I put my gaming PC in the wrong spot, and learned it the hard way

I had a desktop gaming rig built for me about 10 years ago. I chose large and bulky pieces, which the tower reflected in its enormity. Its size meant it would never be something I could place on my desk without it looking out of place.

It was heavy too. But the base was thin, so it wobbled when I moved it. I figured if it fell off the side of my desk it would cause serious damage – if not to me, then to my floor. So, under my desk, he went to live, and he stayed there, next to my legs, while I played endless tricks. Day of Defeat.

The position worked from a practical standpoint, in that I had more space to spread out at my desk. I was glad he wasn’t blowing hot air near my face either. Overall, I was happy – I had a solid, reliable workhorse that wasn’t an eyesore or a fall hazard.

Fast forward six months, and one day I messed up when I moved it to get to my AC outlets. This movement caused the four small feet below the platform to fall, first the two at the rear, then the two at the front. I thought it was no big deal. It’s not like I need them to run my games, so I opted to leave them out.

But without those little feet to lift the tower an inch off the ground, my PC had to rest on my plush carpet. It was probably a year later that I started having throttling issues and significant temperature rise alerts in my PC stats – but I didn’t know why. Had I pushed my fans too far by overclocking, or was there something else to blame?

A friend diagnosed the problem after doing some diagnostics: It turned out that I had turned my device into a dust bucket with my careless and careless placement on the carpet, so that last year it had extracted every spec of microfibers, disintegrated skin cells, pollen and fur from my American Shorthair as much as it could.

Pexels: Atahan Demir

Needless to say, it was now packed with stuff, especially fans. There was so much fluffy dust in there that I seriously could have opened my own ceiling insulation business; it took more than a day of work to clean everything up.

Another thing…my PC was leaning so against my wall that airflow through the rear vents was almost non-existent.

I will end my story by saying that I now know how important it is to find the right place to place my PC. So I’m going to leave you with a few do’s and don’ts of PC placement that I’ll now follow to ensure they work properly.

Things not to do when placing a PC

• Place it on a mat where the vents on the underside will be blocked and prevent air circulation and where your rig is likely to introduce dust inside.
• Place it so far against a wall or other object that air circulation behind it will be stifled.
• Place it too close to radiators, hot lights or other heat sources.
• Cover it with something like a blanket.

Things to do when placing a PC

• Place it on a desk, shelf or PC stand. Some users prefer a desk separate from their own desk to free up space.
• Placing it on an uncarpeted floor is also acceptable, preferably with an elevation.
• Clean the dust from your gaming rig at least once a year.