PC builders and every computer manufacturer in extension, know this fact: heating in a computer will attract dust. In fact, computers will attract dust. Whether we’re talking about a tower PC or a laptop, there’s always something that will attract dust. But, if there’s a dust magnet on any computer, it has to be the fan. What else could attract dust but the thing that blows or sucks in the air?
You can’t put too many fans because of diminishing returns. In addition, more fans don’t always mean better cooling. More fans mean that you’ll be attracting more dust. There’s also the conversation of putting more fans in a laptop, where one is already too many. Adding another fan, or another form of ventilation and the manufacturer risks making the unit too big.
So, in order to achieve optimum cooling, you have to find balance. That almost always means erring on the side of safety, so one fan for a laptop and two for a desktop.
Then, the dust comes. It always comes.
Cooling, Heating, Dusting
You always get what you don’t want when you buy a computer. Unfortunately, It’s always the stuff you don’t want. An old PS2 mouse, a 16 GB USB thumb drive (for what?), and dust. But, it’s not the dust that’s the problem. It’s what it brings with it: less efficient cooling and possibly, malfunctioning parts. It all starts with overheating because dust will get in your laptop or computer. And then, dust will get in the fan blades and decrease its ability to cool your CPU and/or GPU. Before you know it, it starts affecting you too.
It’s best to look for computer repair services before it gets worse. And with more dust, it will get worse. Overheating is one thing, but there have been stories about dust accumulation causing short circuits. A trip to the most popular forums is awash with these kinds of things. Laptop or PC, if you don’t take care of your computer, something bad will happen. You don’t want to waste a thousand-dollar investment now, do you?
People With Optical Drives, Beware
If there’s a certain group that should keep watch at dust accumulation, it’s most definitely computer owners who are still using optical drives. If you’re still using a hard drive, then you have an optical drive. That’s the most vulnerable part of any dusty computer. Dusty PCBs and fans are easy to fix; a dusty hard drive could fail at any minute. This most likely means old computers and people who wanted to save a little bit of money.
The more things that move, the more chance it will break. This is why you rarely see moving parts in any smartphone. It’s the same way with computers, but it’s dust that will come to you.
Cooling, heating, and dusting are the trifecta of computer ownership that if managed well, your computer may live forever with you. But, if you just let it get dirty, something most computer owners are guilty of, you feel a wave of heat from your computer. Before it gets to that, do some dusting and ask for professional help.
