I believe this issue arises from the transition to lead free solder and the reflow process possible also the tin whiskers affect know to particularly affect lead free solder.

I have long suspected that hot products such as the 360 and the PS3 are particularly susceptable to this issue and the side effect is shortened product lives.

I've never used anything but Artic Silver 5 to tell you the truth. Stick with what works, has been my motto. But now that I've decided to open it, I went and turned it on to copy my game saves and heard the fan kick in 3 minutes after I booted it. I feel paranoid now. Great! Hate that feeling. Thanks for the input, I've seen gilksy's video before, he even has a .pdf file on the procedure I believe.

P.S. I dig your Avatar BTW. Sekai no Senki rocks and Lafiel kicks ass.

Yea, sticking to what you know probably is good and the Silver 5 still is good enough to make the cooling reasonably more efficient (especially if the old paste is nearly gone from the chips surface - everything was at the sides of the chips - and the rest all dried up, as it was in my 60GB PS3).

Still the Arctic Cooling MX-2/MX-3 can lower the chip temp by an addition 5-6°C, won't harden up (easy to apply and remove), aren't electrical conductive and are metal-free, so I'd really recommend using it as there is no risk of a short-circuit if a bit of the paste drips on the mainboard.

Sorry to make you paranoid, it's just that my PS3, which I never vacuumed, started geting loud 3-4weeks after I got it (launch day) and when I opened it 2 1/2 years after that there was almost no dust inside, but the thermal paste was a real mess, so I can only guess it began pretty early.

Hehe, Seikai no Monshô/Senki I,II,III is my favorite series. It may not have the most amazing sfx, plot, animations, etc. I've watched, but I really loved how the characters were portrayed and the atmosphere.

well my 360 just died on me so im glad to spread the love for all these super reliable consoles with someone else :)

So you got me thinking that since these cpu/gpu's are not mounted on a higher platform like on computers, I might consider trying a different thermal compound because of the conductivity issue. Newegg has MX-2 for like 13 bucks after shipping; Pricey I will say. Mx-3 is like $20.  What spread did you use for the MX-2 on the PS3? Or did you use MX-3? I usually spread it all over with a think layer of Artic Silver 5. It has worked fine for me so far, but I don't know how to use MX-2 specially for the PS3. Another thing, How long ago did you do this to your PS3? I'm just curious.

Hehe, you didn't make me paranoid. I just became paranoid from all the talk of YLOD on the Original 60GB PS3 that I've read for the past 3 months. People keep talking about how it's died on them after 2.5 years, and mine has that same age.  I've been thinking of this for a long time now, but finally planning to do something about it.

P.S. I completely understand why Seikai no Monshô/Senki I,II,III would be your favorite series. I was completely hooked after the battle of Gosroth. I even enjoyed the dub a lot. It's a good anime with intricate yet interesting story, the characters are well developed and fun to watch.

@Chazy13: Sorry to hear about your loss. At least MS is willing to replace it for 3 years. =)

I used the MX-2 (the MX-3 may be a tiny bit better, but .. that ~1° really won't change that much) and ,well, I made a thin layer and it worked very well in my PS3 and my newly build PC. The PS3 showed heavy problems (it didn't "ylod", but it froze/shut off after ~30minutes of usage) in last years march, but it wasn't until november that I decided to try to repair it.

Of course I bought a different PS3 in the mean time, but I tested the old 60GB one for several days and it worked like a charm. This feb I sold/gave it to my brother.

Hmm, over here the MX-2 is cheaper than the Silver 5 ( MX-2: 4g for 4,5€ , Silver 5: 3.5g for 5€), can't believe it that much more expensive where you are (maybe it's a bigger syringe?). I bought a 4g syringe and used it for 4 chips already and there is still some left.

Yea, the battle of Gosroth is simply epic. Maybe the best spaceship battle I ever watched.

update: call sony and they will not fix it for me for free :( ... bastards...
i chose to pay the 180 euros for them to give me a new one... cheaper than buy a new PS3 slim... and the one they will send me will have 2 year warranty (at least here in portugal there is one law that i love)... well my new one will be used as hell this two years for the purpose to YLOD inside the warranty... my mistake was that i treat my first PS3 to well... they will not get me again!

Sorry for you Loss of money and Original 60GB PS3. I did the math and 180 euro = About $250 dollars. Did you get it cheaper because your original failed on you, or is that the normal price in Portugal? It's $299 dollars here in the States.

Well... The 60GB systems have been out for a while now (3 years), so that might explain why they seem to get the YLOD easily. I'm sure you got your money's worth from it.

180 euros its the price to trade my original 60Gb yloded for a 60gb refurbished by sony with 2 year warranty... for a new PS3 slim the price here is 299 euros