The inside of your
PC can be a scary
place. No, we’re not
afraid of our gear,
but we’re terrified of
the grime!
The very fi rst thing you need to do is pop off
the front bezel and clean out the dust and
cruft from around the fans. If your case is real-
ly dirty, there’s going to be dust caked around
everywhere air moves into the case.
If your case already sports fi lters, care-
fully remove them, wash them with warm
water, and let them air dry for a day or two.
Once they’re dry, remount them. If your case
doesn’t have fi lters, don’t worry; we’ll show
you how to make them.
Next, clean the dust out of your intake
and exhaust fans (skip your CPU fan for the
time being, we’ll take care of it later). First,
use compressed air to knock off as much
dust as possible. It’s likely there will still be
dust left after this step, so next, you’ll need
to wet a towel with isopropyl alcohol and
carefully wipe each blade. Depending on
the direction the fans face, you might need
to actually remove them from the case inorder to fully clean them. Removing a fan
from your case is usually as simple as either
removing the four screws that hold it in
place or unclipping a retaining mechanism.
After you’ve cleaned the fan, make sure you
remount it facing the same direction—the
fans should suck air through the front of the
case and exhaust it out the rear.Y
ou’re the kind of guy who’s serious about keeping his file system clean.
You archive every revision of every file you’ve ever worked on. Your MP3
collection is indexed more ways that Rob Gordon’s. Giving your photos
proper names and tags isn’t enough for you—you geotag each shot with its lati-
tude and longitude. Your desktop isn’t filled with icons. You have the cleanest
hard drive ever.
But, that’s just data. When you crack your rig’s case, you find a dirty, stink-
ing mess inside. Your case hasn’t been taken over by dust bunnies; you’ve got
dust elephants in there—and they’re out for revenge! But don’t worry. Cleaning
your computer is fairly easy; you just need a can of air, some lint-free cloths,
and a few hours. The benefit: Not only will your PC look better, but your cool-
ing devices will move more air and run more efficiently. Before you get started,
you’ll want to disconnect your machine from the rest of your hardware and
move it to a clean work area.Clean Your PC the Right Way
CLEAN YOUR CASE
FILTERS AND FANSBY THE MAXIMUM PC STAFF48 MAXIMUMPC APRIL 2007
how (^2) IMPROVING YOUR PC EXPERIENCE, ONE STEP AT A TIME
TIME HOURS:MINUTES
02 : 04
MATERIALS
CANNED AIR
GLOVES
PAPER TOWELS
DISHWASHER
95% ISOPROPYL
RUBBING ALCOHOL
FLASHLIGHT
PHILLIPS SCREWDRIVER
SWIFFER SWEEPER CLOTH
MASKING OR DUCT TAPE
A can of compressed air makes it easy to
blast the dust and grime that gets caked
onto your fans.
If your rig comes equipped with a filter,
you’ll need to clean it occasionally. Take it
out of the holder and give it a good rinsing!