My PS4 went from a jet engine to a whisper in under an hour

I opened up my launch model PS4 for the first time after 7 years of use. The thermal paste was basically dust and the fan was clogged with a solid inch of gunk. After cleaning it out and applying some Arctic MX-4, the noise difference is insane. Is a full teardown for cleaning worth it for older consoles, or is compressed air from the vents good enough for most people?

3 comments

3 Comments

andrew_kelly1mo ago

Man, I saw a video once where a guy just blasted the vents on an old Xbox and it basically just pushed the dust deeper into the heatsink. For something that old, a full clean is the only real fix. That compressed air trick is a temporary band-aid at best. Once the paste turns to powder and the fan's packed solid, you gotta get in there. The difference is night and day, like you found out.

oliver5231mo ago

An inch of gunk? That's wild, @andrew_kelly wasn't kidding.

wesley8011mo ago

Compressed air can actually work okay if you're careful about where you aim it. If you blow from the exhaust side back through the heatsink, it can push the dust out the way it came in instead of deeper. But you're right, for a console that's never been opened, a full clean is the only real fix for the thermal paste.