Step 1 of 1
How to clean
Disconnect the power and take the machine outside, or into a room you do not mind. Dust blown out in the living room settles in the living room.
Use canned air or a hand pump. Not a vacuum cleaner — it generates static, and its suction can pull small components off.
Order: dust filters, case fans, CPU cooler fins, then the graphics card last. Filters are best washed in water and dried completely before refitting.
Pay particular attention to cooler and radiator fins. A millimetre of dust can raise temperatures by ten degrees or more, because it insulates precisely the surface meant to shed heat.
Frequency depends on the environment: every three months in a home with pets, every six in a typical one, once a year in a very clean one. Rising temperatures or fans running more than they used to is the signal that it is time.
