How Often Should You Clean Your Computer?

[@NigelMelanisticSmith]

The worst part to clean is always the heat sink on the top of the cpu, it seems like the rest of the PC can be squeaky clean and that thing will still capture dirt

[@doctordothraki4378]

*reads in AIO liquid CPU cooler*

[@NigelMelanisticSmith]

@@doctordothraki4378 one day lol

[@ventilate4267]

I just wash mine in the sink, and make sure it's dry after, and don't forget to clean the cold plate with alcohol after

[@Bigdog1787]

I don't have this problem I don't think I get any dirt hardly on the cpu been using water-cooling for years though. Item that gets the most dust is GPU I just take it out and blow it out/use a artist brush.

[@oblivioncrises]

My CPU heat spreader always has this weird goop on it that have to clean off

[@MmntechCa]

I remember a time before cases came with dust filters. Man, those were an absolute god send. Best tip I've got is to keep your chassis off the floor, and preferably in a room without carpets. If using a compressor, make sure to set the outlet pressure to a low PSI. Also don't use one in a humid environment, as you'll just be blasting your rig with water vapor.

[@rwhite9994]

Yeah, so important. If using a compressor also make sure you have a inline filter on it, to prevent water, oil from spewing in also -they do that. And people be sure to oil your compressors. PRotip, buy some air filter sheets from big box stores like lowes in the shop vac section. Cut to size and cover your intake fans/ fan openings. Be sure that you get the right filter that you can easily blow through, but is still tight enough for dust. Also use good quality fans that have high pressure and flow instead of just cheap ones that spin fast. These filters sheets are sooo much cheaper then buying filters off Newegg. Sometimes you will find filter bags for shopvacs for really cheap to, just cut em to size. No need to ever double layer a filter.

[@Nico1a5]

Depends on the dust filter. I had ones for individual fans and they clogged up already in one or two days, increasing the temperature faster than with no filters at all

[@AltonV]

@@Nico1a5 maybe your environment is just super dusty?

[@budiisnadi]

My room is >75% humidity all the time. Pray for my PC to last a long time.

[@EnsignLovell]

Best tip I have, is hoover once a week below your desk or computer. Once a month even. The dust comes from somewhere, and it isn't just magically from thin air, clean room happy PC.

[@Appl_Jax]

Dang... that fan tip when cleaning is invaluable. Never crossed my mind to hold it in place.

[@brandonlee8400]

backfeed can also happen to some automobile e-fan conversions without a diode

[@mimiko8577]

i tried it but it's so hard

[@DrewGlenzer]

This is one of the reasons that see through panels on cases is a good trend. It's easy to see when it needs to be cleaned.

[@aiza9052]

Huh! Never thought those could actually have a practical application. Makes a lot of sense.

[@ManchmalGaming]

Not if you have it under your desk.

[@TheGameBench]

Here's the trick... it's hard to say considering the amount of variables involved and some people have MUCH dustier environments. Some people can't make it a couple of months. I imagine there are a lot of people that could reduce a lot of the dust in their home with a vent cleaning and regularly changing their furnace filter.

[@TheOriginalFaxon]

We regularly change our furnace and vent filters, our in house air filters, and clean the house semi-regularly for cat hair and the like, but because of where we live, dust builds up in weeks, not months. Nothing to be done about it, nature is trying to murder me lol

[@Raivo_K]

@@TheOriginalFaxon Same here. It's very dry and dusty in our apartment. So at the very minimum i have to clean my PC twice a year. 3-4 times optimally. Basically one cleanup every quarter. More than the dust inside my PC im annoyed by dust everywhere else. And i dont even have a cat.

[@RipleySawzen]

My PC has a filter in the front that keeps out all but the smallest dust particles. Those really tiny ones tend not to settle anywhere in the case, so I end up only cleaning the outside a few times a year. I've only blown out the inside of the case once in like 4 years.

[@GGray.]

Does your pc run hot bec of that?

[@jacobfausnight1180]

I hope you're cleaning the filter or replacing it, because the dust will clog it and you PC will have reduced performance due to the lack of possible cooling

[@LillyP-xs5qe]

Same, a massive full tower, Corsair obsidian 750D

[@atakorkut5110]

I did this for my new build and I can confirm it’s great to keep it off the floor preferably not in a basement or attic room with ac and no rugs

[@RipleySawzen]

@@jacobfausnight1180 Yeah I just give the filter a quick vacuum every once in a blue moon. It's only about 4 inches off the floor but that seems to be more than enough to make the dust only build up slowly.

