How To Clean A Motherboard? [Definitive Guide]

Just like a house, a room, or a car, a PC also requires a thorough cleanup from time to time. Among the various components inside the PC case, the motherboard is one of the most important ones to clean. You need to know how to clean your motherboard because if this component is left uncleaned, your whole computer can be at risk of failure. In this guide, we’ll discuss all that you need to know about cleaning motherboards.  

Related: How To Lower CPU Temperature

Key Takeaways

• Giving your motherboard a routine cleanup is important because if any of its connections get impaired by dust or grime, your entire computer can stop functioning.
• You’ll need a can of compressed air, 99% pure isopropyl alcohol, and cotton swabs to clean your motherboard.
• Cleaning the motherboard is a two-step process. First, use the compressed air can to blow out the dust from the motherboard. Then use isopropyl alcohol and cotton swabs to get into small spaces where compressed air can’t reach. 

Why Should You Clean The Motherboard?

Cleaning the motherboard is more important than you think. If there’s a lot of dust buildup inside your PC case, it’s affecting the different connections on the motherboard; your PC may heat up and stop functioning. Suppose you go without cleaning your system for over a year, and your case doesn’t have excellent dust prevention measures. In that case, that’s when dust accumulates on different parts of your motherboard. Also, you might be interested in learning about how to clean PC fans. 

How To Clean A Motherboard?

While there are many ways you can go about cleaning your PC’s motherboard, we’ll discuss the most common and efficient method in this guide. To clean your motherboard, you need to have the following tools.  

Compressed Air 

Among the various items you can use for cleaning your PC, the most important is compressed air. You’ll be using it to blow all the air out from the surface of the motherboard. 

Isopropyl Alcohol 

Another essential item for cleaning PCs is Isopropyl Alcohol or IPA. It is excellent for removing dust and grime and doesn’t damage any PC components because it evaporates quickly. Moreover, it’s not conducive because it doesn’t have any water, especially if you’re getting the 99.9% pure chemical.  

Cotton Swabs 

To apply the IPA on the different surfaces, you need to get some cotton swabs or cotton buds. Any sort will do as long as it can get into the small spaces and closed areas where regular compressed air can’t reach.  

Paper Towels 

For larger surfaces, you will need paper towels or tissues to spread the IPA over the different surfaces by hand.  

Also Read: How To Clean A PC Without Compressed Air 

Steps For Cleaning The Motherboard

Before cleaning the motherboard, turn off the PC and remove all the cables. Then place the computer in an area where you can easily clean up afterward as there’ll be a lot of dust coming out of the PC. 

Open The Case 

To clean the motherboard, you need to open the side panel of your PC case. Doing this will allow you to access the internal components of your PC. Carefully remove the components installed on the motherboard, such as the graphics card, RAM modules, and CPU. Now you’ll need to unplug all the cables attached to the motherboard. Once that’s done, unscrew the motherboard and take it out of the case.  

Take Out The VRM And Chipset/PCH Heatsinks 

There might be more than one heatsink in some cases, and in others, there might be none. To take out the heatsinks, you’ll need to flip over the motherboard and find the screws holding it together. Thermal pads cover the motherboard’s backside in some motherboards, but this is usually different. Once unscrewed, flip over the motherboard again and take out the heatsinks.  

Clean The Heatsinks 

With the heatsinks separated from the motherboard, it’s time to clean them. First, use the compressed air to blow away all the dust accumulated on the heatsinks. Then for areas where there’s still dust caked up, use cotton swabs and IPA to clean those surfaces. With this done, you can get into cleaning the actual motherboard. 

Use Canned Compressed Air For Dust 

Using the can of compressed air, you’ll need to get rid of all the dust-caked up on your motherboard. As most motherboards are placed vertically in a top-to-bottom configuration, the dust usually settles on the surfaces on the motherboard that’s placed horizontally.

These surfaces could be the tops of PCIe slots, DIMM slots, and rear IO ports. This is why it’s best to start blowing air from the top and work your way down when cleaning the motherboard with compressed air. 

Examine The Motherboard For Traces Of Dust 

After cleaning the motherboard with compressed air, check if there are any areas you missed or places where compressed air can’t reach. 

Cleaning With Isopropyl Alcohol 

If you find one of these areas, you’ll need to clean them using cotton swabs and IPA. As mentioned, these areas are typically the top sides of PCIe slots, DIMM slots, and rear IO ports. Once you’re done cleaning the tops of each of these surfaces, make sure to clean the insides of the ports of the rear IOs, as they can gather a bit of dust as well. For larger surfaces, use paper towels for cleaning. 

While your motherboard is out of the case, you might want to replace the thermal paste of your CPU too if you haven’t done it in a long time. We have a detailed guide on how to clean thermal paste off CPU, and it can help you greatly. 

Reassembly 

Reassembling the whole thing back together is straightforward. First, reattach the heatsinks by screwing them on the motherboard. Then attach the CPU and RAM modules to the motherboard. Once you’re done with that, screw the motherboard back onto the case and connect the graphics card.

Then plug in the cables of the PSU and close the side panel. With that, you’re finished cleaning the motherboard of your PC. It’s a good idea to check if the PC boots up fine without putting the motherboard back into the PC case, so if there’s a problem, it’ll be easier to look into it.  

Tips For Cleaning The Motherboard

As you give your PC a good cleanup from time to time, you should also add the cleaning of the motherboard to your routine. To do a routine cleanup, you won’t need to remove the motherboard from the case and use compressed air to blow out most of the dust. Then apply IPA in areas that have caked up dust and grime using cotton swabs and tissues. As for deep cleaning, you should know about that by now.

When cleaning the motherboard on a PC, always use 99.9% pure isopropyl alcohol. Chemicals with less purity than this have more addition of water, which can be damaging to components on your motherboard. If you use a less-purple substance, ensure the motherboard is completely dry before plugging it back on. You should never use anything else other than pure isopropyl alcohol for cleaning the motherboard of your PC.

Final Thoughts

This article discussed many things about how to clean a motherboard. By now, you should know why it’s important to clean the motherboard, what items you need and what steps to follow to clean the motherboard. It can be a bit intimidating at first. Still, if you follow the steps correctly, you can clean your motherboard without worry. If not, it’s best to consult a professional to give your PC a thorough cleanup to improve performance and keep it cool.

If you’re in the market for motherboards, then take a look at our 8 BEST Motherboards For i9-13900K and Best Motherboards For Ryzen 5 7600X [Top Rated].

Also Read: How To Lower GPU Temperature.