How long can you leave a gaming computer uncleaned

[WolfLoverPro]

I have never done a real PC clean or dust out and I would like to know how long I have until it breaks and what happened first ? I'm guessing the fans will clog THEN not spin and then it will just overheat but new computers have auto shutdown so I would've though I can leave it till then and then clean it

 

mt specs r 

 

i5 4690 non k 

 

gtx 1050 2gb

 

8gb

 

1tb

 

500w

 

i only have the side fan and a BACK fan unless you count the graphics card fan and cpu but it seems to blow cold air even when playing games so

[TVwazhere]

5 hours ago, WolfLoverPro said:

 I can leave it till then and then clean it

That's like saying you're going to wait until the unchanged oil in your car seizes the engine and then you'll do an oil change...... If your case has dust filters why not just clean them every few months?

[TheGlenlivet]

It depends where they are and how much up time they have, but I clean mine with canned air once every 3 months.  The power supply overheating would probably be the most critical thing with the worst protection, though I'm sure higher end ones have a shut down system built in.

[SlipperyPete]

if the PC is being used on a somewhat regular basis the fans will never stop spinning due to dust. Temps will creep up over time but that is a year+. techncally you could leave it as long as you want but it will probs never get to the point where it will auto shut off. that being said lower temps will extend the life of the components so using a bit of compressed air every 6-12 months would be best

[WolfLoverPro]

Just now, TVwazhere said:

That's like saying you're going to wait until the unchanged oil in your car seizes the engine and then you'll do an oil change...... If your case has dust filters why not jsut clean them every few months?

I do but thing is well the back fans are ever so slightly dust and the graphics card top like the electronic board looks a bit dusty only a bit but idk of I'll have to clean that as dust will still get in even with the dust thing 

[Wwadsworth]

3 minutes ago, WolfLoverPro said:

I have never done a real PC clean or dust out and I would like to know how long I have until it breaks and what happened first ? I'm guessing the fans will clog THEN not spin and then it will just overheat but new computers have auto shutdown so I would've though I can leave it till then and then clean it

 

mt specs r 

 

i5 4690 non k 

 

gtx 1050 2gb

 

8gb

 

1tb

 

500w

 

i only have the side fan and a BACK fan unless you count the graphics card fan and cpu but it seems to blow cold air even when playing games so

The PC I built for my mother was never cleaned out for a little over 7 years. Thermals were good (40 idle ~65 load). I'd say clean it when either: A) You look into it and are disgusted B) You see thermals going up. 

[WolfLoverPro]

1 minute ago, SlipperyPete said:

if the PC is being used on a somewhat regular basis the fans will never stop spinning due to dust. Temps will creep up over time but that is a year+. techncally you could leave it as long as you want but it will probs never get to the point where it will auto shut off. that being said lower temps will extend the life of the components so using a bit of compressed air every 6-12 months would be best

So what's the worst thing I use my PC everyday so if I leave it never clean well I clean the case dust caracher that's it cuz I don't need air but what can happen if i really never ever clean the inside will it just burnout ?

[Eduard the weeb]

5 minutes ago, WolfLoverPro said:

I have never done a real PC clean or dust out and I would like to know how long I have until it breaks and what happened first ? I'm guessing the fans will clog THEN not spin and then it will just overheat but new computers have auto shutdown so I would've though I can leave it till then and then clean it

 

mt specs r 

 

i5 4690 non k 

 

gtx 1050 2gb

 

8gb

 

1tb

 

500w

 

i only have the side fan and a BACK fan unless you count the graphics card fan and cpu but it seems to blow cold air even when playing games so

use compressed air not a vacum unless you want to destroy your system, if you have dust filters it will need cleanings less then if not but clean out the dust filters if you do have it.

[AbleRyder]

Its not usually necessary to clean a gaming PC that often, gaming PCs usually have dust filters and cleaning them every few weeks is quite enough. Using canned air every couple months is ideal to keep the thermals from going too high and to keep yourself content with the clean look.