[@wizardwithsmg]

One benefit of the glass cases with lighting everywhere is the dust is always visible which should hopefully convince you to clean it when it's dirty. Closes off cases usually sit on the floor and get ignored, making a roach hotel.

[@fohhee]

The more frequent you clear your PC, the less time it take to clean it each time. I find makeup brush work well when dusting inside and out of PC.

[@rubiconnn]

I just blast it max power with a huge shop air compressor. Never had any issues and I do the same thing 5 figure servers at work. Just make sure you are using an oil free compressor.

[@doctordothraki4378]

I used Xtreme Klean disposable compressed air dusters from Fry's Electronics until they closed in February 2021. After that, I switched to an Opolar brand battery electric air duster. And I clean my 9-year-old gaming rig every 6 months (June/July and December) 2:42 looks like a Gigabyte motherboard from the early 2010s, similar to what's in my gaming rig

[@YOEL_44]

While it's true that Gigabyte used some blue accents in their MOBOs, it was not that common for them to anodize heatsinks in blue, to me it looks more like an LGA 1055 Asus or MSI board.

[@theBabyDead]

1 ) Get a mesh filter so you don't have to clean the components themselves. 2 ) I've used a vacuum for over 20 years as a techie and I've literally never had any negative consequences from it. I have, however, had negative consequences from canned air, like blowing dust INTO places it shouldn't be.

[@Neozgred]

That is so true

[@PPlankBeam]

Dust filters every few weeks. Then every 3-6 months a proper clean - having a glass sided case doesn't always let you see the dust build up, especially if it's smoked glass. I will use a can of compressed air to blow the big stuff and have a vacuum cleaner nozzle taped nearby (6-12 inches away) to suck up the dust particles from the air. I also use small makeup brushes to help get the dust off the case and CPU fans and all the little nooks and crannies, and do the same for my GPU. I remove it from the PC, unscrew the fans and treat them to a nice dusting with the makeup brushes then reassemble it all and slot it back in. I sometimes will remove the PSU to give it a "better" cleaning as I rely heavily on the dust filters to keep it clean. I've been doing it this way for 7+ years now and usually set aside a couple of hours to do it all.

[@MrEpyLeptik]

Actually, I have a little set of paint brush, different size to clean different surfaces, and a lil table vacuum cleaner that I hold mid air to catch everything I wipe with the brushes. Really effective, cheap, reusable, and so much cleaner than just blowing air on the thing

[@cyberbird2014]

The point is that you can clean different parts at different rates. The exterior, for instance, can easily be wiped with microfibre cloth or vacuumed every week, while the fans can be quite quickly cleaned once every couple months and the PC as a whole given a thorough cleaning every semester or so. Little but continuous effort can save you from having to spend many (exhausting) hours cleaning your pc from top to bottom, usually after something went wrong. This kind of effort not only keeps everything going smoothly but also makes your setup look prettier, more energy efficient and reliable. It's also nice to always cover the fans with some kind of dust filter. And clean your room, too, as well as yourself.

[@rk28984]

Good to know! Yesterday I cleaned my PC for the first time after 3 years as I installed some new components. Looks like I did everything right except the spinning the fans part. Was pretty dusty as I use a Meshify C. I think a lot of dust was sucked in because of the top venting holes that has no dust filter. To prevent that I also installed two old fans there and set them to minimum spinning speed to always blow a little bit of air out.

[@bou222]

Thanks for the informational content. I can share this with friends and family. To help them maintain their equipment. Thank you LMG and James!

[@Nickerian91]

I do use a compressor myself to blow things off but its good to remember that compressing air create water which is ejected when you use the "airgun". Water/oil separator is pretty much required to make sure there is no "drops" flying into your mobo. It does not remove all the water from the air but it removes any chance of droplets.

[@jorgemtds]

Great tip about stopping the fan while using a compressor!!! I'll start doing it now!!!

[@TheFinalFrontiersman]

Electroboom's static discharge tests with Linus make me think that the vacuum or compressed air methods of cleaning are just fine. Maybe a video about it? 👉👈

[@ikbintom]

Yeah and spinning your fans might be fine as well..

