How to clean Hardware Components?

Therefore, the main goal is to maintain a thorough hardware cleaning every now and then, ideally every 2 to 3 months, in order to keep your system fresh and clean, which won’t only help reduce the heat, but also extend the PC components’ life cycles. Find out in this article how to fully and properly clean your PC’s exterior with the following steps.

In case of possible allergies, remember to wear a mask to avoid breathing in any dust.

1) Turn off the PC and unplug the power cable from the back of the PC. Unplug everything if you’d like to be extra safe and secure.

2) Remove the side panels of the case, and only if possible, the front panel as well.

3) Place the computer somewhere well ventilated with an open space. If this isn’t possible, then have a door or window opened for fresh air circulation in the room.

4) Use either an air blower or a can of compressed air to remove the dust from any heat sinks such as the power supply, CPU or graphics card cooler.

5) Use a lint-free cloth or the can of compressed air to clean any extra dust from all dust filters, including any obvious and clear built up collections of dust in the case’s base.

 6) Once confirmed that a spot of dust hasn’t been missed, put back the panels and re-plug everything back on the PC.

Now, it’s necessary to mention that sometimes a deep clean is called for your PC. Clearly, a deep clean means much more than just light dusting. 

At this point, it’s recommended that literally everything is removed from the case, this includes redoing all the cable management, unhooking all the drive caddies and even draining the water-cooling loop. In addition, it’s essential to ensure that if you remove the CPU heat sink, which isn’t strictly necessary, removing and re-applying the thermal paste will be a must. 

This can be done either by letting experts handle it, or you can do yourself, and if you’re not sure how, then feel free to read our previous article regarding the application of thermal paste.