These images speak for themselves..the motherboard was comparatively mild. What you’re looking at here is Jem’s Network Adaptor. The left image shows the card viewed from the top, in the PC. Yes, it’s scary. The right image shows the card out of the PC, when the big clumps of dust have dropped off. You can still see plenty of dust on it though.
All expansion cards and surfaces in a PC will end up this way if you’re not vigilant about cleaning them every so often. Luckily, just as with the motherboard the situation can be easily fixed with a paintbrush and a blow, or using a vacuum cleaner. It’s not a bad idea at this time to use the soft pencil eraser mentioned in the “PC maintenance” part of this site on the gold contacts at the base of the card, to ensure any oxidisation is removed before you refit the card.
Once again, after cleaning. The card is quite reflective again..not missed by the camera flash unfortunatly. Excuse the carpet..this all took place in my living room during an episode of CSI:Miami…;)