[@TheFinalFrontiersman]

@@ikbintom have you ever heard of this amazing invention called your other hand? It works wonders for doing things like holding a fan still while your other hand holds the air nozzle. Pretty effective too ;)

[@itsmyright2229]

@@TheFinalFrontiersman It's a new innovation. You can't expect everyone to be that tech-savvy. Ugh, nerds these days!

[@ikbintom]

@@TheFinalFrontiersman m m m my other w wh what? 😰

[@ponyslavestation4669]

Iv been using vacuum cleaner to clean pcs for years with no problems.

[@torrxknight2064]

When cleaning your pc, don't forget your peripherals! I had a client who didn't clean any for nearly two years straight, and I ended up needing to take apart his keyboard and deep wash years of food, hair, and some bugs. The keys were so much more "springy" and responsive afterwards!

[@leonidastankiangaming]

I don't use dust filters and I only ever need to clean my PC once a year. I do use an air purifier to help with dust buildup in my room. I use an electric duster 99% isopropyl alcohol wipes to clean my PC. I also wanna mention that I have a mesh front and side panel for intake on my chassis (LANCOOL II MESH). My system just stays quiet efficiently cools itself with positive airflow.

[@IntelArcTesting]

Dust is awesome. Nothing more satisfying then blasting dust with compressed air

[@_vizec]

Note on using an air compressor: most compressors will build up gunk and water from condensation on the inside of the tank over time, but even a newly cleaned one can still blast water and particles out of it. Because of this it’s best practice to have a desiccant between the hose and the compressor, then a filter on the end of the hose before the nozzle. That’s what I have and this setup also allows you to do automotive painting.

[@doodskie999]

They sell those small handheld air blower with a brush on the tip. Works very well

[@chhavimanichoubey9437]

yesterday i was thinking about cleaning my pc and was watching linus and other youtubers videos on cleaning pc and laptop, now today i got this video.

[@GeoStreber]

I have this industrial vacuum cleaner/blower, which I use to blow all the dust out about once every 6 weeks.

[@iggysixx]

Pro-tip for tight spaces: those brushes to 'floss' between your teeth. It's basically a nylon version of a pipe cleaner. Very effective for gunk that's stuck. (And soft enough not to damage things). Also; simply a soft toothbrush. (The bristles are nylon, the whole thing is non-conductive. As for vacuum cleaners; just make sure you have a plastic attachment on the end. (Don't go near it with the metal pipe.. That way static electricity won't be a problem.) This is all 'in MY experience', by the way. Please correct me if I'm wrong :)

[@iggysixx]

Also; Plastic (PP) packaging can make for effective suuuuper thin 'dust-out-of-small-spaces-getters' PP doesn't break that easily. Just cut the shape you need with some scissors. (A small 'hook' shape on the end can help a lot to get dust bunnies out of thin, tight places)

[@Temac000]

Since it’s so hot this summer, it would be nice to hear about some how to cool your pc tips

[@leoMC4384]

I clean mine once a year. Surprisingly, even when there's dust in my room, there's much less inside my case.

[@Breadts1cks]

That cat comment is very true. I've had several instances of my cat sending me to bed because he jumps on my PC tower and shuts off the whole thing mid-game.

[@InternetEntity]

*Laughs in open-air test bench*

[@kenosabi]

Cries in too many cats. 🤷‍♂️

[@charliemaybe]

@@kenosabi cries in no computer

[@doctordothraki4378]

*Cries in 9-year-old gaming rig*

[@eddybooboo9916]

Don't even bother buying them cans just get a plug in air duster there like 30 /40 bucks maybe even cheaper if you catch them on prime days or black Friday like I did... well worth it and good for cleaning around the house to super handy for a lot of jobs....

[@akonako364]

For fans if the pins are accessible to remove, you can pull it out before blowing it. My routine on cleaning my PC is just blowing out the dust every 2-3 months specially on fans, then full cleaning every 9 months.

[@harrkev]

My advice (especially if you have pets): get a Roomba or similar robot vacuum. Make sure to get one short enough to get under the furniture. This makes a Huge difference in the amount of dust in my house.

[@MastaT]

I use to clean mine quarterly cuz it was closer to the floor. But now that I have a smaller case and its sitting on a desk Ive been cleaning it moreso around every 6 months

[@MisterCasket]

Could you make a video for how (often) to clean a console? Thanks!

