It just depends on how many fans the machine has. Some things like MSI graphic cards have a dust removal setting with their fans where they spin backwards for a few seconds to get the dust build up down. I though it was gimmicky, but after a few years of having one, it does work decent. Best thing I ever did though was buy an air compressor. Not only are they more powerful (and you can run tools off them or blow up a tire), they end up paying for themselves in the amount of canned air you won't have to buy.
Now I do it every 3 months. Lot's of development going on in my area. The air is filled with dust. It's a pita to open the pc and dust it, clean it.
Monthly or thereabouts. I never used to think about it, but dust accumulation is a HUGE performance sink.
Inside, never. There isn't any. But I do vacuum the case from the outside, to remove the heavy particles from the fan meshes. Mrk
Never on laptop which I've had for 4.5 years and is heavily used. Its fan usage seems to be similar to when it was new.
I never clean inside the lappy because I don't like to open the case, but I dust underneath it about once a month
I have to blow the dust off the laptop fan roughly once a week or so. I clean the desktops maybe monthly or close.
I voted 'Every other' - my laptop had a 3 year warranty (seal over the access panel on bottom) so there was no way I was gonna break that just to check out the insides! After that period, I did check and found almost no dust accumulation – only on the cooling fan which I have cleaned twice in the past year. The fan is very fragile looking, so not a good idea to mess with too often – plus those darn tiny screws are too easy to lose.
Just completed the job 2 or 3 days ago and was pleasantly surprised at how little dust there was. Would have done another few months. I voted for a year+.
