I am not a tech person, but I cleaned out my secondhand PC today, and it took hours with the sheer amount of dust accumulation. The fans were nearly overloaded with it!!
Does a clean PC run better / faster than one filled with dust? Or is it more a matter of keeping the fans running easily? Or something else…? Idk, maybe I imagined it, but it seemed to boot much faster after cleaning. Could be wishful thinking!
A cool PC runs better than a hot PC, and a dirty, dusty PC is a hot PC. So the answer to your question is “YES!”
Dust traps heat and blocks airflow, fans run worse etc. More heat means more likely the system will throttle down to keep temperatures manageable
Computers need to be relatively cool to function properly.
Dust acts as a heat insulator, trapping heat inside.
Dust also clogs the cooling fans from doing their job.
Most computers have built-in features that auto throttle or even self shut-down if the heat gets too high.
More dust = more heat = more speed throttling & shutdowns.