[@commodorecheetah8874]

I have my PC on a shelf above my desk. Last time I have cleaned it is about 2 years ago and now it still looks only lightly dusty. Plus, I have plenty of room on my desk and floor without that bulky PC.

[@adriankerrison]

Definitely did not know the bit about letting fans spin! Thanks!

[@hacked2123]

Custom built my gaming server, I never clean it, but it is prestine :) two rosewill 4u cases turned into an 8u, then I got a 20" box fan in front with a 20x20x2 air fitler in front of that. I think I pay $5 a filter every once a year

[@guybd5521]

It also depends on how new your PC is. When my PC was new I was cleaning it every 2 months or so, now my pc is 8 and I clean it every 6+ months at best

[@Arthzil]

Is there even a question? You start seeing dust - you clean it up. 5 minute adventure in and out!

[@GAMERUGLYJUJU]

I found over 52 bugs mostly cockroaches in my old desktop pc

[@VormirBlas]

Maybe a cool topic would be waveforming. I just took a class on radars that talked about how wave forming and phased arrays work and it was mind-blowing. It would be interesting to other people I think.

[@kingdomculture5743]

Thanks for the advice!

[@mr.waffles8739]

holy shit I had no idea I could wreck my board by spinning the fan, when I clean it a lot of times I sprayed it to make it spin and see how fast I could get it lol

[@martingorbush2944]

I've got tick dust filter on the front of my PC case. With positive pressure inside it mostly prevents cumulation of dust there. I just use vacuum cleaner to clear that front once a week.

[@sleveille4]

since i have my cosmos 1000 (so it's been a while), it's easy. filters once / month, dusting of the internal once a year, along with the liquid change

[@TwinShards]

I just clean my front filter every few months. As so long my pc doesn't start to over heat or i see my radiator start to clog i wont bother doing a full clean up. Once i see my front filter as clog enough that i can clearly see the filter can't let air through is when i clean it.

[@MK-hi4jy]

I had no idea about stopping the fans from spinning while cleaning. Thanks

[@DeianLightbringer]

Thanks James & Team

[@johanlahti84]

I clean mine every three-four months. mostly filters and fans are a bit dusty at that point. fresh paste and no dust is the way to go

[@attovidoes]

Was gonna clean my pc. When this video came. Perfect

[@rossharper1983]

Weekly, every Saturday morning I get up at 4am and clean my Lan room and 5 PC's while listening to the WAN show

[@kuroyuki4457]

I only cleaned my PC recently because I had to change the thermal paste of my GPU. If you have dust filters and a lot of positive pressure in the pc you don't need to worry about dust that much.

[@AndyMutz]

2:53 thank you! it's absolutely mind-blowing how many techtubers do this the wrong way..

[@MistyKathrine]

3:15 That's actually why unplugging your fans is a good idea before cleaning them.

[@Aminsx_]

My favorite part has always been spinning the blade with the air compressed can.. :(

[@Tmjpwns]

Air blowing trough a plastic tube makes static electricity though.

[@Nemesis_T_Type]

I've been using art brush and blower from a vacuum cleaner for 20 years and never had any problems. Just touch the brush to remove static(never had static) and make sure that the blower blows dry air.

[@HenHen5000]

One thing worth mentioning is that canned air is really bad for the environment. So a compressor with a regulator or an electric dust blower (like a miniature leaf blower) is preferable from that point of view.

[@nukedathlonman]

I guess my computer is over pampered at being detailed once a month.

[@uthmanbaksh3530]

regular cleaning maintenance is key, much like your car.

[@noble_lime]

Dust also absorb moisture

[@ku0n349]

A few weeks ago I was cleaning my brothers laptop with a compressor, I've done cleaning on our PCs so many times but this time my fingers slipped and thus the fan spined and something I've never seen happened. The blades just completely flew off the fan, it had like 60 blades and none survived, It pretty much just exploded. It was glorious though the replacement part is about 75usd

[@avrel820]

For the case or chassis i use a swifer duster then i wipe down the surface with a soft dusting cloth I always take out all fans and radiators to clean them. Same for Aio and even laptops i use my air compressor making sure not to get to close. If GPU is dirty i open it up carefully and clean the radiator and fans separately

[@novakevin]

Dust can also cause an electrical short, I had an issue while cleaning my dad's PC, I turned it on and POP... wouldn't boot after that, RIP

[@KYSMO]

LMAO at the sponsor ad - they are not really selling DDR3 kits, are they?

