Speaking of overheating…about a year before I upgraded it, my comp would start to bog down and then shut down playing games, I recall re-playing Fallout 3 when it started happening every single time I played.
Thought it might be overheating, so I cracked it open for the first time in a while.
PACKED with dust and cat hair. I had it sitting on the floor, or in a bottom cabinet for years. I know it’s not a good idea, but it was so damn convenient.
CPU heat sinks were packed solid. Fans were grudgingly turning. PSU intake was covered by a fine blanket of detritus.
Spent a few hours disassembling and cleaning, and it was back in business. That’s when I decided to just update it instead of buying a new machine. I MIGHT have 1k in it between the initial build and the upgrade