How to Clean a Computer
Buh?! You can clean your computer? Yes, yes, you can. And why? You want to clean your computer to avoid something we like to call entropy. Entropy is a thermodynamic process that precipitates the eventual failure of a particular component, thanks to heat. Why does this happen? Well, it's simple. Electricity and electronics tend to attract dust (household dust), and that dust collects on the surface of things like heatsinks and casings that are meant to conduct heat and pull heat away from the most heat sensitive parts of electronic equipment. Have you ever seen a central processing unit? It's called a CPU in techie lingo, and it's a pretty cool thing, and because of the amount of electrons that get pumped through her, she needs something like a heatsink to help her cool off. Cleaning your CPU's heatsink and other components in your computer can help extend the life of your computer and even allow you to improve performance by freeing up some thermal headroom for an overclock. So, are you ready to learn how I clean my computer? Take from it what you will.
Cleaning a Computer with Rubbing Alcohol
The first step for cleaning a computer is preparation of the computer and your tools. We're talking about the rubbing alcohol, the Q-tips, the vacuum cleaner, the cotton cloths, and the compressed gas you're going to need to properly clean your computer. One cotton cloth to do the wiping, and one cotton cloth to lay components on when you remove them. I choose cotton because it doesn't tend to produce static electricity like nylon or polyester do. Open the computer case and lay the computer flat on the ground for easier access and to avoid the chance of tipping it over on accident.
Because I own a couple of very expensive Raptor hard drives in a Raid-0 array, I remove these and clean them seperately. If you have a Raid set up, you'll want to mark the cables and hard drives to make sure you know which serial connection goes with which hard drive when you put them back in. If you have a normal hard drive setup, then the process is fairly simple. Pull the hard drive out, wipe the hard drive down with a cotton cloth and rubbing alcohol, use compressed gas to get the dust out of the molex connectors and cracks/crevices, and then lay the hard drive on the other cotton cloth for now.
Next, I simply dust off the heatsinks of both the video card and the motherboard's chipset, outlined to the right. Now, I suppose if you really want to get that video card clean you can go ahead and remove it, but I don't bother because mine is wedged in pretty tight. Just a good shot of compressed gas and maybe a little bit of a q-tip and rubbing alcohol treatment on the chipset heat sink should be enough. Make sure to have that vacuum running to suck up any of the dust you blow off those components.
The CPU is probably the most important part of your computer, so I take extra measures to make sure the heat sink is clean. If you know how to remove your computer's heat sink it will make cleaning your CPU heatsink much easier. All you have to do is shoot some gas through the fins, rub down the rest of the heat pipes and assembly with rubbing alcohol, and be sure not to wipe off any of the thermal paste that should be found on the bottom of the heat sink. If there isn't any, you may want to go to your local PC store and pick up some Arctic Silver Thermal Paste.
The last step is to replace all of the components you removed, clean the dust filter, and wipe down the outside of the case. Most computer cases sold these days have a removeable dust filter that helps to keep dust from entering your computer near the front of the case. I simply wash this down in my kitchen sink and let it dry before reinserting it. Then, I wipe down the outside of the case as thoroughly as possible, vacuuming up any big chunks of dust that I see. It's important to clean the outside of your case if you have an aluminum case because it'll keep the ambient temp. of the air in your case a little cooler. Important stuff if you have an overclocked CPU and memory like I do.
Cleaning a computer with rubbing alcohol really does do the trick, so there's no real need to buy any gimmicky products, except for the convenience they provide I suppose. But as you can see here, my AMD 4400+ overclocked to 2.42 Ghz and my motherboard that holds a 7800GTX and overclocked DDR-433 Corsair memory is running at a cool 32-38 degrees Celsius. This, compared to the 40+ degrees it was hovering at before I cleaned it, is a difference worth noting. If I had the money I might spend an extra $50 for a new heat sink instead of spending half an hour cleaning my OEM heatsink.
Computer Cleaning Kits and Cleaning Services
Small computer businesses will usually clean your computer for a modest price or for free with an upgrade or some sort of maintenance. It can't hurt to have your computer sent in for a cleaning now and again. You'll see the benefits in the extension of your computer's life. Then again, if you're upgrading computers every couple of years, it may not be worth it.
There are computer cleaning kits and products available that you may want to look into if you're looking for convenience and don't want to mess with cotton rags and rubbing alcohol, even though most of these products contain alcohol as the active solvent. Anyway, do your research before buying computer cleaning equipment and products if you're concerned with environmental friendliness. Brands that I would trust begin with 3M and end with Kingston, for computer cleaning supplies at least. Maybe 3M's computer electronics cleaning cloth would be the exception to this rule. It picks up dust without the use of chemicals and can be washed with or without your daily laundry, just don't dry it with fabric softener.
Cleaning Computers Naturally
90%+ Isopropyl Rubbing Alcohol is about as natural as you're going to get here. Really though, the environmental impact of rubbing alcohol and washable cotton cloths is probably less than that of any disposable computer cleaning products you might find on the internet. Granted, Q-tips aren't exactly eco-friendly, but some concessions will have to be made when you're dealing with sensitive electronic equipment.
Compressed Gas is a fairly innate product, from an ecological perspective. Just make sure you pick a brand that instructs you to recycle the can when you're finished with it. This way you can ensure that it will be recycled instead of tossed into the ocean or something.