[@degenskonto6408]

Battery powered air pump for mattresses work incredibly well in my experience

[@Sir_Uncle_Ned]

Yeah, I need to pick up one of those canless air things. All the benefits of canned air without all the propane and butane!

[@beste_finanzen587]

I love this teaser picture😅

[@marcinus2000]

PC clean every week, deeper cleaning once a year, changing thermal paste once every 2 years. Yesterday i change the paste in series x...and what was inside was terrible. But now, even menu works faster without any stutter...thermal grizzly rocks!

[@LimbaZero]

That why I like Fractal cases. They have nice filters in air intake. Just need to clean them every 2-3 months. Maybe one a year to check if there any dust got through filters.

[@aarongavin1204]

I'm a little OCD about cleaning my PC and set up and I usually clean all my peripherals on a weekly basis, I live in Montana which is technically a desert area with how dry we are so everything just gets super dusty all the time, but my desk and keyboard and everything else on there I clean once a week, including my dust filters, I usually do it on my last day of work so its all clean for my weekend, but even then after I clean it all up and sleep for a bit its already pretty dusty when I wake up, and I open up my PC and clean out everything once a month, which includes the filters, fans, radiator, all the panels and get the glass side panel looking real nice again, and I feel like this isn't even enough my PC gets so dirty so fast and I have a Fractal Meshify 2 which has some good filters on all the intakes, but I guess that's what living in a desert will get ya

[@blueblade455]

2:41 Had me cracking up! 😅🤣

[@chonkeboi]

I somehow never realized that it’s been 2 years since I got my pc and I’ve never cleaned it once 💀

[@twossday5758]

I’m in the same boat. But I’m to lazy

[@harleyanzuck]

My computer has been the same since I bought it 7 years ago (Didn't even change the thermal paste) now I'm ironically working in computer maintenance and taking care of that lmao.

[@John_1920]

03:04 Huh, I'll admit, this is completely new to me, but now that I think about it, it makes so much sense that I'm shocked I didn't even figure it out myself, this is the same way that those great big wind mills generate electricity from the wind pushing the blades and making them spin!

[@NotSoGoodDark]

Dude.... That scene of Linus with the cats made me realize that he's super old now.... crud, I'm old now....Wait I'm not even thirty! WTF

[@E05army]

Just me or did he really say "elite DDR3 16 gigabyte tits" at 1:42😂😂

[@GreenFox1505]

When I lived in Arizona desert, I needed to clean my computer every month and it still wasn't enough. Now I have a dog and have to clean up the intake fans every week or so.

[@user-Cata7sti7ma7]

Every wednesday with a soft nylon brush. The same day that I wash the house, clean my room,sanitize my Mouse and Keyboard ect... Using the same brush for the last 9 years. Best 5 buck spend. Air Can are convenient, but it's a lot of waste.

[@CDArena]

In 10 years of working IT, and 30+ as a hobby, I've run into only two "really bad" computers. One was in a friends house - this friend smoked. The inside of his computer was coated in stucky yucky dust; a combination of nicotine, smoke, and regular dust. I told my friend before I worked on it, he would need to buy a bottle of alcohol and wipe it down. (I think the problem he had was with the CD reader, but after opening the PC I backed away from fixing it. The second computer was driving a CNC router in a wood shop. The PC was in an office, and the cables to the router and sled ran through a small hole in the wall; the office had an AC duct and a door, so you think it would be okay, but when I opened the PC it looked like someone had poured sawdust all over. The door had a gap along the bottom, and apparently the door was not always kept closed. I ended up replacing the PC, taking the old one back and blowing it out with compressed air. DVD reader in that one was toast, and the power supply had issues. Apart from that, we would replace all PCs every 4-5 years; the old ones would get blown out with air and the higher end ones re-used for education programs, etc. None of those even came close to the two bad ones: a little dust and maybe a small dust bunny.

[@Bob_Smith19]

I clean once a quarter on a schedule. It’s no different than changing the filter in your heating/AC system. Preventive maintenance prevents problems in the future.

