PC is a DELL Dimension E520

When I turn my PC on a yellow light flashes at the start button, the green light does not come on and the PC does not start up.

I cleaned everything inside the PC and when I removed the cooling housing & the grey material between the chip and base flaked off. The surface was not even because of the material flaking off.

I wiped the material off and put the PC back he together. Hit the power button and on came the green light and the PC started...but the fan is loud, very loud, so I have shut everything down.

I live in Costa Rica and its the rainy season. I suspect moisture is causing the problem between the chip and base, getting trapped in the uneven surface where the grey material is located.

What material can I use to replace that grey material? A brand description would help as it is hard to find anything out of the ordinary in paradise. Looks and feels like a thin layer of some type of silicon.

When I replace this material will that stop the fan from being very loud?

Any help would be appreciated.

thermal grease/paste as it is referred to ,the lack of will not make your fan noisy ,fan is noisy because of something you did in removal or replacing it ,make sure it is in flat .
thermal paste ,some brands are better than others but you need to get some soon,so what ever brand you can get will do for you!!

just an example .
http://www.tigerdirect.ca/applicatio....asp?CatId=503

The fan is thermally controlled, the higher the CPU temperature goes, the faster the fan will run. The thermal compound enhances the thermal convection between the CPU and the heat sink. Without the thermal compound the CPU could actually overheat and damage it. There is a temperature set point for the CPU which when it is reached will cause the computer to shut down.

as long as its set to do so in the bios ,not all are activated !