PS3 Graphical Glitches - software issues or overheating?

[racketboy]

I first noticed some annoying glitches while playing Back to the Future: The Game (great game if you like adventure games and/or the movie)

Every now and then, I would see a VERY noticeable graphical glitch where it seems like some polygon point shot up to the roof, causing what looks like a huge spike coming out of a person's arm or head for the rest of the scene. This happened a number of times in BTTF, but I never noticed it in other games, so I figured maybe it was a bad job of porting the graphics over to the PS3.

But just yesterday, I noticed a similar problem while playing the demo of Turtles in Time Reshelled -- some of the footsoldiers were having these spike glitches come out of their bodies sometimes.

A quick google search of PS3 graphical glitches brought be to this post:
http://www.avsforum.com/avs-vb/showthread.php?t=1157452

I guess the screenshot looks somewhat similar, but mine seemed more drastic. This post mentioned overheating, but I wanted to get your guys' input on this...

BTW, I have a 60GB PS3 Fat

[Hobie-wan]

Seen similar glitches where some geometry coordinates go bonkers and turns into a spike on both consoles and PC games. It is a calculation error which can be due to buggy programming or heat causing a processor to screw up a value. If your PS3 is dusty or in an enclosed space, that can certainly cause it. Clean if necessary or test with the console out in the open where it is getting plenty of air and see if it goes away. If not, then perhaps you do have a hardware problem.

[noiseredux]

sorry to bump a very old topic, but my 60GB is giving me this problem as well. It's not often. And what's really strange is it tends to happen with specific games -- Soul Calibur 4 being the most notorious.

If Hobie's post is true, it's possible I need to clean my PS3 out. It is well ventilated, but I'm sure it could use some de-dusting. So... does anyone have a good proper guide on how to clean out a fat PS3 without damaging anything by accident?

[Hobie-wan]

However you're cleaning, if it involves canned air, don't be tempted to blast the fan and have it crank up like a siren. By the time it 'sounds neat' it is going faster than it will under normal use and you're hurting the bearings which will contribute to an early death. That applies to any fans in consoles or in your PC.