Dust inside MBP, slowing it down?

[stagmeister]

I recently upgraded the RAM in my 2009 unibody MBP. It was super easy and I'm really happy with it. However when I opened up the computer I saw that the inside had a lot of dust. Unfortunately I didn't have compressed air on me at the moment to clean it out, but I was thinking, is this something that would perhaps be slowing the computer down? I.e. if the dust is reducing the ability of the fans/heat sink to circulate heat out of the computer the overheating would cause the CPU to throttle.

 

[rmackner]

I recently upgraded the RAM in my 2009 unibody MBP. It was super easy and I'm really happy with it. However when I opened up the computer I saw that the inside had a lot of dust. Unfortunately I didn't have compressed air on me at the moment to clean it out, but I was thinking, is this something that would perhaps be slowing the computer down? I.e. if the dust is reducing the ability of the fans/heat sink to circulate heat out of the computer the overheating would cause the CPU to throttle.

Dust would cause the computer to overheat. A computer that is running hotter then normal will tend to slow down performance. If your MBP isn't running hot that I would assume it's not effecting much but always a good idea to clean it out every 2 years or so if possible.

 

[MacInTO]

If you're careful, you can use a vacuum cleaner to get rid of the dust.