Mid-week Question: How often do you de-dust your PC?

[McStabStab]

Yikes... so I usually de-dust my PC whenever I switch out my coolant which is supposed to be 6 months at the most I believe, but I usually go a whole year. Please don't judge me.

 

[Zoid]

Are we talking internally or externally? The outside of my case will get a little dusty every 4 months or so at which point I'll quickly brush it off.

The inside of my PC has never been dusted. Are you guys dusting inside your cases? Dust screens and positive case air pressure are a beautiful thing. My last PC enjoyed 6 completely dust-free years. Here's to 6 more!

 

[OsaX Nymloth]

On average? Geesh, once per year. Or two. Depends when I start noticing the fans being "loud" (and by that I mean being able to hear them during normal work). I guess it's not a bad idea to just get the PC out in the spring, use some canned air or other means of putting pressured air do the job.

 

[Mazer]

Come on, it's not safe to get close enough to my PC to be doing any dusting. Not with all that fire.

Pretty though.

 

[Frindis]

I vacuum the PC every 2 years and then I buy a new one

 

[Sarafan]

If we're talking about exterior, nothing beats a standard piece of cloth which I use to wipe the computer and monitor from dust. I do this usually once a week. Interior is more complicated however. I use a paintbrush to gently remove the dust from all computer components. Sometimes I also blow on them from my mouth (maybe it's a good idea to finally buy a can of compressed air ). I don't clean the interior more frequently than two times a year. Never had a problem with overheating caused by dust.

 

[Rensje]

My main PC is built into a NZXT H400 chassis, which comes with some handy dandy dust filters that are easy to remove. I open up the front about once a month to clean the main dust filter covering the intake fans, also taking off the bottom and top filters. I find that the desk area around my tower tends to get dustier than the PC itself, so I wipe that down with a cloth while I'm working.

About every 6 months or so, I will unplug the PC, take it into the back yard and use a can of compressed air to gently blow all the dust out of it. What little dust actually does get into the case rests mostly on the PSU shroud and the backplate of the graphics card, so it's easy enough to get rid of. Some of it gets stuck on the fan blades, as well. If it's really bad I'll remove the fan and wipe it down seperately, but I haven't done that since I built this particular system.

What I have not done at all is replace the cooling paste on my CPU and GPU. Some say that's something you need to do every 6 months or every year, but honestly, my previous PC ran for about 5 years and never once did I feel the need to replace any of it. Your GPU in particular will probably be obsolete long before you would actually need to clean the die and put new cooling paste on it to keep it from overheating.

 

[Slasken]

I don't dust off inside or outside my computer. I have noticed that if you don't dust off your computer externally for a while, it self cleans. I mean, the dust just disappears. Same thing happens to my wife's computer.

 

[Rogue Leader]

Despite my systems being negative pressure I don't have any dust issues internally. They do have dust filters so that helps.

I only dust when it needs it which usually just involves cleaning the filters, and its not often maybe once a year.

 

[I Will Haunt You]

Three times a year. In April, August, and December, but I do more than just dust.

 

[jpishgar]

I de-dust once every few months. So, I'm going to admit something here. I don't think I ever have in that other community, but I'm going to share it with you guys.

I sometimes use a leaf blower.

The Ego brand 110 mph 530 CFM Variable Speed Turbo 56-volt lithium ion cordless leaf blower to be precise. I grab it from the garage, unplug my rig, bring it out on the back porch, and blast it at low speed.

Now, I know what you're gonna say, that this is bonkers. But it works at getting out a lot of the built-up dust and crud and I don't go through a whole can of duster with freezy hands in the process. So long as I'm careful around fans, and do the mop up with the can for the detail bits, it's quick. Is this dumb? Probably. Do I recommend this? Absolutely not. Does it save me time and annoyance? Most assuredly. And I expect it will right up until I get too trigger-happy with the blower and end up with my graphics card hurtling across the lawn.

 

[I Will Haunt You]

I sometimes use a leaf blower.

Use what you got. Along with small cans of air sold for such things, I've used air compressors and the blower function on some vacuum cleaners. If I had a air blower as the most handy thing I'd have done that too.

 

[Rogue Leader]

I de-dust once every few months. So, I'm going to admit something here. I don't think I ever have in that other community, but I'm going to share it with you guys.

I sometimes use a leaf blower.

I may tell on you.

My silence, however, can be bought. I have various price points.

 

[Kaamos_Llama]

Mine gets dusted whenever I open up the case, its fully filtered, positive pressure and we dont have pets but theres always a thin film in there, and for whatever reason the fins on my CPU cooler collect dust behind the fan.

I keep saying to myself I'm going to buy a Datavac but I still havent. But now I realized I should have just bought a leaf blower.

 

[JC Denton]

I do my dusting everytime I need to replace / upgrade a component or something seems a little off like fan noise, high temps, bad framerates, etc.

I own two PCs. My Silverstone Sugo isn't to much of a dust magnet but the Cooler Master N200... fark me that front panel gets hella dusty every fortnight. The front panel is only held in with plastic lugs so I pop it off and use a dust-pan brush and get all those little dust bunnies back outside where they belong

(maybe it's a good idea to finally buy a can of compressed air )

That's all I use now for cleaning the internals
.
^ I'd recommend this one. Best one even, It costs a bit more than others you'll find, but it's the only one I've used that gets the job without disapointment.

Avoid cheap ones on eBay. I bought a purple & pink can with a little clipart computer guy on the front simply called "Air Duster". It was half the cost, but it's pure garbage.

 

[Saxtus]

Every 3 Saturdays like clockwork using a leaf blower (at low power).

 

[SandyKnight]

My PC gets dusted real fast due to the constant construction going around my neighbourhood. Keeping the room closed all the time doesn't help. I usually clean it in 26-30 days or something.

And it gets boring and tiring cuz I end up cleaning everything in my case, like everything.

 

[Johnway]

Surprisingly very little. The pc case i have has a load of filters built into it and it catches 99% of the dust in such a way that it keeps my machine dust virtually dust free. Fans don't get clogged and doesn't build up at all.

That said i still clean it, probably 3 times a year at most. Mainly blasting the filters out. I spend more time cleaning my keyboard and desk then my pc. When i do, i use compucleaner and just hoover up the dust that falls out.

 

[PCG Chris]

I may tell on you.

My silence, however, can be bought. I have various price points.

As will be revealed today: he is not the only one of us to use a leaf blower 😲

 

[Aleph Null]

Once per month (usually sunday) i do a basic de-dust with a hair blower and a cloth for the glass which takes about 5 minutes and generally keeps my ocd in check. Then i do a detailed one ,sometimes taking my whole pc apart , once in the first days of winter and once in the first days of summer.

 

[B3NK5]

1 x every 2 month or so i think ^^

 

[james___uk]

Squeezy air blower I got for my camera, no residue, no extra cost, no static charge and effective air blowing. Works a charm

 

[Rogue Leader]

As will be revealed today: he is not the only one of us to use a leaf blower 😲

We (the TH mods) are happy to tar and feather you both then haha

 

[elgenericos]

once a year :·