[@tharii314]

Here's another thing you might wanna cover. Intel 11th gen iGPUs have gotten so problematic with graphic rendering. Many folks were reporting glitchy webpages, stripped down QR codes. And I'm facing the problems too, on my all new lenovo laptop. Either I use Mercury playback engine: Software Only or OpenCL on Premiere Pro, *More than a half of* video effects and transitions won't work properly. I'm afraid it would screw up and hang once I install OrCAD for my upcoming university modules on PCB designing. Surprisingly, just playing games instead goes better (some of them still warns me about unsupportive hardware acceleration.)

[@xorkatoss]

pro tip: every night before sleep I cover my pc and both my monitors with a cheap plastic tablecloth, it really keeps a lot of dust out! I also use to do this with my PS3 & PS4 and it's amazing!

[@zenmasterwannabe]

Wow, I thought I knew what I needed to know already but I'm glad I let the video continue, I had NO idea about the current reversal with fans! Yikes. I've done that a lot lol

[@CodeZeeZ]

You should have added that a dust filter on the fans that suck air in reduces the amount of dust dramatically.

[@Kado1609]

sometimes i forget how lucky we are to have youtube... so much information with just a few words and a click

[@vladislavkaras491]

Thanks for the video!

[@YOEL_44]

I have a couple of air conditioner filters that I plan on cutting to make custom high density dust filters, as of now, I just have it in my desk, with some high feets and I vacuum it regularly, not the components, just the chassis.

[@fvalheim1]

My 12 year old I5 and mobo with gt 1030 still surviving and every 3 months I always cleaned it and still play eSports titles with no lag.

[@smallbutdeadly931]

One thing that this video forgot to mention is that you can purchase filters that go on the outside of your PC that will drastically reduce the amount of dust getting in your PC. Granted, you will still need to clean them, but it is much easier to wipe off an external filter than to blow dust off every internal component in your PC. They will restrict airflow a little, but it is much better than having dust clog up your heatsinks. I'd recommend buying the more pricey Ultra-fine mesh filters as they do a really good job at catching dust. I personally bought some Silverstone filters and they work fantastic!

[@PlaceholderforBjorn]

I use a electrical compressor for all my computers. I take a sweep once or two times a year. And I use worn out toothbrushes(I keep them really clean with white vinegar) when I need a brush. And I don't hold the fans with the fingers, I use said toothbrush. As I've been told you can put air into your blood with electrical compressors. How true that is, I don't know. But I'm to much of a chicken to try it out.

[@pasikavecpruhovany7777]

Ouch, I'd say not true at all judging by how much fun I had as a kid chasing dimples across my skin with air compressor. But maybe it's selection bias speaking.

[@bztube888]

If you have no pressured air, you can use the "cool shot" (blowing cool air) function of a hair dryer. I recently fixed my overheating problem like this, suprisingly well.

[@dgsprysoup]

This video dropped just after cleaned my laptop today! Dropped temps by 15°C and now fans barely run! Really should clean PCs every 4-5 months

[@Jactional]

You must've never cleaned it for that much of a temp difference

[@dgsprysoup]

@@Jactional I have, turns out gaming laptops are pretty serious about every bit of dust in their fins. Problem is my OEM used ultra thin fin fans to increase the vol of air being blown, but this also caused dust to build up in them

[@jackkraken3888]

I usually keep some cable ties handy and jam them between the power supply,CPU and GPU fan blades and then use a leaf blower to blow the dust out. And this goes without saying that this should be done outside in a well ventilated area. Also wear a mask when possible..just remember to remove the cable ties afterwards!

[@alejandroguzmanmartin-onda6349]

Dust also degrades fps as it decreases the ammount of RGB light the PC puts out. Source: trust me.

[@TheZoenGaming]

I clean mine once a month. Once I've got all the parts for my custom loop, I'll even use quick disconnects so I can remove the radiators easily without draining the loop.

[@darkhavoc6814]

I wish cans of air were that cheap here in Aus. Cheapest I've ever got one was still about A$12 :(

[@nonstandarduser_]

Warning: when servicing laptop fans, certain types of fans can have their blades snapped off by the force of compressed air when held down. Happened to my 2011 LG A510 a long time ago.

[@mcbstech]

0:44 wait, this is my post! Thanks LTT!

[@julesz7056]

I 'member my first PC eventually ended up making jet engine level sound noises from just booting up. My solution was to get better, noise isolated headphones instead of cleaning it