EggXpert

Here is a quick tip for when you change out parts or do a minor upgrade. I just upgraded my RAM and replaced an old IDE cd/dvd burner so while it was shut down I did an inspection of the interior and all the parts, boy was I shocked when I looked at the fans and heatsinks, in just 6 months since last I cleaned everything up there was a layer of dust everywhere. Well no can of air on hand so I grabbed a few swabs with the long wooden sticks and used these to wipe out the heatsinks and all the fans, surprise when I finished the temps had dropped 3-5 degrees C across the board and it only took about 20 minutes thats 3 heatsinks and 7 fans.

And if you have more time on your hands, take the system apart, and get all of the dust out, reapply thermal paste, and you're good to go.

Yep I just bought a brand new tube of thermal paste, but I had to get both computers backup and folding!

How often to re-apply thermal paste?

DPMan:

How often to re-apply thermal paste?

Well there's no real need to reapply thermal paste every so often. The reason I was saying to reapply it was if you take the whole system apart to clean it, you're going to take the heatsink off and the processor out, and then clean each part separately, and after you're done, you'll have to apply thermal paste.

With 6 animals in my apartment in South Beach, you can only imagine how much animal hair and dust gets into my rigs.  I have to clean WEEKLY.