I am not a tech person, but I cleaned out my secondhand PC today, and it took hours with the sheer amount of dust accumulation. The fans were nearly overloaded with it!!

Does a clean PC run better / faster than one filled with dust? Or is it more a matter of keeping the fans running easily? Or something else…? Idk, maybe I imagined it, but it seemed to boot much faster after cleaning. Could be wishful thinking!

  • breadsmasher@lemmy.world
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    4 months ago

    Dust traps heat and blocks airflow, fans run worse etc. More heat means more likely the system will throttle down to keep temperatures manageable

  • That_Devil_Girl@lemmy.ml
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    4 months ago

    Computers need to be relatively cool to function properly.

    Dust acts as a heat insulator, trapping heat inside.

    Dust also clogs the cooling fans from doing their job.

    Most computers have built-in features that auto throttle or even self shut-down if the heat gets too high.

    More dust = more heat = more speed throttling & shutdowns.