Best way to clean PCB?

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shottyjotty

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Mar 12, 2013
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The PCB on my GPU is getting beginning to collect a lot of dust. What's the best way to clean it? I've heard rubbing alcohol, but I was just going to stick with compressed air.

Also, how delicate is the PCB? Because if it was that delicate, I would have thought manufacturers would have a plate or guard to go over it. I've seen videos of people handling their GPU's with their hands all over the PCB. And I've seen those GPU support brackets that Cooler Master supply with some of their cases, and from what I've seen they clamp down straight on the PCB, surely that's not good for the GPU. Like, it makes an audible scrape on the PCB when it's being mounted.

Or maybe I've been handling them with way too much care. Like, really, if my finger nail taps a pin on the PCB I'm like "fuck I hope it still works" (of course it does, but I'm just saying)
 
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gilbadon
They are pretty strong. If your goal is to just remove dust, compressed air works wonders. If you want to make it cleaner than the day you got it, you want 90%+ isopropyl alcohol.

Not all PCB's are the same. That being said, those used in computer components are very strong and often very thick for durability because customers do stupid things and traces have to be large to allow for large currents. I would say they are as strong as a piece of glass or wood at the same thickness. You have to apply some force to break em and its tough to do it on accident.
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gilbadon

gilbadon

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Jun 16, 2008
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They are pretty strong. If your goal is to just remove dust, compressed air works wonders. If you want to make it cleaner than the day you got it, you want 90%+ isopropyl alcohol.

Not all PCB's are the same. That being said, those used in computer components are very strong and often very thick for durability because customers do stupid things and traces have to be large to allow for large currents. I would say they are as strong as a piece of glass or wood at the same thickness. You have to apply some force to break em and its tough to do it on accident.
 
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shottyjotty

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Mar 12, 2013
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I have an XFX r9 270 double dissipation, and it looks great but I wouldn't call it sturdy. It sags towards the non PCI side of my mobo, and I have to hold it up via the power cable. And when I do hold it, the black plastic frame for the cooler gets pushed inwards just from touching it, and I have to push the other side to get it even again. It juts feels really weak, and creaks when I try to push it upward to correct the sag to no avail. But it doesn't sag enough to cause problems, IMO. The PCB itself seems fairly sturdy though.

I thought the PCB looked delicate with all the little bits on it that could get scraped or damaged by touch, motherboard being no exception, but if you say it's strong enough then I believe you. I haven't had any performance problems yet except, on a separate note, the fans make an audible tick when going over %50, but I only need %45 to cool my card to 70 degrees in a stress test fully overclocked. I touched the fans and pushed them about and the problem seems to have disappeared for now.
 
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