Lots of dust in CPU Cooler, should I re-seat the heatsink?

[DynamectiveNiko]

I noticed that my CPU cooler had a lot of dust in the heatsink, fan, and the pipes. I was wondering if this is probably why my temps are so high when gaming - usually in the high 60s (66, 69, 68). I was wondering if I took out the heatsink and dusted it out and reapplied the past it would help a lot better - I've never done this before so it'd be a whole new experience to me and I want to know if it is worth it to do to stop me from worrying so much about my temps. Sorry if it's kind of a dumb question.

 

[ThatVietGuy]

Yes, cleaning the cooler of dust and reapplying the thermal paste should help your temps.

 

[boosted1g]

Should be able to use a can of air and clean the heatsink without removing but if you must remove it to clean it then yes it will make a difference.
Just make sure to fully clean off the old paste and apply new paste, more is not more when it comes to paste.

 

[DynamectiveNiko]

Yes, cleaning the cooler of dust and reapplying the thermal paste should help your temps.

Alright, I'll get to it, thanks for the quick answers guys!

 

[DynamectiveNiko]

Should be able to use a can of air and clean the heatsink without removing but if you must remove it to clean it then yes it will make a difference.
Just make sure to fully clean off the old paste and apply new paste, more is not more when it comes to paste.

I'll probably fully clean it like you suggested, there's a bit of dust there that I don't think a can of air might get out. Thanks for the quick answer.

 

[JackNaylorPE]

I noticed that my CPU cooler had a lot of dust in the heatsink, fan, and the pipes. I was wondering if this is probably why my temps are so high when gaming - usually in the high 60s (66, 69, 68). I was wondering if I took out the heatsink and dusted it out and reapplied the past it would help a lot better - I've never done this before so it'd be a whole new experience to me and I want to know if it is worth it to do to stop me from worrying so much about my temps. Sorry if it's kind of a dumb question.

To address your question there's one big thing missing ... context

CPU ?
What is loading it when you reach those temps ?
Overclocked ? How high ?
Case / No of case fans ?
Cooler ?

The first thing I would do is what you should have been doing every 3 months, blow out the dust. I use one of these ....

https://images-na.ssl-images-amazon.com/images/I/614KOtd%2BAFL._AC_UL130_.jpg

But this works too...

https://www.walmart.com/ip/Maxell-Blast-Away-Canned-Air-2-Pk./15860547

Hold your finger on the fans to keep them still while using compressed air. blow the dist out of the fins. Without more info I wouldn't remove the heat sink. Only three reasons to reapply TIM:

a) Bad mount
b) Crappy TIM choice
c) Answering the ? above points to none of those being the cause