Desktop Fan Too Loud

Jason Todd

My desktop is making a loud whirring noise whenever I turn it on (the noise doesn't go away after start-up). I think it's one of the fans, but I'm not really knowledgeable about the innards of computers. It was doing this about a month ago, but it went away when I left it off for a day.

I don't think it's dust, as I cleaned it out with compressed air the first time it did this. I'm worried about overheating, but not really sure what to do. Is the fan broken (not sure which fan it is though)? I read online you can oil computer fans to quiet them down; is this true?

Desert_Eagle25

Are you sure it's not coming from your HDD? That would be infinitely worse.

Jason Todd

Not sure. I don't really know how to tell.

Jason Todd

It might be important to note that when this happened a month ago, the computer had been on for over 24 hours while my brother downloaded the WAR beta. That's what makes me think its the fan, but again: I don't know computers.

saltiness

It's possible that the fan is just dying. The bearings eventually seize up and it starts to make noise. You need to open up your case and turn the computer on then listen closely to find out what's making the noise.

SpongeCake

It's also possible it's the case vibrating. I need to give my case a solid thwack in the corner every time I start it up to silence it. Check the screws keeping the thing held together, try holding the case firmer and seeing if the noise stops and so on.

Jason Todd

Ok, an extensive dusting session has resolved the problem, so I don't think its the harddrive. I will be looking into replacing the fan anyway (5+ years old). Thanks.

ProPatriaMori

Just because I ran into something similar just recently, that might be your system overheat warning. Mine sounded a lot like a wire had drifted into the fans again. Then I realized it only came on intermittently, and when the system was under heavy load, but the fans are on all the time without always making that noise.

Cleaning out the dust would improve airflow and keep your system under the threshhold temperature.

Note that if the warning is just coming on you're probably fine. It's good to get it cleaned out again and keep the temperatures lower, but just being above the bzzzzzz warning threshhold will probably only shorten the computer's life a bit, not melt it and spill its innards all over your desk.