How to Clean Your PC’s Motherboard
The motherboard is what ties your whole PC together. All the important components have to go through the motherboard for them to communicate with each other.
Dust can impair these connections and possibly even destroy your whole system. Here’s how to clean your motherboard so it lasts long and performs as it should.
When Should You Clean Your Motherboard?
You should clean your whole PC every six months, but not taking out your motherboard in that process can leave dust untouched in some areas. For this reason, you should clean your motherboard in particular at least once a year or if it is noticeably dusty. Your motherboard probably looks clean, but plenty of dust could be hiding in unseen areas, increasing the risk of a short circuit.
Dust can make plenty of parts in your computer unnecessarily hot. Those are usually the voltage regulator modules (VRMs) and the CPU. Heat will make your PC slow down to prevent itself from overheating (thermal throttling), leaving performance on the table. Cleaning your CPU cooler and your VRMs will allow your PC to not thermal throttle.
Your graphics card is probably dusty as well. You shouldmake sure you aren’t GPU thermal throttlingif you want to experience maximum performance.
How to Clean Your Motherboard
Cleaning your motherboard can look like a daunting task, but if your pc is in a commonly-sized case, it’s actually quite easy. You most likely don’t even need to take out your storage drives or your power supply.
Things You’ll Need
Fortunately, you don’t need special equipment to clean a motherboard. However, we have some suggestions to make your life easier.
Things to Avoid When Cleaning Your Motherboard
Cleaning your motherboard is straightforward, but there are things you should definitely avoid if you don’t want to cause irreparable damage.
Step 1: Removing Your Motherboard
We will remove the motherboard in this guide as it’s what we’re focused on, but you could keep it in your case if it’s not too dusty. Wear your anti-static wrist strap, and unplug everything from the back of your PC. This way it’s possible to clean your PC somewhere spacious.
Open up the side panel of your PC and remove the power to your graphics card first. Then unscrew your graphics card and push on the PCI-E latch locking your graphics card in. The graphics card should lift on one side. Pull it out while holding both ends firmly but gently. Remove your RAM sticks the same way by unlatching them.
Take a picture of all the small connectors on the motherboard and unplug all of them. Don’t worry about the front panel connectors, since there is a guide right below it. Most of the time, these connectors are plugged in with the text facing away from the motherboard.
You don’t always need to remove the CPU cooler, but if the thermal paste hasn’t been reapplied in a year or more, it’s a good idea to do so. If you have an AIO-style cooler, you will have no choice but to remove it. Don’t remove the CPU cooler if you don’t have a tube of thermal paste and need to use your PC after cleaning it.
Unscrew the CPU cooler from the processor in a cross pattern. Slightly loosening each corner to even out the forces on the processor. If you have a Ryzen 5000 CPU or older from AMD, there is a chance that the CPU will get pulled along with the cooler. To prevent this, gently twist the cooler back and forth with a slight pulling force until it comes off.
If your processor is stuck to the cooler while removing it, refer to the video below:
Return the processor by unlatching the locking arm on the CPU socket, and gently placing your processor on the socket making sure the corner markings are aligned. Lower the locking arm until it clicks.
Once everything is removed, unscrew your motherboard and place it on the anti-static mat or ESD packaging that your motherboard came with. You could do without it but just know the risks, especially if you have a carpet and are wearing socks.
Step 2: Dusting Your Motherboard
Start by loosening up the dust with a brush, making sure to get under the VRM heat sinks. Be careful not to brush too intensely as you might rip something out. After loosening up the dust, you should use some compressed air or a blower bulb to remove the loose dust.
A powered air compressor does quick work of the dust. However, it runs the risk of blowing small components away like capacitors if the nozzle is too close. Canned air works great, but it runs out quite quickly. Just confirm not to use it upside-down.
In extreme cases, compressed air works great to get rid of most of the dust. However, if stubborn dust particles are sticking to the PCB, you can use cotton swabs with 99% isopropyl alcohol. You can also spray the board with contact cleaner and wipe it down with a cotton cloth. Be careful when using a cloth as pointy solder could snag on it.
Step 3: Reapplying Thermal Paste
The thermal paste needs to be reapplied if you removed your cooler as your CPU would overheat easily without it. Putting your cooler back with the old thermal paste is also not recommended.
To remove the thermal paste from the CPU or the cooler, wet a cotton ball with 99% isopropyl alcohol and rub it in circular motions. You may need to use multiple cotton balls until it is clean. If there are streaks left from the alcohol, you can use a dry cotton ball or swab to wipe them off.
Grab your thermal paste and put a small amount of thermal paste on your CPU, just about as much as in the picture above. Align your cooler accurately before pressing down to prevent the thermal paste from unevenly spreading. Screw each corner down slightly in a cross pattern until it is screwed tightly to prevent uneven spread.
If you’re unsure, you could take a deeper dive intohow to re-paste your CPU with thermal paste. This will also give you information on how to check if you did it right.
Step 4: Putting it All Back Together
Putting everything back together is as simple as plugging everything back in after screwing your motherboard in. It’s time to take out the photos you took for reference and plug things back in the way they were before. The most important ones to get right are the front panel headers.
You can refer to the manual or the diagram right below the front panel header pins. If you can’t find your manual, the motherboard model should be written right on the motherboard, and you can search for the manual for it online.
It’s best to start with the biggest stuff, the RAM, graphics card, and CPU cooler (if you haven’t put it in already). You can then proceed to plug in the power connectors to the motherboard and your graphics card. Then finish off with the smallest connectors, making sure you don’t forget any fan connectors.
Check out thesemotherboard troubleshooting tipsin case your PC doesn’t boot up properly after putting it back together.
Increase the Lifespan of Your Motherboard by Cleaning It
If you don’t find yourself upgrading your system for a long time, it’s a good idea to clean it regularly. A clean motherboard has less risk of shorting that can destroy your whole system, even your expensive graphics card. A motherboard doesn’t have much in the way of adding performance to your system, but it’s what your computer’s components depend on, so it’s best to take care of it.
A motherboard is the centerpiece of a computer, but they’re seen as mysterious hardware that shouldn’t be tinkered with.
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