I just bought a PC from a friend and I've never taken one apart before, which honestly intimidates me a bit. Is there a way to clean the GPU without removing it from the system or taking anything apart?
5 Answers
Honestly, cleaning the GPU without removing it is as simple as just taking off the side panel and blowing out the dust. Just depends on how thorough you want to be!
Just a heads up, if your GPU is really old or if it has bad thermals, you'll want to open it up and repaste it instead of just dusting the surface. But for light cleaning, just get in there with some compressed air!
You can definitely dust it off without taking it out! Just make sure the PC is powered down and hold the fans in place while you use compressed air to blow out the dust.
Why exactly are you trying to clean it? If the temperatures are running high, you should really open it up and maybe repaste it. That's usually needed every few years anyway!
You can just dust it off but avoid wiping it too much to not stress the PCIe connector. Honestly, it's not a big deal to take it out; you should check out some guides online to get comfortable with it.
I'd love to see someone try to repaste with the GPU still installed!