[SOLVED] 550 ti hitting 95c?

[JTidfk]

Hey, so i'm working on my girlfriends PC and it's all really old parts. I'll list off specs before getting into the problem.
Motherboard: Asus p7h55
CPU: Intel core I-7 860
GPU: GeForce GTX 550ti

So, this was her brothers PC so I'm not exactly comfortable / knowing of all the parts that are in it. She wanted to use it to play WoW while he's away but when i went there today the GPU was hitting 95c which i looked up and that is max temp / not normal for the GPU (the PC sounded like it was about to take flight). Especially on all low settings on the game. The wire management is horrible to say the least, lots of power cables are in the front of the PC even blocking one of the front panel case fans, with the other one not even working. The airflow is pretty bad.

My question is, if I clean up the PC, manage the wires, dust it off, do you think I could get the temps lower? I know it's a really old GPU and if it can't run a game like WoW in general I don't want to waste any time trying to wire manage and dust everything off, I'm scared to even touch anything in there lol.

 

[Furzumz]

My question is, if I clean up the PC, manage the wires, dust it off, do you think I could get the temps lower?

I'm sure that would help. But if its more so a thermal paste problem then it might not do much unless you fix that as well.

I recommend using some compressed air to blow the PC out if possible. They sell cans of compressed air or if you have a air compressor on hand with a blower attachment you can use that (just don't blast the computer too hard with it, you just need enough air pressure to blow out the dust)

If none of the above is available, using a brush of some sort to brush what dust you can out of the heatsinks could help. But compressed air is really the way to go as the dust packs itself into everything, the brush route will only get you so far.

Its also very well possible the thermal paste on that 550 ti is completely dried out. That card is from ~2011, thermal paste maybe lasts roughly around 4 years give or take before it starts getting dry. Once it dries out the temperatures can skyrocket.

You can look up on youtube or elsewhere on the internet how to replace the thermal paste for that particular model video card, its usually not as scary or complicated as some people think.

If you do go that route I'd also change out the thermal paste on the CPU while you're at it. The paste on that thing probably turned into a rock given its age