[SlipperyPete]

2 minutes ago, WolfLoverPro said:

So what's the worst thing I use my PC everyday so if I leave it never clean well I clean the case dust caracher that's it cuz I don't need air but what can happen if i really never ever clean the inside will it just burnout ?

not really. it COULD lead to increased temps which COULD cause your components last for a shorter period of time

[Valkyrie Lenneth]

depends on how ur airflow is and if u got dustfilters or not, i can leave my pc 2 years without cleaning and the inside will still be clean ;v

[WereCatf]

The answer is obviously: it depends. How much dust there is in the environment around your PC, if you have dust-filters on the fans, if you have an under-pressure case or over-pressure case (over-pressure has a little worse cooling-performance, but keeps dust out better and vice versa) etc. I, personally, clean my PC up once or twice a year, but I have dust-filters and an over-pressure case.

[AncientNerd]

Basically I check the computers in my family every couple of months - if they are showing external dust on the output fans (or worse yet input fans) I will clean them. Otherwise leave them go. I think the longest I have let one go is a couple of years when it was sitting on top of a dresser, in a closed room with very little dust or external air movement to bring dust in, even then it was really okay and I only cleaned it because I was adding more storage and it was open anyway.

[mariushm]

A lot of  stupid questions on this forum... or super generic, as if we can guess things.

 

To answer your question. IT DEPENDS.

 

It depends on how much DUST there's gonna be in your room. That depends IF you open your windows or not (maybe you have air conditioning with air filters).

It also depends on how many people are usually in your room. One person will shed less dead skin than a lot of people going around in your room. Dust has a lot of dead skin cells and crap from floor mats , carpets, clothes etc

 

Then it depends on your computer and how the coolers are designed, how much space there's between fins, how much the dust will choke the air between the fins, how good the fans are (higher static pressure will push air for longer time through dust filled fins on the heatsink)

 

Computers these days will rarely die. They'll just throttle themselves down in frequency to keep temperatures below some threshold. If you have a cpu cooler with heatpipes and lots of fins and a 92-120mm fan, you're most likely going to be able to keep your Intel CPU working WITHOUT any fan (just the heatpipes and fins spreading heat into the air around the cpu) and the cpu would simply throttle itself down if needed to something like 1.8 ghz to stay below 90c (if the heatsink is that bad).

 

The video cards also are very low power at idle (windows, watching movies) they use something like 10-20 watts and that much can be dissipated by the heatsink on them without having to use fans. The 1050 uses what.. 50w even at full load... it won't die even with the fan broken .. it will just throttle itself when it reaches 90c and you'll get low performance in games.

 

The heatsinks can be choked full of dust and nicotine (if you're smoker) and your PC is likely to still push through and keep working.

Even the power supply could probably function without a fan, because your system won't use more than 100-150w even when gaming (the video card simply doesn't use that much power) so a 500w power supply if it's good quality, it will chug along at 80-100c on the inside pushing 20-30% of its maximum power just fine.

 

[SnowyMus]

It depends on a lot of things: the case, where you're keeping it, how often it's powered on, the type of fan configuration you use, how fast you run your fans, how many fans you have, if your power supply filtered, etc.

 

The answer is that you'll just have to check after a few months of using your PC. If you have dust buildup, then you'll know how long it takes for you to leave it uncleaned. Some cases even have dust filters on the intake vents which will collect dust.

[chilicheeseburger]

Just clean it 2 or 3 times a year, no big deal.

[Beef Boss]

Unless it's near Salt water and you have it exposed to salt water, it should be fine for a long time 

[BDev]

Oh, my new case has some dust filters all over the place. Do i need to care only about cleaning them and that's it, or do they let dust enter on my case anyway?

[Beef Boss]

15 minutes ago, BDev said:

Oh, my new case has some dust filters all over the place. Do i need to care only about cleaning them and that's it, or do they let dust enter on my case anyway?

Nah, just clean the filters and you should be good. If there is any dust that enters, it would be minimal.

[WolfLoverPro]

20 minutes ago, BDev said:

Oh, my new case has some dust filters all over the place. Do i need to care only about cleaning them and that's it, or do they let dust enter on my case anyway?

Well like the filters will catch the dust but they still have holes so I though dust would go in wouldn't it then catch when it build up that's what I though