A user wants to repair his gaming PC – and is horrified when he has to pay to replace a meaningless cooling device

A gamer brings his gaming PC to the service for repair. He receives a message that the CPU cooler is too full of dust to remove. So the computer cannot be scanned further. When he is offered a paid exchange, he feels cheated.

Problems with your gaming PC can become annoying. Depending on their knowledge of computers, players can help themselves and solve simple problems on their own, for example, if the error is due to avoidable rookie mistakes.

In more difficult cases, going to a computer repair shop will help as a last resort. The trained specialists there try to get your gaming PC working again. In the case of one player on Reddit, this only worked to a limited extent because he was supposed to pay for the inconsequential replacement of his CPU cooler.

The player must pay to repair the useless computer

What kind of fix was that? on Reddit User “_windbourne_” is reporting that his gaming PC was being repaired. When the computer stops outputting an image, the operator tries to fix it himself. Sometimes the problem may just be caused by something small inside the computer.

I tried a lot of things – checking every connection between components, reconnecting the memory modules and trying them individually, trying to boot without a graphics card, clearing the CMOS and replacing the CMOS battery – and I also tested the power supply for signs of life with a paper clip.

_windbourne_ report on Reddit Of repairing his computer

He says his attempts at repairs have failed and that he knows little about computers. So solving the problem was not as easy as with an incorrectly connected graphics card. The player decides to take the computer to a local computer repair shop.

A service technician called him and informed him of the temporary status of checking his computer. The message stated that tests so far have found no problems with the RAM, power supply, graphics card, disk drive and installed operating system.

What is the problem? Next, the technician wanted to check the motherboard and processor. However, this will not be possible because the CPU cooler is too full of dust to remove and that is why you will not be able to access the components underneath.

To solve this “problem”, the player was offered to replace his CPU cooler. According to him, the workshop charged the equivalent of 75 euros for this work, in addition to the additional costs for the new radiator.

what happened after that? The player thought they were trying to scam him and sell him a meaningless fix that had nothing to do with the actual problem. The service technician's statement was misleading and, according to him, made no sense at all.

Reddit user CodAfraid5367 And I saw him the same way and said:

• “Too dusty to remove. So let me remove it to replace it. What?”

inertSpark On the other hand, I wanted to know how the technician planned to remove the radiator that could not be removed:

• “Ask him what magical powers he wants to use to replace the cooler when he says the place is too dusty to free it from the holder.”

He wrote thus _Windbourne_ I went back to the technician and asked him “Why do you want to charge me to replace my CPU cooler when you obviously can't even remove it?”

In the post-workshop response from the service manager, it was said that due to the amount of dust there was some concern about possible contamination of other computer components.

However, it is understood that the first message caused confusion and that they wanted to accommodate the player. A new cooler will now be used for further testing, which will remain in the gaming PC as a free upgrade after testing is complete.

Unfortunately, this case shows that not all computer repairs go smoothly. It remains to be hoped that the gamer will eventually get his gaming PC back to full operation and that the costs will remain within reasonable limits. Another gamer wasn't so lucky when he sent his graphics card in for repair: Gamer sends in an Nvidia RTX 4070 Ti for repair – and gets a much cheaper model instead of the €800 graphics card