How do I dust proof my PC ?

I am a freelancer and keep my PC running more than 100 hours per week. Off late it has started to overheat and restart without warning and I opened it to see a lot of dust and balls of fluff and cobwebs. No idea how it got in there ?? (I use a very good casing). I cleaned out the entire dust using compressed air and now I’m thinking of ways to dust proof it. I’m planning to get hold of new improved filters for the casing. At the moment I also use this room air purifier ClairBF2025 http://www.go-clair.com for allergies and am planning to move it to close to my PC casing. Wondering if this will help to dust proof my PC? Maybe if I somehow manage to get rid of dust before it enters the PC it will save me the hassle of cleaning .

Are there any other alternatives or DIY methods for dust proofing a gaming PC ?

Move the cat to another room?

Seriously: if a digital computer “of late (i.e. unexpectedly)” starts to overheat, the problem probably has nothing at all to do with cobwebs, fluff, or … fluffy cats.

Actually, no room would be entirely dustproof and it’s been shown before that dust is the number one cause of overheating problems.

Though to have that much dust, there might be an issue with its location.

Not true at all. Repaired tons and tons of overheating computers over the years and actually,
the most common cause of overheating is dust.

I have to clean my old laptop once every two or three months. It overheats because of dust.

For starters, you could try putting your case higher, if you have it on the floor now.

My graphics workshop is in the basement shared with a dirty woodstove, some cats, a messy workshop and is open to the outdoors when the weather is fine. I get dust/dirt/hair/grunge you wouldn’t believe. When I was still a gamer and building fast gaming computers I learned a neat trick to keep the crud out. The side panel is cut for a large quiet fan which blows enough air to ensure that it’s the only intake. I have a good Hepa dust filter taped to the outside of the box over the fan and change it when it gets dirty (two months or so?). I do the same with my older PC that’s on the net. It runs 24/7 and never gets dirty inside.

Seriously dude, do your preventive maintanance.

google “wonderfoam” and make colerfull gasket seals to keep the dust out, and use a coffee filter over the air intake holes.

Hows that for DIY?!?!

Be careful of using stuff like a coffee or other thin filter material as this sort of stuff clogs quickly. Furnace and other thick filters are impaction type ( https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/HEPA ) which boasts the ability to flow a considerable volume of air even as it absorbs dust and other material.

I have to wonder how old your PC is. If it’s got that much dust, either it’s very, very old or you live in a coal mine. :slight_smile:

Dust free environments are kept that way by introducing filtered air and keeping the dust free room at a slight overpressure, so any air flow goes from clean room to elsewhere, not the other way around. Of course, people working in those rooms have to wrap themselves in a dust free bunny suit, since we humans shed hair and dander almost as much as cats.

A ‘good’ computer case will have a side that pops off easily so you can get in there and blow the dust out periodically. Of course, then you get all the accumulated dust spread all over your work room. The computer shop I take my boxes to takes them outside to the parking lot and blows them clean with an air hose.

buy a can of air and blast it every 3 months
that 5+ squids can save you a fortune

Mine gets a lot of dust. It is like a coal mine here. I take it out and blast it with air. Here is a idea for the city people http://www.amazon.com/b?ie=UTF8&node=3735301 don’t laugh It will work and you will not need to run to the store for a can of air.
My motherboard gets hot on a heat disperser (Is that what you call it) i think it is the north bridge. I put a fan there strung it up with wires.

Here is less than 1 month buildup of dust on a PC. Winter for some reason always makes a thicker buildup than when heaters are not on. I am assuming its because the heaters dry the air and the air flow of the PC intake is causing more of a static charge on the plastic intakes causing the dust to cling to it.


Cleaning it off all the time is quite a pain, some times our air purifier works well at keeping the air clean but barely. I use a detailing brush on a rainbow vaccume to suck it out when it gets like this. I use Rainbow vaccume because it traps all dust in its water tank. Expensive, but well worth it.

As you (obviously) use air to cool your CPU/GPU getting dust is normal as it is part of your air.
Simplest and cheapest fix: Clean the PC from time to time.

How about getting a water cooled configuration. This way you only need the air at the outer side of the cooling system. So you do not get that much air inside the PC = less dust.

You must have it in a location that gets a lot of dust, my old machine was never dusted out in the 5 years I used it and it never overheated.

My bedroom in general though does not get that much accumulation of dust, though in the last year, I don’t know how much of an effect on that was caused by adding a new beagle who likes to come in. The fans on my new machine seem to have gotten a tad noisier though, it might be time to dust it out.

There are some ways that are suggested by the hardcore gamers and overclockers.

  1. Dust filters with the inward facing fans.
  2. Positive pressure. It keeps the dust from entering the cracks and openings.
  3. Clean your room.

I clean my computer with compressed air at least every month, but for some reason ( holydays etc. ) i didn’t clean it for a few months, the computer is next to my feets and my cats, i always leave the case open too, but it never, ever, had so much dust, despite the 7 fans continuously blowing air ( it’s powered on at least 100 hours a week ) and the big heatsinks.

The only reasons i can think of are the following:
-The computer is in a VERY dusty place
-It doesn’t have any filters.

In fact my only protection against dust are 3 filters ( that came with the case ) in front of the main fans. I suggest you then to buy a few cheap air filters and place them in front of the main fans, this schould help alot.

One key is to elevate the machine a good 3+FT from the ground. Don’t tuck it away in some bottom entertainment center where it becomes a makeshift vacuum cleaner.