You will need
Isopropyl alcohol – I bought a bottle from Walgreens with 91% alcohol content. The higher the better.
Q-tips or paper coffee filters – Basically you’ll need something that is lint free to clean off the old thermal paste.Thermal Paste – I choose Tuniq TX-2 over Arctic Silver 5 because it is non-electrically conductive and has almost no cure time.
Time – If you’re like me, your first time assembling and dissembling the PS3 will take up most of your day since you want to get it done right.
Clear Plastic Wrap and something with a flat edge like a business card – You’ll want to use these to smother and then smooth out the thermal paste.
Torx Screwdriver – You’ll need this to open up the casing. Just one screw needs this.
Phillips Head Screwdriver - For unscrewing the rest of the screws on the PS3
Directions
The first thing you want to do is ground yourself to avoid electrostatic discharge. I have a wooden floor so I just walked around bare foot. This helps discharge static electricity from the body. But if you really want to be on the safe side, you can get an anti-static wristband. They’re pretty cheap.
Next, take off all the plugs on your PS3. Turn off the power switch in the back. Let the electricity dissipate from the PS3 hardware for a minute . Easily done.
The next thing you need to do is break off the warranty seal on the left side of the PS3. I would only recommend you do this if your warranty has expired. After you take off the seal, you will see a plug. Remove that to expose the hole its covering. In there is a Torx screw that you will need to remove with a Torx Screwdriver. Use a T6, T7 or T8 size Torx screwdriver.
When you unscrew that Torx screw, you will be able to slide off the PS3 panel. To make this post shorter, I’ll defer the disassembly instructions to a couple of guides to help you dissemble the PS3. Your main goal is to get to the heatsink and the Cell and GPU chips.
http://www.llamma.com/PS3/repair/PS3_disassembly_tutorial.htm
http://content.techrepublic.com.com/2346-10877_11-41891.html
Pics of my Cell processor & RSX GPU chip
Some Advice
Remember everything you did when you are dissembling so you can backtrack when you’re putting it back together. I used several coffee filters as cups to hold screws from each stage I dissembled. For example, the screws that held down the power supply was contained in one coffee filter and screws from the top cover in another.
When you’re screwing the heatsink back onto the chips, place all the screws in and tighten each one a little at a time so the pressure from the heatsink pushing down on the two chips is spread over more evenly.
Thoughts
Right now my PS3 is humming along well. As I’m typing this, I’m running it through Folding@Home. The fan cycles will still pick up, but not as early now. If you want to see if it makes a difference, play the Heavy Rain demo before and after applying new thermal paste. That game heats up the chips quite fast. Take your time when you are dissembling, that is the most important thing. Don’t use excessive force if you can’t remove something. You either missed some screws or you have to take it off by opening it as a lid or by sliding it. The same goes for the ribbon wires as well. Make sure you lift the little lever that holds down each ribbon wire to unlock them.
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