Don t Let Dust Bunny Havoc Ruin Your PC Cleaning Strategies for Optimal Cooling Performance

PC Cooling: The Importance of Keeping Your PC Cool

A good PC case should account for airflow, either by optimizing fan placement, or by providing airflow options to the builder. Many cases come with fans already installed, but even those that dont will have areas to install fans usually on the front, the back, or near the top. PC fans can vary drastically in design and size, from a common 120mm case fan to more specialized configurations with varying sizes, depths, noise levels, and aesthetic considerations.

Though PC case fans share a purpose, different fans are designed for different scenarios. Static pressure fans, for example, are designed to move small amounts of air shorter distances, like through a heatsink. Fans designed for higher airflow are more focused on the amount of air that can be moved.

Something to remember when installing an airflow solution: PC fans pull air past the motor housing, meaning that any sticker, wiring, branding, or protective grille is most likely on the back of the fan. This is the side that will expel air, so be sure to install accordingly.

LI Blog

To keep your PC running like a well-oiled machine, you must, well not oil it but dust it!

Cleaning your PC can seem like a time-consuming and daunting task considering the sheer number of nooks and crannies nestled inside your case. But after reading through this simple guide, youll know exactly how to keep your PC pristine inside and out without breaking a sweat! Well also give some tips for dust prevention further down.

The cleaning intervals are all ballpark estimations, and of course you should clean out your PC earlier if the interior of your case turns into a dust bunny sanctuary.

Lets get started!

Equipment

As always when youre delving inside of your PC, the safest move is to have some anti-static protection so you dont fry all those 1s and 0s imprisoned on your hard drive. An easy solution is an anti-static wrist strap (a fabric bracelet with a metal clip at the end of a long wire that discharges any static youve built up). Clip it to something capable of grounding you, like the metal edge of a desk or even your PC case, and youre ready to get to work!

The only others tools youll need are a can of compressed air and whatever screwdriver(s) allows you to partially disassemble your computer. If you dont want to use the air, or find it doesnt quite do as thorough a job as you want, a microfiber cloth can be employed for hands-on dust-off work.

Outside the Case

First impressions are important, and the first thing you see on a computer are the external components. Before we get into the nitty gritty, well quickly cover the bits and pieces that need to be cleaned or dusted on the outside of your PC case first.

Screens and Filters

Well look first at one of the most effective and simplest anti-dust measures: dust screens. While not every case features a dust filter, they can be installed after the fact, and the vast majority of modern cases do (And should!) have them. These porous filters are about as straightforward as youd expect; they sit directly in front of the intake fans to capture as much dust as possible before it reaches the guts of your PC. Finer screens theoretically capture more dust, but require more frequent cleaning before they clog themselves up and start causing problems (like increased component temperatures, and added wear to fan motors).

If your case features a dust filter at all on the intake fans, then its good enough to be worth using. If your computer doesnt feature any dust filtration, you can buy universal screens off Amazon that magnetically attach to the various grills of your case, filtering dust before it gets inside.

Ideally, these screens need to be cleaned often, about every month (depending on how much time your computer spends turned on and how clean your environment is), but the tradeoff for that frequent maintenance is that they substantially reduce the amount of cleaning that youll have to do in the future.

To clean a dust filter, first carefully remove the screen and use a microfiber cloth to gently remove any large clumps of dust. To remove smaller dust deposits, either blow the screen clean with compressed air, or run it under room-temperature water and softly wipe it dry with a towel. If you do this, make sure its completely dry before placing it back in your PC! Inspect the filter to make sure there are no holes or tears in the mesh that could let dust through, then reinstall it back in your case.

Intake and Exhaust fans

Without a dust screen on your intake fans, all your case fans will get crustier than the outer edge of a pizza rather quickly. In this case, its best to clean the fans as they build up dust.

