Please stop me from using a leaf blower to clean my PC

Hey there! Welcome to the Full Nerd newsletter, your weekly dose of hardcore hardware talk from the enthusiasts here at PCWorld. I’ve been digging around in an old PC case this week, and I have to ask: How do you like to clean out your PC?

I’ve been ruminating on this a lot over the last few days for a few reasons, not least of which is the unfortunate fact that with PC pricing so wildly out of whack right now it feels more important than ever to keep my current PC running in peak condition for as long as possible—and keeping the dirt and dust bunnies out definitely helps on that front.

On top of that, I’ve been digging through my closets to figure out what other kinds of PC I can build with the hardware I have on hand since I don’t think I’ll be buying a lot of new hardware in the coming year. I’m thinking about repurposing this old Corsair mid-tower case I have in my closet (an old Carbide Series 400C with a clear side panel, if you’re curious) as the home for a new “Steam Machine” I’m thinking of building, since I know I won’t be able to justify buying a real one for awhile.

But when I dragged it out of the back of the closet and peeked inside, well…it was mostly just dust and cobwebs, but I’m a little nervous I may have seen some actual spiderwebs strung up in the nooks and crannies.

Now look, I love Scooby-Doo as much as the next Millennial, but I’m not looking to cultivate a haunted house vibe in my PC case. So I knew it was time for a deep clean, but sadly my trusty ol’ can of compressed air seems to have given up the ghost. I feel kind of silly about the notion of buying another can just to have it run out on me in a year, so I’ve decided to pull the trigger on the purchase of a reusable device I can use to clean out PCs for years to come.

But as I started looking around and doing a little digging, I found myself asking more questions than I answered. This is part of the fun of PC building, at least for me: there’s always more to learn, and the more you learn the more you appreciate the magic that is how PCs work.

So I’ve happily been diving down a rabbit hole of risk factors you face when trying to clean sensitive electronics, from the risk of electrostatic discharge (apparently some handheld vacuums and air blowers can generate enough static electricity to cause problems in your PC case) to the potential to fry your motherboard if you have too much fun spinning case fans with high-speed air blasts.

Now I’m wise enough to stop the fans from spinning before I start blowing air through my case, but I’m still nervous about the threat of static electricity. Everything I’m learning is making me feel increasingly leery about buying the $30 Yomile handheld rechargeable air blower I originally had my eyes on (pictured above), but also…I’m a working journalist, and I’m not sure I’m scared enough yet to spend the hundreds of dollars that it seems to cost in order to get yourself a decent handheld vacuum or air blower that’s designed to prevent ESD (electrostatic discharge).

I’m going to keep digging to see if I can find the perfect solution, but since we have a whole community of PCWorld readers and Full Nerd followers who together know more about PC building than I ever will, I figured I’d also ask you what you recommend. Should I just buy a cheap rechargeable handheld device and take the risk of static mayhem, or is it worth it to pony up for the kind of ESD-safe gear they use to clean sensitive electronics? Is it better to use a vacuum, an air blower, or both? Dare I risk borrowing my family’s leaf blower, plopping the PC case outside and just going to town?

You can of course email me directly with your thoughts, or share them with us in The Full Nerd Discord!

In this episode of The Full Nerd

This week regular cohosts Alaina Yee and Adam Patrick Murray were joined by PCWorld’s own Michael Crider to chat about some of the hot stories this week, including some underwhelming reviews of the newly-launched AMD Ryzen 7 7700X3D processor and some fresh numbers from Valve about how many Steam Machines they’ve sold.

Crider also walked us through his own experience of the Steam Machine, which is worth listening to if you’re on the fence about whether to pull the trigger on Valve’s newest hardware. And of course, no episode of The Full Nerd would be complete without answering a few of your questions from the live chat and our Discord!

Nerd news of the week

While the rising price of PC hardware continues to be the topic du jour in the news, it’s not the only thing worth reading about!

• Behind the scenes at Nvidia’s Engineering SuperLab: If you’re curious to peek inside the data centers that Nvidia is building out to support its AI business, this is a pretty interesting look inside one that’s tailored for use by Nvidia engineers. It’s one of at least four Nvidia has opened in the last two years, and their locations have not been disclosed—until now.
• Valve suggests memory crisis is “still getting worse”: The good news out of Bloomberg’s recent chat with Valve engineers? The Steam Machine will continue to be sold, and the price will eventually come down. The bad news? Memory and storage prices are still getting worse, and the price hikes we’re seeing in stores lags behind the hikes hardware makers are seeing by about 3-6 months.
• Bioprinting in space could finally allow the synthesis of complex tissues: While we can create synthetic cells on Earth, it turns out that gravity makes the process of building complex biological structures (like a human heart) tricky. But Auxilium Biotechnologies has now managed to print neural implants (along with kidney, liver and cartilage tissue) using a 3D bioprinter in orbit aboard a SpaceX spacecraft, opening a door to the possibilities of bioprinting in space.
• A new flying robot spins so fast it hides in plain sight: Northwestern University researchers have designed a small flying drone that’s capable of spinning 25 times per second, making it look like a literal blur. While you can clearly hear the thing flying, video proves that spinning fast enough makes the drone almost disappear from sight. Cool sci-fi or nightmare fuel? You decide.

That’s your Full Nerd and then some for this week, be sure to bookmark PCWorld and check back regularly for more PC enthusiast news as it happens!

This newsletter is dedicated to the memory of Gordon Mah Ung, founder and host of The Full Nerd, and executive editor of hardware at PCWorld.