Computer fan is being VERY loud

Magus`

One of the fans in my PC is getting louder and louder. I think it's my CPU fan, but just to be sure, I air-cleaned all the fans.

All of them seem to be more or less dust free and very secured (IE, not loose and gyrating crazily). Also, computer doesn't seem to have overheating issues (though I'm having trouble finding a temp monitor that works with DFI motherboards) and no stability issues. It's just very loud and honestly very annoying.

Am I missing something obvious?

Rhino

Did it just start happening or has it always been like that?

Magus`

Well, it was never super quiet but over the past few weeks (months?) it's gotten steadily louder. At first it was quiet with occasional bits of loudness, then it got kind of 'half and half' and now finally it's almost always loud with occasional bits of quietness.

Lewisham

Replace the fan, it's probably burnt out.

Magus`

I wouldn't mind, but I'm still not sure which one it is. It is probably the CPU one, though.

In which case, I have to figure out what size fan I need. Joy.

Geod

You can also try oiling the fan:

http://articles.techrepublic.com.com/5100-1035-5034842.html

Worked for me - make sure to see page 2 about how to do it.

AtomBomb

If you're not sure which fan it is there are two things you can do. I'll usually just put my finger on the center bit to slow it down and see if the noise lessens/changes. This is a BAD IDEA, but sometimes I'm lazy and unsafe. The other thing to do is get a paper towel tube, point one end at the fan in question and put your ear on the other end. Check each of the fans this way and you should be able to hear which one is bad. Try to get the tube as close to the fan as you safely can to make it easier to tell.

Magus`

I could also unhook the case fans. It's not like it'll burn my system out (unlike if I removed the CPU fan).

Oddly though, right now it's nice and quiet. Maybe my air cleaning dislodged whatever was making it grind and it had to spin some to fix itself? Anyhow, I'll definately pick up some oil just in case, though.

Khaczor

Make sure you check your heatsinks also. The fan could be running faster because your heatsinks are not working properly. Just replace the fan though and it should do it.

Gotcha Force

AtomBomb wrote: »

If you're not sure which fan it is there are two things you can do. I'll usually just put my finger on the center bit to slow it down and see if the noise lessens/changes. This is a BAD IDEA, but sometimes I'm lazy and unsafe.

no not really, if the fan breaks from you doing this then its a piece of shit fan and should be replaced anyways

any fan worth its salt can take this very easily, and why people dont think of doing this themselves boggles the mind really.

Marty81

Gotcha Force wrote: »

AtomBomb wrote: »

If you're not sure which fan it is there are two things you can do. I'll usually just put my finger on the center bit to slow it down and see if the noise lessens/changes. This is a BAD IDEA, but sometimes I'm lazy and unsafe.

no not really, if the fan breaks from you doing this then its a piece of shit fan and should be replaced anyways

any fan worth its salt can take this very easily, and why people dont think of doing this themselves boggles the mind really.

The problem is it momentarily lessens the cooling the (whatever component) gets. I do this occasionally to check my fans for noise, though. Based on a temp monitor I have installed, my CPU temp will go from 35-40 C all the way up to 55 C before it starts going back down when I do this. Not necessarily dangerous for me, but it can be a little dangerous based on your system. My video card only changes by about 2 degrees C when I check its fan, though.

One reason your fan might be making more noise is that it's dynamically adjusting to the cooling requirements of your system. More RPMs is more noise, and it's summer now so your computer is going to request more cooling strength.

Rook

Gotcha Force wrote: »

AtomBomb wrote: »

If you're not sure which fan it is there are two things you can do. I'll usually just put my finger on the center bit to slow it down and see if the noise lessens/changes. This is a BAD IDEA, but sometimes I'm lazy and unsafe.

no not really, if the fan breaks from you doing this then its a piece of shit fan and should be replaced anyways

any fan worth its salt can take this very easily, and why people dont think of doing this themselves boggles the mind really.

Except find something that's not your finger to stick in it.

