Even if it is for hygiene, it is more than recommended to carry out a periodic cleaning of the PC, inside and outside, including the peripherals. But it’s not just a question of hygiene or to avoid noise, it’s that you can really lose performance due to not doing regular cleaning, and you will immediately understand why.
Did you know that a dirty PC loses power?
When you have been using the PC for a few months, you will notice that it has gradually lost performance. This is partly due to the “garbage” that we accumulate on the computer itself (installations, programs that run at startup, etc.) and it is completely normal, but believe it or not, the Dirt can also affect computer performance.
To understand this, we must first mention a term that surely sounds familiar to you: Thermal limitation. Although this term has become more popular due to these PCIe 3.0 SSDs getting so hot that they have reduced performance, it is actually a safety mechanism that several components of your PC have, and not only the SSD. As we have just said, it is a safety mechanism, and it consists in the fact that when the component reaches a certain temperature, it decreases its performance in order to preserve its integrity (if it decreases its performance, the temperature and consumption are lowered).
And do you know what can encourage the temperature to rise to the point where thermal throttling kicks in? Indeed, the dirt inside the PC. If the inside of the PC is very dirty, lint and soot will begin to accumulate (dust solidifies into soot when heated), blocking the air vents and possibly even causing noise (imagine fan blades filled with soot, as in the image above), breakdowns and short circuits.
If vents (and fans, heatsink foils, etc.) begin to become clogged and accumulate gunk, their cooling efficiency will drop dramatically, causing component operating temperatures to rise. And, if the temperature rises, you run the risk of the aforementioned thermal throttling kicking in, which would affect the PC’s performance. Brief, a dirty PC can lose power.
Clean your PC regularly to avoid problems
As we noted a moment ago, when dust gets inside the PC and settles on top of the components, the heat causes it to solidify forming soot, a sort of paste that stains everything. and block the ventilation grilles. In addition, soot is electrically conductive and could therefore cause short circuits in extreme cases, putting all your precious equipment at risk.
For this reason, it is essential to clean the inside of the PC from time to time, and even more so if you live in a very humid area, since the conversion of dust into soot is aggravated. In case you’re wondering how often you should clean the inside of your PC, our recommendation is that you do it at least every six months, but if you want to follow a specific guideline, that’s what personally, a server has always done:
- Once a month I remove all the dust filters from the box and clean them and the grille behind them.
- Once every six months, I open the two side covers and do a thorough cleaning of the interior, disassembling all the fans and cleaning the fans and grilles well, as well as the dust deposited on all the components.
- Once a year, I almost completely disassemble the entire computer to perform a thorough cleaning. I even disassemble the heatsink and take the opportunity to change the thermal paste to make sure it’s in good condition. I use a soft bristle brush to clean all the nooks and crannies of the motherboard as well.
Believe us when we tell you that by doing this you will improve the functioning of the PC and the components will be in good condition much longer.
