This venerable PS3 has remained in daily service for the past fifteen years, still serving as a streaming box, Blu-ray and DVD player, and a variety of games from that generation!
While the Slim model did significantly improve the power draw and heat generation over the original "Fat" model, the years of use will inevitably have an effect.
While the blower fan did receive a good blow-out to knock out the dust buildup a few years back, it had slowly become an increasingly loud and obtrusive presence in the entertainment center it lives in, announcing its presence after even a few minutes of idling on the home screen and practically yelling it during gameplay.
The culprit was simply the fifteen years of age on the original thermal paste compound the console shipped with, significantly restricting the effectiveness of the cooling fins and causing the blower fan to ramp to maximum speed to attempt to overcome the heat soak.
While I did perform a thorough dusting of the system as I disassembled it, dust definitely wasn't a concern. The thermal paste had dried to a consistency approaching a thermal pad, and took some elbow grease to full clean off the old compound. Some fresh paste and the system was back to running practically silent!
