[SOLVED] how can I reduce dust in my build?

[Ronnie30]

I'm running a Coolermaster H500M case with the stock front 2x 200mm fans and the stock rear 140mm fan. I'm running a Gigabyte triple fan GTX 1080 in a horizontal mount, and my liquid loop has a 360mm top mounted rad with the 3x 120mm in a pull config. I have the PSU and hard drive shroud installed and I'm also using the optional mesh filter on the front, for better airflow.

Currently, all my dust filters on the front of the case get covered in dust within about 2 weeks of cleaning them. The reservoir/pump which is just behind the front mounted fans gets a little dusty, but the dust on the side window definitely gets dust build up fairly quickly, particularly near the front intake. The GPU backplate and PSU/HDD shroud also builds up a very noticeable layer of dust fairly quickly. I can see dust circles on my rad, through the side window, and I can see dust through the glass roof, that has obviously been pulled through the rad.

I'm very lax with cleaning out the dust (often months in between cleans), because the build up happens so quickly. Additionally, there are some areas I can't get to without draining the loop, and I don't want to do this more than 1-2 times a year. I will be getting an RTX 3xxx GPU when they release, and I intend to add it to the loop, which may or may result in me adding another 240 or 360 rad to the front and swapping out the stock front fans for high static pressure fans instead.

The PC is on my desk, not at ground level or on carpet, which I thought would help but I think my room gets quite dusty anyway. I'm basing this on the fact that there's dust build up on the outside of my case and around the PC, but the rest of my desk isn't dusty, which I'm assuming is because I interact with the rest of the desk a lot more, which stops dust from settling.

Any suggestions in reducing dust build up, both in this current situation, or if/when I add a second radiator?

Trigger warning: dusty pics below! I would have cleaned this, maybe a month ago.

Thanks

 

[Loli Pits]

Is your pc in the corner of the room? dust tends to build up more on corners... would suggest moving it to the middle of the wall?

 

[Ronnie30]

It's about 2 foot away from the corner, but I'm moving soon and the desk will be in the center of the wall at the new place, so that should help.

Once my CPU and GPU are both being water cooled, do I still need the front intake fans? I feel like removing them would make a big difference.

 

[Flayed]

Vacuum the room more often?

 

[Grobe]

Avoid having the computer standing directly on the floor. Raise it some up - I have a little bench just below a foot tall that make a huge difference over time.

 

[Ronnie30]

Responding to Grobe and Flayed; the PC is up on the desk, not the floor. I'm not sure how vacuuming would affect it on the desk?

 

[scout_03]

you have any pet like a dog or cat that could loose hair .

 

[Ronnie30]

Getting a cat, but don't have any pets yet.

I'm guessing my issue has more to do with airflow, though. Once my GPU is also watercooled, should I disable the front fans?

 

[Grobe]

If air flow is the only possible way you can do any changes, then you would want to have over pressure inside while all fans blowing inwards have dust filter.

 

[Ronnie30]

over pressure? Are you referring to positive pressure? Any sort of fan configuration you would recommend?

The fans do have dust filters, which are covered in dust very quickly, and a fair amount of dust still manages to get inside.

 

[Grobe]

Are you referring to positive pressure?

Yes.

Any sort of fan configuration you would recommend?

In general - fans in front and on side door should blow inwards (I haven't study your cabinet specifically). If there are holes in the cabinet not covered (e.g. just temporary loose cover from one of the 3,5' wells), you can simply use a fine type of paper and you should see what way the air goes.

 

[Ronnie30]

In general - fans in front and on side door should blow inwards (I haven't study your cabinet specifically). If there are holes in the cabinet not covered (e.g. just temporary loose cover from one of the 3,5' wells), you can simply use a fine type of paper and you should see what way the air goes.

I think I have negative pressure, due to having more exhaust than intake, however 3 of the exhaust fans are impeded by the rad, so I'm not sure. I have done the "smoke test" and confirmed that air is being pulled in or pushed out of all the right areas. It's not airtight so naturally tiny amounts of air and dust can get sucked in from other cracks, but I'm not really seeing that happen. It seems to all be coming from the front intake. I did notice a small amount of air coming in from the vertical gpu mount opening in the rear, likely due to the GPU fan sucking it in. When I water cool my next GPU, that should hopefully eliminate that.

On another forum, I received suggestions to move the rad to the front, creating a better filtered intake and more positive pressure. I was also advised to vacuum more often and install an air purifier. As I'll be moving house and changing components in a couple of months, I'll be waiting until then before I implement some of these measures. In the meantime, I've cleaned the front, and will keep doing that on a weekly basis, and see if that makes a difference, as someone said that the dust coming in was due to the pressure mounting on the filter, once it becomes clogged.

 

[Grobe]

I think you can vacuum as just as ju want, but if you want to get rid of as much dust as possible you'll need a much finer filter than just the rad.

Personally I wouldn't considered the rad as a filter at all, it just prevents bigger objects to touch the fans. Most of the dust will pass through anyway.

 

[Ronnie30]

To clarify, I do have filters on the front. I just thought that filter + rad + fan would do better than just filter + fan, at blocking dust, but you're right, in that the rad isn't a filter; just an additional blockage, hopefully.

I'm hoping a combo of moving rad to the front to create more positive pressure, plus an air filter (if I get one), additional vacuuming and cleaning the intake filters more frequently, should overall work to reduce how dusty it gets inside the case.

 

[Apple Troll Master]

From all the dust on the outside of the case this is a bigger issue. The A/C unit filter within your household needs to be changed out to something nicer (HEPA) or realigned as its providing and moving the most air in the household and spreading the dust. Personally I would change the A/C unit filter to a nice one, then vacuum/mop/dust the entire home. This will ultimately resolve any and all dust issues now and in the future.

 

[Ronnie30]

Yeah there's definitely a dust issue in the environment. I'm moving apartments soon and I'll have a dedicated PC/Gaming room, which will be kept much neater; my current shared location forces me to use the PC room as an everything-room, resulting in just a lot more random stuff in the room and on the PC desk. The AC is quite old as well, and I'm certain it's a cause of both dust and allergies - I can't do much about that here, so I'll look into it when I have my new apartment.

For now, I will vacuum more, clean the desk/room up and I've also bought an air purifier.