Yesterday I finally began the long process of upgrading my gaming PC. I opened ‘er up, excited to finally install that new hard drive I’d bought, and I came face to face with grim reality: Ah yes, the inside of my PC is gross and covered in dust and grime.
I set about cleaning it — swiping the dust from the cooling fans, blowing it out of the corners of the case, that kind of thing. As I did so, I felt a strange warmth come over me, like I was actually cleaning out some dark corner of my brain. About a half an hour later I was done. The inside of my PC was clean, the cables had been re-organised, and I felt just a little bit more right with the world.
So, this is my reminder to you: If you play PC games, your PC is probably gross and in need of cleaning. (Unless you clean it regularly, which, good for you!). And hey, starting over with a fresh hard drive and a clean Windows installation is also a nice feeling, for what it’s worth.
Our sister site Lifehacker has some a good guide for how to clean and spruce up your windows PC, though really, you can just open it up for yourself, get out your cleaning tools, and go to town. Trust me, you’ll feel better afterward. You don’t want to turn out like this guy, do you?
Comments
30 responses to “Reminder: Your PC Is Gross And You Should Probably Clean It”
What about laptops?
You should see the inside of your keyboard then…
I bought a logitech washable keyboard so that I never have to.
That dog is adorable. My PC is not.
I clean my pc out monthly, you sir sicken me.
I clean out my dog monthly..
Haha, it’s gonna be fun the next couple of weeks when your support queue is flooded with “YOU BROKE MY COMPUTER!1!1!!”.
Besides dusting the outside of the case and blasting it with an Can of Air Duster… I cant clean the inside… small print risks voiding my warranty if I open it up to get at the internals.
I used to clean my pc until dick smith stopped selling compressed air. Everywhere i go has seemingly been “sold out” for a year.
Go to CBC or bunnings, it’s just air in a can.
Edit: crc air duster
Air in a can? Get outta here you crazy scam artist
Officeworks had it last time I was there
The Officeworks ones are freakin useless. As are the Jaycar ones.
Buy the rechargeable hurricane, works out much cheaper.
http://www.technibble.com/o2-hurricane-canless-air-review/
I buy mine from Officeworks
Hardware stores too.
Jaycar
Spilled coffee all through my machine last week, works great and get the smell of fresh coffee every time I start her up.
10 / 10 recommend
reminds me of the time I forgot about a banana in my backpack in high school. After the initial clean up, I was left with a subtly delicious bananery fragrance for several weeks.
Or just make sure when you build your PC you balance your intake/exhaust for positive air pressure to keep the dust out.
How does one go about that?
More fans (or more powerful fans) sucking air into the case, less fans (or less powerful fans) sucking air out of the case.
All my previous PCs only had fan(s) at the rear sucking the air out, thus air (and dust) gets sucked in from the front grilles, and through any available crevice/crack. Over time, the dust would settle everywhere and would also get into the CD/DVD player.
My current PC has 2 x 200mm fans in front and 1 x 200mm fan at the back (plus power supply), thus it is more or less balanced (likely slightly more bias/power to the front). Since all the air is coming through the front fans and goes through a dust filter, there has not been any build-up of dust inside the case.
even though you have your mad positive pressure built up, doesn’t the mechanical sucking action of the fans still suck in dust and crap? Is the dust filter enough to stop this (in which case, what’s the more valuable, the dust filter or the PP)?
Likely both are important/valuable – dust filter + positive pressure – because the air intake is being 100% filtered and no unfiltered air is coming in from crevices and openings (as is the case with negative pressure).
Have more intake than exhaust. You look at the CFM (cubic feet per minute) rating on the fans, and arrange to suit. The higher air pressure inside the case means that dust is ‘repelled’ from entering.
Yep, both of mine are positive pressure now, and I build all my friend’s that way as well. There’s nothing that compares to filtering the intakes and positive pressure for keeping it clean long term.
I cleaned my work keyboard yesterday… I immediately regretted eating at my desk the past 2 years.
A filthy PC is a reflection of the house it is in. Vacuum ya bloody carpets!!!
yes mum
Is that an Australian bulldog pup?
I think you’re in the wrong place.
Why?