Ask Lemmy

Well, don't outright throw the parts in a bin with alcohol

If you want to be a bit safe:

• power off
• unplug PSU
• hold power button for 20 seconds (10 should do but id be extra careful) to drain capacitors (fans may spin up a bit, it's fine)
• separate all the components
• lay them all out on a table / work area
• soak in alcohol using a microfiber towel, or similar, only covering the areas that you can still see and wipe off from the outside, do NOT let alcohol run under the GPU heatsink (or any other heatsink - thermal pads is why), in slots, inside hard drive breather holes, avoid filling cable connectors
• let sit a bit
• wipe to remove gunk, consider using a stiff brush too, be careful not to rip shit off boards, especially connectors and retention tabs
• let dry for a few days to be sure
• reassemble

I wouldn't EVER use water. Water will leave mineral deposits (ever seen those dusty-looking, droplet shaped stains on glass? Those are mineral deposits from water) that will in time cause corrosion. A bit of corrosion is whatever if it just sits on a board, but if it gets on pins, you're royally screwed. All pins are vulnerable (PCI-E, CPU, RAM, cable connectors of ALL kinds).

Also DON'T for the love of god POWERWASH! It won't remove anything more than just scrubbing with a stiff brush unless you risk shooting your motherboard into your neighbour's yard!

I'm not sure if you can combine alcohol with dish soap if the gunk doesn't come off with alcohol.

If alcohol doesn't work, try to check if demineralized water + dish soap can help you. I'm not sure that's a safe combination but demi water should not leave deposits and dish soap should clean fucking anything. Check online first tho.

Good luck man.