Opened up my PS3 and reapplied heatsink paste

By +Audioboxer
in PlayStation

 Share

Recommended Posts

Grand Master

+Audioboxer Subscriber²

Posted
  • Subscriber²
Posted

Just a friendly topic to say I finally cracked open my PS3 Slim tonight, cleaned out the dust, and then put new paste on my heatsinks. I have to say the default application from Sony in the factory is weak - I redone mine with IC Diamond 7.

Seems to be running a little quieter, but that will probably be mostly to do with dust clean out.

Wasn't a hard job at all, simply a little time consuming to take it at a slow pace.

Grand Master

+Audioboxer Subscriber²

Posted
  • Author
  • Subscriber²
Posted

yeah it's really simple. how old is your slim? it takes a few years for that stuff to dry up.

About 2 years (maybe 2.5-3 years actually?). It wasn't half dried up, crumbling and looked like a pretty uneven application to start with.

edit: The PS3 Slim was bought about 2 months after the US launch, whenever that was - It's a US console imported to UK.

Veteran

Fish

Posted
Posted

I've noticed recently my slim has started to make a slightly different noise from the fan, which I'm sure is dust build-up causing a slight imbalance. Been meaning to give at a clean, might crack it open this weekend. Any idea what size the fan is? I might consider replacing it entirely for a quieter PC fan if it's not too incompatible.

  • 2 weeks later...
Grand Master

DirtyLarry Veteran

Posted
  • Veteran
Posted

Hmmm, after reading this thread, think I might just clean my PS3's just to clean them.

However the other part of me is thinking just leave well enough alone, as they both seem fine. I do also usually blow compressed air on them at least once a month, if not more frequently.

Grand Master

compl3x

Posted
Posted

I've had my PS3 for a long time, 3 years perhaps, and there was very little dust in mine. It was a bit of fun to take it apart and have a look around inside, but it was entirely unnecessary for the amount of dust I removed. My fan also looked as if it was brand new. I must take better care of my electronics than I thought I did :laugh:

Mentor

Boxster17

Posted
Posted

I have a near launch PS3 (roughly March '07) and the first time I had cleaned it out was maybe a year ago and it was surprisingly clean in there. There's a decent amount of spacing between the fins on the heatsink that it doesn't clog with dust really at all. If you used compressed air that will clean it out just fine, and going any further would likely not be worth the time/effort. I also keep my apartment a lot cleaner than most, if not everyone I know, so maybe that plays some sort of role as well.

I had taken mine apart because the fan was starting to ramp up quicker than it used to, so figured that I'd give it a good cleaning as it had been a while. Turns out it wasn't really dirty at all inside but the thermal paste was pretty dried up (and I ended up sanding down the heatsink further as it wasn't as flat as I would've liked, but that's me being a bit OCD). Definitely noticed a difference afterwards but I'm quite sure it's because of the better thermal contact with the CPU/GPU as the previous paste was kind of crappy.

  • 4 weeks later...
Grand Master

DPyro

Posted
Posted

I've read there's no real point replacing the heatsink paste because the chips don't even touch the heat plate. Sure cleaning the dust out is fine but unless you pull the heat plate off the processor and GPU (which is really dangerous) there's no benefit to replacing the paste cause there is even more paste underneath the heat plate.

This topic is now closed to further replies.
 Share
Go to topic listing

  • Recently Browsing   0 members

    • No registered users viewing this page.

  • Posts

    • Politically funny images of the World

      By +primortal · Posted

    • Celebrating Windows XP's 25th anniversary this year

      By KMilenkoski1202 · Posted

      Carol, Windows XP is still being used today only in a small capacity. It is still the best OS there is due to its backwards compatibility with other older software, the customization features, and friendly UI, and people often feel that upgrading to newer OSes is cost prohibitive in specialized Industries or developing countries, so the market share as of now is around 0.2%-0.3%
    • The official Funny Pictures thread

      By Steven P. · Posted

    • Celebrating Windows XP's 25th anniversary this year

      By carols23 · Posted

      If I could, I would commemorate it the best way possible: Replacing old machines that are still running Windows XP with something more modern, stable and better.     Noone and nothing should be running Windows XP in 2026.
    • Google's new hand-wave reCAPTCHA can be bypassed with a stock photo

      By Ivan Jenic · Posted

      Google's new hand-wave reCAPTCHA can be bypassed with a stock photo by Ivan Jenic Image: Screenshot Google is testing a new reCAPTCHA method that asks you to wave at your camera to prove you're human. So, besides solving puzzles and reading distorted text, you can now use your computer’s camera to pass the verification test. When the hand gesture verification is triggered, your browser asks for camera access and prompts you to perform a simple gesture, like a wave or an open palm. Google says it records a short video of the movement and uses AI to extract 21 hand-knuckle coordinates to complete the verification process. The video is then immediately deleted, and Google swears it doesn't keep it. The process alone can be uncomfortable for people who wouldn’t want their biometric data, which hand scans technically qualify as, recorded. But it gets even more nuanced, as early testers discovered that the new hand-waving reCAPTCHA can be passed with a simple stock image. A user on X tested the new challenge using a stock image of a hand fed through OBS Virtual Camera, and it passed. I wanted to verify it, so I tried the same thing. It took me a few tries and a few stock images, but in the end, I was also able to pass the test. I simply had to readjust the stock image of a generic person waving inside OBS, and Google’s mechanism registered it as a legitimate hand gesture. Once again, it didn’t even have to be a video or an AI-generated hand animation. Given the simplicity of the process, the entire action can be automated in minutes. All it takes is a simple Python script to render the new reCAPTCHA method obsolete. And it doesn’t even have to be an AI bot, which is usually used for solving puzzles and other verification methods. The new reCAPTCHA method is still in its early phase, and Google will, hopefully, update its AI to at least reject still images. However, this incident, combined with users’ initial skepticism about Google’s practices regarding user data, likely won’t make too many people wave at the camera anytime soon.

  • Recent Achievements

    • First Post
      KMilenkoski1202 earned a badge
      First Post
    • First Post
      carols23 earned a badge
      First Post
    • One Month Later
      Tom Willson earned a badge
      One Month Later
    • Apprentice
      Asgardi went up a rank
      Apprentice
    • One Month Later
      sunrisea2milk earned a badge
      One Month Later

  • Popular Contributors

    1. 1
      +primortal
      496
    2. 2
      +Edouard
      262
    3. 3
      PsYcHoKiLLa
      151
    4. 4
      Steven P.
      90
    5. 5
      macoman
      67
    Show More

  • Tell a friend

    Love Neowin? Tell a friend!