[SOLVED] how thoroughly do you need to clean a gaming pc?

[Markus15511]

Hi!

I am kind of confused, I really don't want my computer to have a reduced lifespan because of not being cleaned enough, but how much do I need to clean it to keep it healthy? Is it enough to use canned air to blow dust away, and use cotton buds to gently remove dust from fans, or is it more complex than that? Since I am not really an expert in the interior of computers, it is generally a bit scary for me poking around in there haha..

Thanks for any advice!

 

[Math Geek]

that's all you have to do really. and only as often as needed. if you can see dust build up inside, then blow it out. if not, then leave it be.

the more you get inside and mess around, the more likely you are to break something. it's hard to do but can happen to anyone. clean it up, then check on it once a week to see how long it takes to have a noticeable amount of dust. then clean it roughly that often. for me it's maybe once every few months. but i have it off the florr and filter the intake which catches most of the dust before it gets in.

you can also help some by having a bit of positive pressure inside the case. this keeps a small amount of air blowing out the little nooks and crannies so nothing can come in. kinda like blowing out slowly as you walk by something smelly. can't get the smell in if you keep blowing out.

this is easily done by adding an intake fan. usually one more intake than exhaust is plenty to get that slight positive pressure

 

[doolittle]

I usually wait until there is some dust accumulated to the point where you can see it gathering on the cpu and/or gpu heatsink - about 2x a year for me since I use my central air the majority of the day, allergies what can you do... Might have to do seasonally if you don't have any other dust filters except your PC, or if you have pets, etc. Depends...

Have found it much simpler to bring it out to the garage / patio then hit it with either my air compressor (with in-line water / oil trap of course), leaf blower or air cans. Toothpicks work well to get stubborn dust out if any are stuck, and to jam in the fans to prevent bearing overspin when using high pressure.

 

[Math Geek]

i like to use my shop vac on reverse. but def hold the fan still or you might spin it into oblivion. i learned that the hard way