Any idea what a major contributing factor is to the failure of the electronics in your desktop computer case?

Heat, Heat and more Heat.

Using Firestorm Viewer or SL Viewer can really send your temperature thru the roof due to the
high impact SL has on your systems memory and graphics.  The build up of heat can cause the computer boards, connections and other elements in your computer
system to fail early.

That is why you see so much focus on good ventilation, not only as part of a computer case itself along with the fans to move air in and out, but also where you place your CPU case when setting up a new PC.  You want to make sure there is plenty of room for your case fans to draw in fresh air to blow over the electronics in your system.  Naturally, pulling air in and out of a case also allows dust particles to be drawn into it because none of our homes are clean rooms and dust is simply a fact of life for the majority of us.  That means you need to take the time every month or so and pull your case out of its dark and confined home and open it up to expel those trapped Dust Bunnies.  Dust Bunnies want to be free so you are actually doing them a favor by regularly clearing out your case.  To do this and not trash the area around your computer desk completely unhook the CPU case from all of your peripherals and connections and take it outside or in your garage with the door open. Remove both side covers with a screwdriver and then using an inexpensive can of compressed air blow out all the vents and the inside crevices of your case. 

Once you have freed all the Dust Bunnies you can put the covers back on and take it back inside to plug all of the peripherals back in and start your computer back up.  If you do this process on a regular basis your PC will run much cooler and it will be less likely that your components will experience early failure due to heat build up.

Deuce Marjeta
Operations Manager