A user cleans a friend’s gaming PC for the first time after many years. And the system really needs it. In the comments, people are already joking whether his buddy lives in the desert.
In a gaming system, a large amount of dust and dirt can accumulate over time. A gamer has now shown a picture of a gaming PC. And it looks like a sandstorm has raged inside. He himself explained on reddit that the gaming system hasn’t been cleaned in 8 years.
At least the owner opened the system a few years ago to install a new graphics card. He replaced his old RX 480 with a newer RX 5700 XT. But the motherboard, CPU, and RAM have already been around for several years.
The pictures clearly show that almost all components are covered with a thick layer of dust and dirt.
“I have been using my PC for 6 years and it is still spotless.”
Other gamers are surprised that a PC can get so dirty. One explains a bit surprised: “I have been using my PC for 6 years and it is still perfectly clean. And I have never opened my PC and only occasionally clean it from the outside.”
Others explain that they cannot imagine such dirt.
I don’t understand how people’s computers can get so dirty – we do have a few air filters in the house, but they are not in my office. We also have cats, and my computer is on the floor. I just cleaned it after a few years, and it was not nearly as bad.
Some explain that it could also be due to poor airflow and poorly positioned fans. Then the fans would carry the dirt into the computer, and it would stay there.
In any case, all the dirt would damage the hardware in the long run. Some are also shocked that one would let hardware get so dirty.
Dirt can cause a PC to overheat and lead to other problems
Why do computers get dirty in the first place? There are always dust and dirt particles in the air, and almost everything releases tiny particles into the air: Your skin, carpets, other electronic devices, and animals all leave their traces in the air, and this eventually settles as dust or dirt on your hardware.
Why should you clean your computer regularly? Dirt and dust clog access paths for air or your fans. This means that some components or parts cannot properly dissipate heat and heat up significantly.
The processor and graphics card then throttle performance to cope with the heat or shut down in an emergency to protect the components. Your PC will then become slower and slower.
In addition, dirty fans are significantly louder, as they have to spin much faster to adequately cool components like the CPU or the graphics card.
Ideally, you should clean your PC once a year
How often should you clean your PC? It depends on how much dirt and dust accumulate in your apartment:
- In most cases, an annual cleaning is completely sufficient, as you will remove most of the dirt.
- If you smoke in your room, have pets, or have many carpets laid out, a semi-annual cleaning is recommended.
Take a few minutes every few months to clean your gaming system. Because with a little care, you will have more from your hardware in the long run than if you let things get completely dirty.
With certain compressed air sprays or microfiber cloths, you can quickly get your hardware clean again. You should definitely refrain from blowing into sensitive parts with your mouth. Because saliva can get on the components. Nintendo has already warned against using blowing techniques to clean hardware. Because moisture and technology do not mix, and in the worst-case scenario, your hardware can rust.
Tips and tricks for your PC: If you are looking for comprehensive cleaning tips and tricks on how to proceed best, check out the following guide on MeinMMO:
