Is dust overheating that desktop?

It turns out excessive dust in your PC can cause more harm that even we thought.  Sudhian.com found that cleaning dust out of a PC cut the CPU temperature down by over 14 degress with the case closed, from 65 degrees before dusting to 50.5 after blasting it with compressed air.  The system was still functioning well at the higher temperature, but likely would have run into problems sooner or later. So if you haven't cracked your case open in a couple of months, you might want to do so before it ends up looking like this fine specimen here.

[8etty @ Dec 19th 2005 2:13AM]

absolutely true for laptops too..after my alienware's fan ran always at 300% (being as loud as a jumbo at takeoff)i opened it, got rid of 13 pounds of cat's hair stuck in the copper cooler and now its silent again

[Al @ Dec 19th 2005 2:13AM]

And we're really starting to hit that point where there are enough desktops that have been out there long enough to get the dust collection. Anything that comes through our department, for any reason, gets the cover taken off and the dust blown out. It's a little disgusting, actually.

[Jeff @ Dec 19th 2005 2:13AM]

I was having this problem for a while where my desktop's CPU (Athlon XP) was running at half speed (that is half its rated clock rate) and I couldn't figure out why. It was intermittent and usually went away with a reboot. Last night it didn't, though; no matter what I did it was stuck at half speed. So I finally checked my temps and noticed I was running at 51C at idle. This is up from 35C about a year ago.

I opened up my PC and while the insides are totally pristine as they always have been, my friggin' *fan filters*, which are designed to catch dust after all, were completely, completely caked with dust. I had just totally forgotten about them - I have filters over every fan intake. (The funny thing is I only realized this when I cranked my fans up to max speed with my fan controller, and realized I couldn't even see the blue LED's on them through the air holes!)

So I just ripped out the filters. The whole point of having them is to prevent overheating from dust buildup on your parts, but if my PC's just gonna overheat because I forget to change the filters, I figure it's a wash. And it'll probably take longer for dust inside the PC to do any real damage (it's a lot more surface that it'd need to cover). And you can just blast it out with a can of compressed air.

[Sebhelyesfarku @ Dec 19th 2005 2:13AM]

Ashes to ashes, dust to dust.

[L'Emmerdeur @ Dec 19th 2005 2:13AM]

If your computer is getting that kind of dust build-up over short periods of time, you might have a bigger problem, in that the environment is filthy.

I open up my computer every few months to remove dust, and there is barely any (usually small concentrations on the edges of fan blades and the such). But I have a lady cleaning my apartment once a week. So no dust in the apartment = no dust in the computer.

[Jeff @ Dec 19th 2005 2:13AM]

"If your computer is getting that kind of dust build-up over short periods of time, you might have a bigger problem,"

Yes, it's called a cat :)

[Apreche @ Dec 19th 2005 2:13AM]

This is why I got a case with an acrylic window. My old computer was a very bland steel beige case. It filled with dust like nuts. My newer computer I can see the dust accumulating, if it does. It definitely leads to a cleaner computing experience, its not just a ricer mod.

[Jeff G @ Dec 19th 2005 2:13AM]

I too thought "blasting" my computer's insides with compressed air would be a good thing to remove the dust.
BUT BE AWARE: if you use a canned compressed air -- keep the can upright when spraying, since air is mixed with water in the can. If you don't, it doesn't mix properly when spraying and you get more water than air....which is what happened to me, frying a card inside the computer.

[Scott Johnson @ Dec 19th 2005 2:13AM]

I recently had a 15krpm SCSI drive die in my home desktop. Upon opening the case for the first time in a year, I almost choked on all of the dust that was released into the air. I'm almost positive that dust was the culprit in my drive's overheated death.

[FReeZe @ Dec 19th 2005 2:13AM]

Yea, my case from 1992 had the same problem as the one in the picture.

[FReeZe @ Dec 19th 2005 2:13AM]

Yea, my case from 1992 had the same problem as the one in the picture.

[Kick Ass @ Dec 19th 2005 2:13AM]

Are you sure your maid didn't dump a vacuum bag on this? Are you sure you didn't buy it second hand from some cement bagging plant? Do you bother even using your vacuum or dust anywhere in your living area? Who the hell ever lets their computer get this filthy? Is it so hard to open your case once every two month to vacuum it? A person who lets their computer get this dusty should be shot or hung.

[RRF @ Dec 19th 2005 2:13AM]

A friend of mine who is a PETA member never vacuums because it might kill some dust mites. I don't vacuum because I'm just lazy, and if my comp dies then it would be a good reason to upgrade.

[Marian @ Dec 19th 2005 2:13AM]

Tell your friend that mites are not pets!