How Bad Is Dust For PC Components?

[Aegon Lannister]

I am planning on buying Deepcool Macube 110 but my concern is that there is no mesh on front panel. And also there is a a cut out beneath the front panel and some sideway small cut outs for ailflow. But as there is no mesh installed, the intake fans will pull in lots of dust. And the place where I live in, excessive dust in the air is a very common thing.

So what should I do? Should I buy this model or buy a case with a mesh?

[Arika]

If you live in a dusty environment then definitely get a case with some kind of filter.  Dust isn't harmful by itself (as long as it doesn't have conductive materials in it) but unless you're going to be opening your case and cleaning it regularly it will pile up which can affect cooling and is a bitch to clean

[LWM723]

It's not as big a deal as some here make it out to be.

[Poinkachu]

2 hours ago, Aegon Lannister said:

I am planning on buying Deepcool Macube 110 but my concern is that there is no mesh on front panel. And also there is a a cut out beneath the front panel and some sideway small cut outs for ailflow. But as there is no mesh installed, the intake fans will pull in lots of dust. And the place where I live in, excessive dust in the air is a very common thing.

So what should I do? Should I buy this model or buy a case with a mesh?

It is better to deal with periodic dust cleaning than trying to solve a thermal problem with a closed off pc case.
In which the latter usually means either :
1. Buying a new case
2. Drilling / DIYing some holes for airflow
3. Opening up the side panels / front panels / both (Which means a whole lot more dust than a mesh without filter anyway)
4. Intentionally making your PC parts performing not at their max capacity.

Plus, you can always DIY a dust filter.
The cheapest option is to use a used stocking, stretched.
There's also a commercial fan filter you can buy, with size ranging from 120mm to 360mm, or custom sized

[_Omega_]

25 minutes ago, Aegon Lannister said:

I am planning on buying Deepcool Macube 110 but my concern is that there is no mesh on front panel. And also there is a a cut out beneath the front panel and some sideway small cut outs for ailflow. But as there is no mesh installed, the intake fans will pull in lots of dust. And the place where I live in, excessive dust in the air is a very common thing.

So what should I do? Should I buy this model or buy a case with a mesh?

Normal dust really isn't that bad if you clean your PC every few months. If it's metal dust (metal shop) or corrosive dust ( can happen when you live very close to the ocean) it gets a bigger problem 

[DoctorNick]

Dust is a problem when you are in a humid enviroment

[Somerandomtechyboi]

It can range from being a mildly annoying eyesore to making your pc not work till you clean it (ive revived multiple boards by just spraying IPA on the socket)

 

Ive personally never bothered with a dust filter or anything like that since i run an open bench but after a year or 2 there doesnt seem to be much dust buildup at all, just some small specks here and there, could just be because i run a 3.3k rpm fan on my cooler though

 

Just clean your pc every few months and you are fine, if you want convenience you could just have high rpm fans that for daily you can set at normal speeds but when you wanna clean dust just max out the speed and watch that dust fly while your pc sounds like a plane about to take off though this is an option you can only get with niche fans or used server fans

[jaslion]

53 minutes ago, Aegon Lannister said:

I am planning on buying Deepcool Macube 110 but my concern is that there is no mesh on front panel. And also there is a a cut out beneath the front panel and some sideway small cut outs for ailflow. But as there is no mesh installed, the intake fans will pull in lots of dust. And the place where I live in, excessive dust in the air is a very common thing.

So what should I do? Should I buy this model or buy a case with a mesh?

Clean it out with some compressed air once in a while and you are good. Either use a compressor or get a pc duster machine. Dont bother with cans 4 of em is enough to get a duster and 6 is enough to pay for a small compressor

[LogicalDrm]

As noted, depends on what kind of dust. Common house dust is just dead skin cells and by itself (and with modern computers), mainly harmless. You would need to have extremely bad airflow case and long time of not cleaning it to have major issues.

 

But addition to special dusts mentioned above, dust with any heavy particles like sand etc. will cause harm. With corrosion, both mechanical and chemical, to plastics, to rubbers, to exposed contacts.

[Sarra]

17 hours ago, LWM723 said:

It's not as big a deal as some here make it out to be.

When I was in HS, we had to literally replace the entire computer in the Art department's ceramic lab at least twice a year.

 

This, however, is a rather unusual circumstance. The dust there was really concentrated, constant, and I think it might have been conductive. Was typical for a PSU to short out internally, and basically fry the entire machine.

[wolfmcbeard]

I'll admit I only properly clean my machines including consoles maybe once a year, and while the dust get's thick, I've never had anything fry or damage stuff from dust and dog hair build up.
If It seems my machine gets hotter than it should, I'll clean it then.
Do it every couple of months if you want to keep things looking pretty and keep in mind stuff mentioned in the earlier posts regarding your own environment and unique dust situations.

[thrasher_565]

for fluid baring is can be but i think most fans dont use that anymore so... also if you smoke that will make the dust sticky, besides that nothing. if you left it and never clean it for the life time of the pc it probably like maybe 5c hotter...

[paulyron]

How do you clean dust if its stuck on your laptop keyboard and the surround areas?

[Rivettz]

Ive personally seen a machine with at least 2 inches of dust on the bottom of it. The owner had it for 10 years and forgot about it in his Woodshop. The machine was running almost 24/7 with exception to a few power outages over the years. All things considered as long as theres nothing conductive in the dust itself, it really isnt the worst thing on the planet.