Thanks, that was a good pic.
So once I open these bridges up I just clean old paste and put on new? There's no 'certain area' to apply it to? What amount should I apply, should I judge it by what's already in there?
I dont understand how applying ointment will reduce temperatures btw.
It's not ointment, its thermal compound
. It's Made to help transfer heat from the chip to the heatsink, which in turn reduces temperatures.
Also is there any damage I can do by doing this wrong, or is this fairly safe?
As long as you don't damage the chips by physical force, you should be fine.
Should I also consider buying a new fan? Or should I just do that instead? If so, any suggestions on what type of fan would be nice
If you get a new fan, make sure it matches the same size as the other one, but get one with a higher CFM (how much air it can move) rating, but still a fairly low dBA level, otherwise it will be just as noisy. But remember, fans with a low dBA will generally have a lower CFM
In the pic Carnage attached, would I be correct in assuming the southbridge is the one at the bottom right of the screen?
Northbridge is near the top (get it, North?
) and southbridge is, you guessed it, at the bottom (hence 'south').
Oh suddenly I'm thinking - once I open the computer do I need to take out the motherboard in order to be able to do this, or can it stay connected and there'll still be enough space to maneuver within?
Depends on the board; if you have the plastic plunger clips like in Soulphire's pic, then you'll need to remove the board in order to remove those clips. If you can remove the heatsinks while it is still screwed to the case, then you should be fine.
