Took apart my 40GB PS3

[thilanliyan]

I followed the guide here:
http://www.llamma.com/PS3/repair/PS3_disassembly_tutorial.htm

BUT there were a couple of differences as I think that guide dealt with one of the earlier 20gb or 60gb versions.

I did it because the fan would spin up very quickly when playing a game whereas earlier it would take a bit of time for it to get going so I figured maybe changing the thermal paste might help (oh and my PS3 was out of warranty anyway).

The original white paste looked like it had hardened already. I put some AC MX-2 (had to put a lot as the heatspreaders for both the RSX and Cell are huge) and I have to say it has definitely helped at least for now. Who knows...it might get worse again later on.

Sorry I didn't take pics but my main concern was making sure everything went back together quickly and I had it disassembled as short a time as possible.

 

[herkulease]

Interesting. I have this exact problem.

the fans will kick into teh highest speed. It annoyed me so much that I hardly play teh ps3. People bitch about the 360 but my 40gb is noisy as hell.

keep an update on this. i want to know if there's an improvement over a long period. I'll crack it open and get rid of the crud they have.

If only the trade in value wasn't crap or at least if the ps3 slim was 199 or something I"d trade it in and get a newer one.

 

[Adrenaline]

I have played GoW part 1 more today than the entire time of games on my PS3 since I bought it nearly two years ago. I should be safe for now. I may have to check into this later.