Gotcha Force

Rook wrote: »

Gotcha Force wrote: »

AtomBomb wrote: »

If you're not sure which fan it is there are two things you can do. I'll usually just put my finger on the center bit to slow it down and see if the noise lessens/changes. This is a BAD IDEA, but sometimes I'm lazy and unsafe.

no not really, if the fan breaks from you doing this then its a piece of shit fan and should be replaced anyways

any fan worth its salt can take this very easily, and why people dont think of doing this themselves boggles the mind really.

Except find something that's not your finger to stick in it.

or touch the center since thats the best for the fan anyways

the only time ive ever had a problem with stopping the fan without my finger was this piece of shit heatsink that had a little rounded nose in the middle of the fan, my finger just slipped off of it into the turbine type blades and it cut my finger majorly (the thing was spinning at 7000rpm though, no joke, it was broken as fuck).

Marty81 wrote: »

words

If stopping a fan for 5 seconds makes your computer overheat then the fan is not the problem.

tsmvengy

Yeah, feel free to press on the center hub of the fan to slow it down/stop it. Do this on each fan to see which one is making the horrible noise - could be the chipset. You can use a pencil w/ an eraser too if you don't want to stick your fingers in there - just remember to put pressure on the hub to slow it down, don't just jam something in the blades. Your computer can handle the lack of cooling for 5 seconds.

MKR

Rather than stopping the fan on the most sensitive component, you could try the PSU fan. You can stop it and deduce the state of the other fan depending on what happens.

If it's like mine and external to the PSU, you can use a finger. A cotton schwab should do if it's internal.

Disclaimer: I am not an expert.

Cycophant

Just don't do what I tried when I was younger. My fans were making noise, and I found the culprit, and noticed that if I put a bit of weight on the center of the fan, the noise stopped.

So, in my infinite wisdom, I decided to put a big blob of that play-doh crap you use to hang posters with on it. Sure enough, the noise stopped. Until a month or two later, when the heat caused it to melt, clogging the fan and heatsink with blue goo.

But yeah, try to find the noisy fan, try oiling it, look to see if it's only making noises at high RPM, and failing all that, just replace it. They're easy to replace.

Magus`

It's the fan on my mobo. Fuck. Not sure what I can do.

I cleaned it out with both air and alcohol, but it's still quiet loud. I can'd do the oil trick it seems, either, as the fan won't give me access to that area.

Dammit, I'm not even sure on how to replace it!

bombardier

See if you can find a replacement of the same size. Is it a fan ON a heatsink, or one of those that are sort of buried inside some fins of a heatsink? I've replaced numerous fans and done hack jobs like tieing the fan to the heatsink with kite string, using some Loctite to stick it to a heatsink, or getting it screwed down if the fins are close enough.

Pics would be helpful.

AtomBomb

Do you know what kind of motherboard you have? It's probably not as difficult to replace as you think. It's called a chipset fan, and you can get a replacement pretty easily. You can also eliminate the fan altogether by changing to a large passive heatsink, but I wouldn't recommend it. When you do that you really need to understand the airflow in your case, and that may be more than you want to think about right now.

Magus`

I found a replacement fan.. I think. They say it's good for DFI Lanparty mobos (which is what I have).

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16835119080

AtomBomb

That should work fine. Just be gentle when removing the old fan, clean the goop off of the chip, apply the thermal paste thinly and evenly and you should be good to go. Just be glad that you don't have a mobo where they glue the heatsink on, that can be kind of a pain in the ass.

Magus`

... Thermal paste? Fuck

bombardier

Looks like that one comes with paste. Cotton swabs + 99% alcohol = clean chipset.

Marty81

It comes with thermal paste if that's what you're worried about.

Edit: Beat'd

AtomBomb

It comes with the fan, no worries. It's just liking buttering toast, except if you butter it wrong your toast heats up, catches fire and burns down your house.
It's really easy. You can't do much worse than some of the shit work I've seen after pulling of FACTORY INSTALLED heatsinks. Looks like it was applied with the sour cream caulking gun from Taco Bell.

bombardier

You might have to take out the motherboard to replace the heatsink/fan so now would be a good time to clean everything out with some compressed air or if you have one/a friend with one, an air compressor.