Cat or dog in the house and the computer under the desk? MeinMMO editor Benedikt Schlotmann explains why you should regularly clean your gaming PC. Because what he pulled out of the PC after 6 weeks was quite surprising.
As much as I love our two cats, they have a major downside: They shed, and not just a little. And if I don’t have fluff and hair in my nose and eyes during the day or night, then especially one thing suffers: My computer.
My gaming PC is currently still under my desk, but in the long term, the device should move to the table. The cats jump, climb, and play on my PC for half the day. For some time, both of them also slept on my computer. But for my computer, that means every time that more hair gets into my PC. Or, at best, is caught by my dust filters.
After 6 weeks, bundles of hair in the dust filters
How bad does the computer look? While it’s not as bad as some players, whose components are completely covered with dirt and grime, it is still a task to get the computer clean again. Dust and hair tend to accumulate in the fans of the processor and graphics card, but most of the fluff stays stuck in the dust filters of my case.
In the picture, you can see the cat hair and dust that I pulled out of my computer after about 6 weeks. Normally, I clean my computer every 8 weeks, and I would strongly recommend you do the same if you have pets. Because the hairballs that eventually block every crack in the case will prevent fresh air from entering the system and especially warm air from escaping.
What do I recommend to you? Regular cleaning. With two house cats that shed like crazy, it’s worthwhile every 6 to 8 weeks. Another recommendation: Either buy a case with good, pre-installed dust filters or install some afterward. Usually, you won’t pay much for dust filters, but good models keep most dirt from penetrating deeper into your system.
For cleaning, you should use brushes or a soft brush or a vacuum cleaner for the coarse dirt. Removable dust filters can also be cleaned well this way. However, you should not vacuum sensitive components because you could damage them. Nintendo advises against cleaning hardware by blowing, as moisture can reach the hardware through the air.
How does this make itself noticeable? You can especially notice the hair and dust through the noise level. Dirt and dust clog the air intake paths for the fans. This then causes some components or parts to not dissipate heat properly, leading them to overheat. To lower the temperature, your fans work harder.
Dirty fans are therefore much louder because they have to spin faster to cool components like the CPU or the graphics card sufficiently. This usually results in increased wear on the installed hardware.
I have replaced two monitors in my daily life with a large one. And this has been one of the most sensible decisions for the home office. Because I found the time with two monitors to be quite chaotic, also due to the poor monitor mount. Why I can recommend this switch to everyone, you can read in the following article: I swapped 2 monitors for a large one and never want to go back
