Customer: Mark, a local enthusiast gamer.
Device: Custom Desktop PC (Ryzen 7, RTX 3080)
Issue: PC shutting down after 20 minutes of gaming. Fans spinning at 100%.
Turnaround: 48 hours (including deep clean)
Mark reported that his high-end gaming PC was becoming incredibly loud during gaming sessions (Cyberpunk 2077) and then randomly shutting down. This typically indicates thermal throttling—where the CPU or GPU gets so hot it cuts power to save itself from melting.
We ran comprehensive stress tests at our Chineham workshop. Within 5 minutes of load, the CPU temperature spiked to 98°C, and the GPU hit 90°C. Upon opening the case, the issue was immediately apparent: severe dust buildup.
The radiator for the AIO liquid cooler was completely clogged with dust, meaning the fans were essentially blowing air against a solid wall. No heat was escaping the case.
1. Component Strip-Down: We removed the graphics card, RAM, and cooling block to access all nooks and crannies.
2. Deep Clean: Using compressed air and anti-static brushes, we removed years of dust from the radiator fins, fan blades, and power supply intake.
3. Thermal Paste Re-application: The old thermal paste on the CPU had dried out and cracked. We cleaned it off with isopropyl alcohol and applied a fresh, vital amount of high-performance Arctic Silver paste.
4. Airflow Optimisation: We noticed the case fans were configured inefficiently (all as intake). We re-oriented the rear fan to exhaust hot air out of the case, creating a proper "push-pull" airflow path.
Post-repair, the idle temperatures dropped by 15°C. Under full load, the CPU now peaked at a healthy 72°C, and the fan noise was barely audible. Mark was thrilled to get back to gaming without crashes.
"Can't believe how quiet it is now. It's like a brand new PC again. Thanks for sorting the cable management too!"
- Mark T.
Dust kills components. Don't let your expensive hardware degrade.
