Graphics card makes HORRIBLE fan growl at boot. Help!

AzarN

Hey all.

Recently (almost immediately following the release of the 280.26 drivers, and after transplanting my system into a new case) my nVidia GTX 285 has been demonstrating an alarming problem. Every time I switch the computer on, the card fan growls HORRIBLY; as though a cable was stuck in it. It's extremely noticeable and sounds VERY unhealthy (although the system boots normally). I have to reboot the system multiple times (between two and four times), after which the system boots up without the growling sound.

My system operates perfectly well after this, with the GPU doing it's normal job, running games like Deus Ex: Human Revolution very comfortably. There's no real sign of graphical glitches (outside some of the now commonly reported glitches in DX:HR, such as bizarre colors) and the card keeps itself perfectly cool (60-70 degrees celsius if it's being pushed to the absolute limit) and doesn't get any hotter than normal. If the card is really working hard, the fan speed amps up to it's fastest speed without any noticeable problems. The card is not overclocked or modified in any way (the only way I play with it is occasionally speeding the fans up with EVGA Precision, but I have not done this recently).

I've tried disconnecting other devices in my PC to pump the card with as much power as possible, but this does nothing to alleviate the problem. Furthermore, I've been running the card for almost two years in the same system with the same PSU with no worries. I've made sure there's no errant cables touching the fan.

Has anyone else encountered this problem? Does anyone know a fix? Is my card just on its last legs? If so, shouldn't it be misbehaving and showing me way more trouble than just this fan problem? Any advice is very appreciated.

System:
nVidia GTX 285
Windows 7 Ultimate 64 bit
Intel Core 2 CPU 6420 @ 2.13GHZ 2.13GHZ
2GB DDR2 RAM
PSU: Antec 550W
Drivers: 280.26
CUDA Cores: 240
Graphics Clock: 648MHZ
Processor Clock: 1476MHZ
Memory Clock: 1242MHZ
Memory Interface: 512 Bit
Dedicated Video Memory: 1024MB GDDR3

sumwar

I'm no computer expert but this does look like your graphics card could possibly be dying or at least your fan is dying. My fan once was sorta like that then it started getting louder and not just at start up but all the time until it sounded like a fucking jet engine 100% of the time the computer was on until I had to get a new one. I hope your fan doesn't get worse>.<

L Ron Howard

It's the fan that's dying. The bearings are going bad, and are going to puke pretty soon, if they haven't already.

matt has a problem

Yep, I had a northbridge fan go bad on me and do this same thing, after a while it sounded like I was starting up a chainsaw. Fortunately, changing a video card fan is just like changing any other system fan really. Unfortunately, the GTX 285 has mostly gone the way of the dodo, and this was the only aftermarket fan I could find which claims to fit - http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16835186042&amp;Tpk=gtx 285 and it's $70.

Effef

Bearings in the fan are dying. You could try to get a replacement fan, but like ^ said there isn't much support anymore. I recommend getting a gtx480.

Lilnoobs

Psh, make your own replacement fan(s) with 92mms and pipe cleaners.

Effef

You could definitely rig something, but it would be awkward.

Eat it You Nasty Pig.

Yeah, the fan's bearings are starting to wear and seize. Once the fan has been going for a little while the moving parts heat up and you don't hear them grinding as much, but eventually you'll hear it all the time and some time past that they'll fail completely.

If you haven't cleaned your case in a while, do that and try to get as much dust out of the fan housing as possible.

Keep monitoring the card for heat issues, but as long as the fan's still spinning you don't need to worry too much about it damaging anything else. If you don't mind the noise, you can potentially keep using that card for a fair while.