Cleaning the Dust Out of Your PC Can Do Wonders

[OmegaX]

So I've been having problems playing games on my PC lately. Typically my entire PC would shutdown after about 20 minutes of game play. It was like someone pulled the power plug and it would entirely turn off. I tried everything I could think of and nothing would solve the problem. I eventually narrowed it down to something overheating or the power supply going bad. I looked at my CPU temps and they were almost 70 degrees Celsius when idle.

I opened up my PC and tried cleaning out the dust out. Its been about 3 years so it had quite a bit of build up. I cleaned each fan and dug out the mess within the CPU heat sink. I turned it back on and what do you know, the CPU temps were down to 28 degrees C when idle. I tried some games and they run perfectly fine now.

I was shocked that a little dust could cause your CPU temperature to rise by almost 40 degrees and almost kill the thing. If you guys are having any similar problems you might wanna try cleaning your shit out. Seems I got lucky this time that it was nothing major...

 

[David.Seth2]

3 years?! damn, i don't go more than a couple months between cleaning the dust bunnies. Your pc must have looked like this:

 

[Stigmata]

Reminds me of the first videocard I bought. The fan stopped spinning, but somehow it still worked.

 

[OmegaX]

Well it wasn't quite that bad. The worst part was the two fans on the side of my case which suck air in.

 

[Warped]

I clean out my PC roughly every 6-8 months. i probably should do it like once every 2 months but how long does the average person keep a PC for?? 3-5 years?? by then something better is out that is worth upgrading

 

[Dinnesch]

I absolutely love my Antec 300's dust filter(with 2 intake fans behind it). 6 months of use and there is almost no dust in my PC.

 

[Tyguy]

i'm quite the stickler when it comes to cleaning out the dust...maybe it's the ocd but i can't stand knowing there's dust inside and not doing anything about it.

I tend to reapply thermal paste frequently too.

 

[Krynn72]

My current case is a freaking dust magnet. I need to dust it out like every month.

 

[arch5]

I just go to my local Fry's and pay $20 for them to clean the dust out. Helps a bunch.

 

[Krynn72]

Dude... why?

Buy a bottle of canned air for a dollar and spend 5 mins doing it yourself.

 

[TwwIX]

I clean it regularly. Every 2 or 3 months. You can get a big can of compressed air at Wallmart for around 5 bucks. Getting some filters for the in take fans is a good idea too.

 

[Barney Fife]

I absolutely love my Antec 300's dust filter(with 2 intake fans behind it). 6 months of use and there is almost no dust in my PC.

Agree. Antec 1200 also comes with filters, Antec 900 doesn't. Its lot less effort and time, cleaning filters, than the gutter: One of the two reasons I hated 900.

 

[Viperidae]

At least you're not a smoker.

 

[VirusType2]

Dude... why?

Buy a bottle of canned air for a dollar and spend 5 mins doing it yourself.

Krynn will blow it for you. $1 for 5 mins.

 

[MorganFreeman911]

I absolutely love my Antec 300's dust filter(with 2 intake fans behind it). 6 months of use and there is almost no dust in my PC.

This except for I have the P182SE
How do you clean the filters?

 

[VirusType2]

Once, I was given a free computer and it had shag carpeting inside. At the bottom I found a sweater.

 

[Schall]

I absolutely love my Antec 300's dust filter(with 2 intake fans behind it). 6 months of use and there is almost no dust in my PC.

I have the same case and it really is great. I just wish it came with a fan that kept the air circulating in the case instead of just sucking out the air.

 

[Dinnesch]

This except for I have the P182SE
How do you clean the filters?

Just take it out and use a vacuum cleaner

 

[DEATHMASTER]

Some reason my pc turns off as of late when doing CPU intensive shit. I presumed it's the ****ing small ass dorm room, so I crack the window open a bit. I've been keeping it in check with speedfan but it could probably be dust being the main villain. I'll check the insides after spring break is over (probably been 2 months since last check). Sounds like I should get a case with a filter as well as an intake fan next build.

Antec 1200 looks like a beyond capable monster.

 

[VirusType2]

Some reason my pc turns off as of late when doing CPU intensive shit.

Sounds like RAM. Remove dust from the RAM to fix it.

If it really is the CPU, maybe you need a better fan/heatsink, assuming it's not just covered in dust.

 

[DEATHMASTER]

I actually never check the RAM, guess I will now.