I try to clean my PC at least twice a year because it sits on the floor, where there's always more dust than up on the desk. It's an "airy" case, with large grilles on the top, back and side, including two large exhaust fans. However, I always approach the cleaning process with great trepidation. Touching any component may fry it with static electricity no matter what precautions I take. Compressed air leaves some sort of a liquid residue that smells strongly of some petroleum product (though it evaporates in a matter of seconds), and I don't have specialised vacuum cleaners. The stuff in the casing is quite expensive; I don't want to ruin it, and the dust gets everywhere. How do you guys clean your rigs?

Meh, I've seen worse during my network administration days.

Those seem quite normal whenever I was asked to check something on friend's or relative's (desktop) PC. Obviously they had never opened the case, so there'd be big dustballs inside, and the first thing for me is to get a vacuum cleaner out, and some compressed air.

I've always wished desktop PC cases, and why not laptops, would rather blow air inside, rather than sucking it out (and the replacement air comes in from whatever cracks and slots there are in the case). Then it would be much easier to e.g. filter the air going in, so that dust would not get in. A simple pantyhose in front of the venting hole would do, all the air going in would be filtered through it.

I had spider nest inside of my 386dx chase. Probably they stil alive and living in there at my basement

Do you have to install one yourself, or do modern PC cases have intake fans by default? At least the PC cases I have don't have such, but then they are a bit older type.

I'd also prefer laptops had the same, considering dusting off laptops is usually quite a bit harder than desktops. If you just needed to dust off an intake filter instead every now and then...

Usually you have to install them yourself.

Both of my case fans are for exhaust. Meaning my computer acts as a vacuum cleaner for the floor.

Can I bug you with a REALLY stupid question for a moment? I put a fan on the front of my case a year or so back, and it's worked wonders (I used to get temp warnings from my mobo software when playing "heavy load" games - now not a peep!).

But your comment made me think I should flip it. My case is a tower, my PSU is "top-back" and my fan is "lower- front," as the tower stands. Which way should the fan be pointing and (here's the really stupid part) how do I tell which way it's blowing?

Like I said, it's clearly doing its job as I haven't had a warning in ages. Now I'm just wondering if I can do (or even should) even better.

Hold a strip of paper or ribbon in front of the fan port. If the ribbon goes towards the fan port, the fan is sucking air in. If it is pushed away from the fan port, the fan blades are turned so they are pushing air out of the port.

ALL RIGHT DAMMIT!!!

WHO THE FUCK SNUCK INTO MY HOME AND TOOK THOSE PHOTOS???

It's all a matter of the airflow. With air cooled rigs the most effective method is a essentially creating a small low speed wind tunnel inside your system. This means your airflow should be going in one general direction throughout the case which for a full sized tower usually means front to back. In your case the front fan should be an intake fan as your PSU is serving as an exhaust.

As for how to tell, there is the paper method (i recommend tissue paper as it's lighter and responds to airflow better) but there should be an indicator of some sort on the fan (usually an arrow) that indicates which way the air is going.


Now back on topic, it's pictures like those that remind me why I clean my systems every 6 months.

I see a lot of sawdust in the PCs I occasionally work on, which doesn't cling nearly as tightly as the more organic stuff like hair, dander, skin, etc. that you find in a home environment. Less of that gag reflex kicking in, too. Though I have encountered some units with the case cover removed and rodent droppings inside...

Some of those set-up pics... yikes! Ergonomic nightmares. The ghetto-fabulousness doesn't faze me but the future back problems make me cringe.

have another disgusting computer
http://www.game-debate.com/blog/index.php?b_id=12096&author=spgkolem&blog=Cleaning%20the%20dirtiest%20pc%20ive%20ever%20seen

im not sure i want to know what the green stuff is

Heh I was thinking someone went back in time a decade and took pictures of my rigs... Glad to see that it is yours not mine.