So, in the absence of a filter or screen, its the more-difficult-to-clean fans themselves that youll need to clean every month or so. With filters that are regularly cleaned, you can usually let the fans go 3-6 months between cleanings unless you live in a particularly dusty place. But either way, you should immediately clean them if you notice theyve built up a pronounced layer of dust that you can see just by looking at the blades. Dust on fan blades can reduce the amount of air they push, put more stress on the motor, and its just plain ugly!

You can generally clean fan blades while theyre still installed in your case, but if you want to do a more thorough job or it has been many months since they were cleaned, it makes the process easier if you remove them first. To remove the fans, simply unscrew the four corners of the fan frame and pop it out for easy cleaning. Make sure you hold the blades still while cleaning (especially when using compressed air), otherwise you may not get all of the dust off!

• • • • If you opt to leave the fans installed, remove the front panel and use a microfiber cloth to gently wipe them clean on both the front and back faces of the blades. If you use compressed air, hold a microfiber cloth behind the fan before blowing clean! Otherwise, the air will blow all that dust right back into your case, in places much harder to clean than a simple fan blade.
      • If you remove the fans from your case, it will make the task of cleaning them much quicker. Once the front panel and fans are removed, you can use either a microfiber cloth or compressed air to clean the fan blades over a garbage can or similar receptacle to catch the falling dust. When theyre all clean and fresh, theyre ready to be reinstalled.

A case with the front panel removed, showing the intake fans.

Power Supply Filter Screen

Power supplies feature their own fans to help cool the components inside that provide your PC with ample power. Often, cases will include an additional dust filter over the port on the bottom of the case that allows air to enter the PSU from below. Simply remove the screen every 3-6 months or so to blow clean with compressed air or wipe clean with a microfiber cloth, then reinsert it into your case. Easy!

An example of a power supply dust filter partially removed from a case. This one is nice and clean! (Photo by Hexus.)

Inside the Case

Alright, its finally time to take off the side panel of the case and clean the innards of the machine so its dust-free!

CPU Cooler

Your processor, no matter how young and spry, cannot keep your PC running Baldurs Gate at 2000 frames per second without a potent cooling solution that is properly maintained. Luckily, it doesnt take much to get the dust out of your cooler and keep your CPU cooler in tip-top shape. You might want to consider replacing your thermal paste every 4-5 years, but otherwise the cleaning procedure here is a simple one and can be done at the same frequency as cleaning your case fans.

Whether your PC sports a liquid cooling loop or a traditional air cooler, the cleaning process remains largely the same:

• • • • Liquid Radiator Unscrew your radiator and fans from inside of your case. The CPU pump (The little block that sits right on top of the CPU) can remain attached to the processor if you dont need to replace the thermal paste, and if the water piping/tubing is long enough for the radiator to be easily cleaned without removal of the pump. Once free from the case, blow the fins of the radiator out with a can of compressed air, preferably over a bag or garbage can unless you really enjoy the comforting softness of dust all over your desk and floor.

A typical AIO twin fan radiator. Notice the little gaps in the fins; those are what you want to clear of dust! (Photo by Modders Inc.)

• • • • Air Radiator Unlike a liquid cooler, which displaces the radiator away from the CPU, an air cooler is directly attached to the motheboard. So your options are to either blow it out where it is, (aiming toward the nearest exhaust vent of your case as much as possible, and dealing with the dust that settles elsewhere in the case afterwardor else to removed the cooler entirely, although that means youll also need some thermal paste to reattach it after dusting. If you go down that second route, unscrew the cooler and remove the fan from the radiator. Most air coolers dont even use screws to secure the fans; just unhook the metal wires from the fans screw holes and it should come right off. Then, use your can of compressed air to blast the dust out of each tiny crevice inside the aluminum fins. Once youve blown the dust out of the fins and it looks brand new again, you can reinstall everything and youre good to go!

One side of a CPU air cooler with the fan removed. Notice the dust in the fins, which youd ideally want to remove, obviously. (Photo by Vortez.)

