure the fan blades with a long thin blade to prevent it from spinning while you blast it with air.

I have seen dummy DIMM slot protectors, which are just strips of heavy weight paper that have been cut to fit the slot. I don't bother with them though, always seems like a waste.

 

[Soulkeeper]

I use a soft bristle tooth brush to break the dust loose, then hit it with my air compressor nozzle

 

[Minerva]

Canned air is not really much good if the PC is very dusty. What you want is a "DataVac Electric Duster".

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DzLaGHxE6BM

I blast all my machines out every 6 months or so and it's as powerful as a compressed air line. Not cheap, think I paid about £50 for mine but you'll never have to buy canned air again and it's 10x better.

Edit: You can buy from Amazon.com for $57. Definitely a worthwhile investment.

Wow those computers weren't even worth the time to blow out. They should just throw them away! D:

That blower's good, I don't think it will hurt the fan if moved fast. The little fans on old cards, northbridge coolers (remember those? haha) etc. would probably not like it much. Shop air full of moisture and oil at 200 psig would be far worse to use on a computer but I've seen it done.

And those dummy dimms I know what those are our poweredge 720s have them in unused slots. Pretty neat but not really necessary. I suppose if you have some lying around it wouldn't hurt to put them in free slots. Then again a free slot is a wasted slot!

 

[dave_the_nerd]

And those dummy dimms I know what those are our poweredge 720s have them in unused slots. Pretty neat but not really necessary.

Basically this - they get put in servers because maintaining the proper airflow is VERY important there. For desktops it just doesn't matter.

Also, don't confuse dummy DIMMs with C-RIMMs.

Blast from the past.

 

[Johnny Lucky]

I use the DataVac electric duster for general purpose cleaning. There is a wide variation in prices. Spend a little time searhing for a sale price.

The are protective covers available that fit over empty memory slots and PCIe slots available from specialty and DIY vendors online and they are available in a variety of colors to match your color scheme. Here are some examples:

http://www.performance-pcs.com/catalogsearch/result/?q=memory+protectors

http://www.performance-pcs.com/catalogsearch/result/?q=pcie+slot++protectors

The links are to show exmples. There are other vendors who also carry the protective covers.

 

[skipsneeky2]

Some years ago,i had a computer which actually came with these rubber covers that slid over both the pci slots and the ram ones.Pretty much like the covers that come covering the pci-e port of a new video card.

Had to have been something custom,these covers came with a Dell Dimension 2400 lol.

 

[razel]

Damn OCD. Dust covers for DIMMs? Just use scotch tape. Worried about sticky glue? Press that tape against your skin a few times or use masking tape. By why at all.. just fill it with RAM instead. RAM is cheap these days.

 

[sdifox]

Damn OCD. Dust covers for DIMMs? Just use scotch tape. Worried about sticky glue? Press that tape against your skin a few times or use masking tape. By why at all.. just fill it with RAM instead. RAM is cheap these days.

Server ram is not cheap.

 

[XavierMace]

Meh. 16Gb sticks of DDR3 ECC are down to $80-$100. I paid $150 per stick a year ago.

 

[sdifox]

Meh. 16Gb sticks of DDR3 ECC are down to $80-$100. I paid $150 per stick a year ago.

I only paid 650 for the r710 with 24gb :awe:

 

[XavierMace]

Which has absolutely nothing to do with your statement. But I paid less than that for both my DL380G6's combined.

 

[sdifox]

Which has absolutely nothing to do with your statement. But I paid less than that for both my DL380G6's combined.

:awe:

 

[KingFatty]

I like to use a shop vac held near the computer, then use canned air to blast the dust off the computer directly into the awaiting vacuum suction.