My cheapo Toshiba laptop has been running like crap lately. always hot/slow and the fan whining like a banshee. I was worried that I would have to scrap it soon but instead I took it apart and found enough dust around the heat sinks and fan to knit a sweater with. It was like friggin wool.

Now the fan makes no noise and the computer got it's speed back. Used to be that you could feel the heat coming out of the vent. Now it's cool air pouring out. If you have an older laptop, don't scrap it... clean it!

See Lainey, I can be "green" too.

 

Excellent!! Save the planet for your children!

 

I did that with my desktop recently.
thing used to howl when the CPU got busy.

replaced the thermal goop between the heat sink and the CPU as well.
now it's quiet as a church mouse.

 

I was gonna replace the goop too, but I didn't feel like driving to the store to get it so I just said F it. Wonder if it would have made that much more of a difference.

 

My kid had my machine before I did.
It died, ( power supply) meanwhile he took it apart and the goop was really suspect.

 

Is that the engineering term for it .. .GOOP .. LOL

 

I heard story of a guy that used to work at a repair shop for computers.

Took computer apart went out back got the air compressor hose PPPSSSSHHHHHHHT! Dust moose(not bunnies) came out. That will be $65 dollars please.

That's what happens when you leave the computer on the basement floor around kids and never clean.

 

I've never bothered replacing the thermal paste between the processor & heat sink unless someone's previously separated them and then put it back.

But I've replaced fans and cleaned heat sinks many times... laptops are always worse 'cause they're smaller.

 

120psi of shop air cleans anything like new

 

well technically it's referred to as a thermal paste or compound.... or being really precise it is a thermal transfer medium.
but I try not be techno-geek all of the time...