Graphics Card

Cleaning a graphics card is something thats easy to forget, but important to remember. Most graphics cards have fans attached to the bottom of the card, making them easy to miss when doing a brief cleaning. Fortunately, that downward orientation of the fans also means they tend to accumulate dust much slower. As a result, most graphics cards only need to be thoroughly cleaned every second time you clean your systems fans, meaning at least once a year.

Graphics cards also feature a wide array of fan shapes and sizes, including liquid coolers, so always be sure to clean your card in the way that suits it best.

For cards with typical air fans or a blower for cooling, first remove the graphics card from your PC. Hold the fans still with one hand and use a can of compressed air to blow out the fins behind the fan blades, and/or wipe them clean with a microfiber cloth. Once the fins and blades are clear of dust, place the card back in your rig.

For graphics cards with liquid cooling, you can follow the same principles from cleaning a liquid-based CPU Cooler radiator in the previous step, since their anatomy is almost identical for our purposes here.

A GPU that could use some cleaning. Notice the dust around the fan blades that youd want to blow off, as well as the thin silver fins behind them. (Photo by Hardwaresfera.)

Everything Else

Dust can build up in just about every corner of your case. At least once a year, try to make some time to hit those hard-to-clean places in your PC. If its been a while since the last good cleaning, even just a blast of compressed air can loosen dust from a messy corner of your PC and increase airflow. Below are a list of a few of the places I often dont remember to clean (Or just plain avoid!) on most routine cleaning operations in my very own PC.

• • • • Behind the cable panel
      • Areas where many cables meet, like fan controller cubbies or near the power supply
      • Throughout the drive bays and between drives
      • Inside your PSU basement below the shroud (if your case has one)
      • Any large components on the motherboard with small crevices
      • Between sticks of RAM
      • Behind the motherboard
      • Any other open-air gaps inside of your case

How Do I Prevent Dust from Collecting in my PC?

Unfortunately, the truth is that dust exists. And it exists everywhere. People with pets or in dry climates may get more of it than others, but theres really no escape. The most effective way to reduce dust build-up is to have regularly cleaned filters, an environment that reduces dust as much as possible, and ideally positive air pressure inside the case.

This could mean keeping the computer off the floor, keeping pets out of your computer room, and/or investing in an air purifier or some other means of reducing ambient dust. There is no silver bullet to fighting dust, beyond a little elbow grease and a google calendar entry telling you to get up and clean that machine out every once in a while.

If you want it to run for as long as possible, this is your first step! Future-proofing begins not with $2000 GPUs, but with proper maintenance and care.

What is Positive Air Pressure?

In this context, positive pressure refers to having a higher volume of intake air than exhaust air, in order to prevent dust from settling in your PC by constantly forcing small amounts of air out of every crack in your case. The easiest way to configure your PC for positive air pressure is to simply have more intake fans than exhaust fans. The idea is that fans actively pulling in more air than theyre pushing out causes every opening of the case to act as an exhaust, preventing some dust from entering through unfiltered zones. Conversely, negative pressure (fans pushing out more air than theyre pulling in) causes every opening of the case to act as an unfiltered intake.

Or thats the theory, at least. If you look into the concept online, youll find support for the idea and denigration of it; some swear by it, while others find it pointless. As for what I have to say about it: if you can easily set up your PC to have one more intake than exhaust fan, then it doesnt hurt to set it up anyways. At worst, it has no negative affect on your build, assuming you follow good air flow principles. And at best, it may cause less dust to settle in your PCexactly what we want!

Conclusion

Dusting, however tedious it may seem, needs to be done to keep your computer running happy and healthy. When you peek through your smoked glass side panel and notice Hey, its not that dusty in there!, it can be tempting to stretch your cleaning intervals to the limit, but pop that cover off and shine a flashlight inside and youll notice that theres probably a lot more dust in there than you really believed.

Its important to keep your computer dust-free to ensure a long life for your parts, which ultimately saves you money in the long run! And in the most dire of situations, it could even theoretically be possible for a very old and dusty PC to become a fire hazard. So cleaning protects your parts in multiple ways!

Have any questions or comments? Think I missed something? Let us know in the comments section below! Thanks for reading!