IT·Science Talk

Small guide: clean your PC before winter (your fans will thank you)

Every autumn I open my PC and every autumn I find a small grey animal made of dust living in the CPU cooler. Here is my routine, for people who never did it.

1. Shut down, unplug, wait a minute. Touch something metal to discharge yourself.

2. Take it outside or near a window. Use short bursts of compressed air, and hold the fans with a finger so they don't spin too fast.

3. Clean the dust filters, usually at the front and bottom. Most people don't know they exist.

4. Don't use a vacuum cleaner inside, it can create static.

Result: quieter, cooler PC, and games that stop stuttering. As a game tester, my PC is my office, so this is basically me cleaning my desk once a year. Proudly.