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Does a clean PC run better than one with a lot of dust in it?

I am not a tech person, but I cleaned out my secondhand PC today, and it took hours with the sheer amount of dust accumulation. The fans were nearly overloaded with it!!

Does a clean PC run better / faster than one filled with dust? Or is it more a matter of keeping the fans running easily? Or something else…? Idk, maybe I imagined it, but it seemed to boot much faster after cleaning. Could be wishful thinking!

breadsmasher ,
@breadsmasher@lemmy.world avatar

Dust traps heat and blocks airflow, fans run worse etc. More heat means more likely the system will throttle down to keep temperatures manageable

SharkEatingBreakfast OP , (edited )
@SharkEatingBreakfast@sopuli.xyz avatar

WHOA!

Removing that nearly entire bucket of dust feels justified now! Makes me happy I wasn’t just wasting my time. Thank you!

LadyMeow ,

……bucket???

xmunk ,

They meant to say hogshead.

AlphaOmega ,

Dust can conduct electricity…

dan1101 ,

Yes if a modern computer gets too hot the CPU will throttle itself and the fans will run faster.

If the computer is on the floor try to get it off the floor at least somewhat. Set it on a box or something.

SharkEatingBreakfast OP , (edited )
@SharkEatingBreakfast@sopuli.xyz avatar

Thanks so much! I have in on a little shelf below my desk. I’ll be cleaning it much more often now!

Anticorp ,

And a less modern PC will burn itself up, or just completely shut down as a safeguard.

fuckwit_mcbumcrumble ,

On top of that modern computers are essentially designed to run as fast as they possibly can while staying just under their max temperature. Especially laptops, they will regularly kiss 100c as part of turbo boost.

Your GPU has a much lower temperature limit and starts throttling way sooner than its max rated temp since they do NOT like running hot. Your CPU will tolerate it, but your GPU is far too large of a chip for this temperature fluctuations.

Anticorp ,

A cool PC runs better than a hot PC, and a dirty, dusty PC is a hot PC. So the answer to your question is “YES!”

RightHandOfIkaros ,

Yes, it will be able to efficiently cool itself better and therefore improve its performance.

Muffi ,

Never underestimate the effect dust can have on airflow and cooling in general

BearOfaTime ,

I have one computer that I can tell is dirty because the CPU and video fans run at max all the time, and the machine slows down (I’m sure it self-throttlws, I have the bios configured to be sensitive to heat).

Clean it and it’s quiet as can be, runs fine.

neidu2 ,

Yes, especially laptops. Dust leads to heat buildup, which is detrimental to performance.
This goes doubly so for laptops, as the cooling rarely has more than one flow “channel”. I open my laptop an clean it out once a year, as it runs somewhat hot even when perfectly clean.

jbrains ,

Yes.

Also a machine on fire tends to run a bit more slowly. 🔥😉

SharkEatingBreakfast OP ,
@SharkEatingBreakfast@sopuli.xyz avatar

I thought it was just those fancy LEDs people put in their computers these days! Like a secret feature!

echo ,

Yes, it can make a very real difference.

dustyData ,

An old Pentium III an extended family member had burned itself out of disrepair. The computer was used for about a decade before being forgotten, but plugged in for some other 5 years. Then they had the bright idea of using the old computer without cleaning it. It all went well for a while it boot up and otherwise was it old win7 self. Except, a couple of days later they let it on overnight. The house owner was awaken alarmed by the fumes of burning plastic and a faint trail of smoke coming from the case.

The over a decade buildup of dust had been trapping heat so bad that some old shoddy HDD power cable melted partially exposing the conducting wires. Then it short circuited and arced through the dust setting some lint on fire.

The flame was minuscule and it was controlled fast. But I would say that, it is indeed wise to clean your computers, at least once in a while.

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