Repairing a buddys computer

[tkmoney]

hey guys im fixing my buddy's computer and ive narrowed the problem down to overheating. the pc shuts off as it gets to the windows loading screen if not the bios screen. there are two problems i discovered with the heat-sink assembly and cpu first of all the heat-sink seems to be broken on one side at the points the screws fasten to the motherboard could this cause such rapid overheating?

second i noticed whoever applied the thermal grease initially put way too much on. it covered most of the top of the chip. i did not notice any on the connection surface on the cpu nor did i find any in the cpu socket itself this seems like a more believable cause in terms of quicker overheating. if this is a cause is there any effective way to remove the thermal grease from the edges of the chip without damaging it?

i believe the cpu is a "Pentium r"

any help or input would be appreciated

 

[Timop]

a picture would be helpful.

A loose heatsink could definitely be the problem, reinstall it, and if the HSF is broken, get a new one.

On the TIM, is it a pad? If so, it should cover the whole top of the CPU, alcohol should take it off pretty easily if you want.

 

[loneninja]

If the heatsink is broken in a way that it's not tightly fastened to the cpu/motherboard, than yes it can caues rapid overheating.

 

[tkmoney]

ok im gonna try replacing the fan it wont be too expensive its just a lga 775 socket
the thermal grease issue however still troubles me it has a pad that covers the cpu but the grease is overflowed onto the silicon around the metal pad that attaches to the hsf... i would think that too much grease would insulate the chip and cause rapid overheating?