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Replacing my CPU fan. How do I remove it?
Tofystedeth
Registered User regular
Registered User regular
So my CPU fan has been making this fairly bad grinding noise for quite a while now. I've been meaning to replace it, but have held off due to a bit of weirdness (and the temp has stayed good, it's just pretty loud), but I'm finally breaking down as my new Linux install seems to not controll the fanspeed like Windows does, so it's just always super loud.
The CPU/fan/heatsink all came as one unit (specifically, this one), and what's been stopping me is the way the fan is attached to the HS. It doesn't have screws, it has these little plastic doodads. I'd give a picture but I can't find any, and I'm not at home. I'll put some up when I get back at noon. But basically they are kind of rounded off. It looks like plastic screws or pegs, or clips or something, but as far as I can tell, there is no way to remove them. The tops are all smooth you see.
Has anybody ever dealt with these before? Can I just maybe pop the fan out with enough force then put a replacement fan back in its place with real screws? Do I have to detach the whole heatsink fan combo and replace that?
Pics at noonish.
The CPU/fan/heatsink all came as one unit (specifically, this one), and what's been stopping me is the way the fan is attached to the HS. It doesn't have screws, it has these little plastic doodads. I'd give a picture but I can't find any, and I'm not at home. I'll put some up when I get back at noon. But basically they are kind of rounded off. It looks like plastic screws or pegs, or clips or something, but as far as I can tell, there is no way to remove them. The tops are all smooth you see.
Has anybody ever dealt with these before? Can I just maybe pop the fan out with enough force then put a replacement fan back in its place with real screws? Do I have to detach the whole heatsink fan combo and replace that?
Pics at noonish.
Tofystedeth on
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CPU Heatsinks aren't normally "screwed down" to the mount on the motherboard (that encircles the socket itself, as you can see--it's usually a different color of plastic). There's a lever on one side--lift it up, away from the motherboard. It'll loosen the bracket-like things that are doing most of the hold down.
Now, here it gets a little bit tricky. The heatsink compound/pad might hold down the processor, depending on how hot it is. You could get away with just yanking the thing out, but I'd advise against that, especially since you just want to change the fan, and you still plan to use the CPU. You have a few options--assuming you ran the PC earlier, the compound or pad should be warm still, and you can very gently nudge it from side to side and it'll come off. If not, well, run your PC again and try and warm it up, I suppose. I've found that the pads tend to be problematic (and more solid), while compound just kind of sits there in a goupy little stain.
The rest of straightforward--clean it off (rubbing alcohol or anything over 70% should do, I think). I would recommend actually removing the CPU from the socket, rather than cleaning the thing on the motherboard. I hope this was of some use. I've never heard of an Athlon fan that didn't use the sort of lever/latch thing, so if it is the case, I'm completely stumped.
BTW, it sounds like your old fan's bearings are wearing out. It's sort of a loud grinding/soft screeching?
I was just wondering if there was a way to separate the fan from the heatsink so I wouldn't have to go the whole thermal grease route.
Usually they're not bad to disengage the fan from the HSF, just take a slotted screwdriver and stick it in between the fins next to the tab, then (carefully) pry the tab away from the fin. The tabs generally are semi-triangular, and on one side have an indentation that's hooking onto a ridge in the heatsink fin (and this is the side you need to pry away from the fin.)
Once you've got the tab moved away from the ridge that's holding it against the heatsink, grab a second slotted screwdriver (or a butter knife,) and stick it between the fan and HSF itself and pry the fan away from the heatsink next to the tab you just unhooked. Don't pry it too much, just enough that it doesn't pop back into place as you repeat the process on the next tab.
Hope this made sense. It might be tough to do with the HSF still inside the case, depending on the layout of your motherboard and the size of the case itself.
OOOH. I follow you now. I think.
Personally, I'd trade out the whole thing, since you can probably get a CPU fan with a better quality base along with a fan for not much money.
Okay, upon getting my old Athlon fan out of a storage box and examining it...the one I'm looking at is deceptively simple. Four screws holding down the fan to the top of the heatsink, and since it plugs directly into the motherboard, no wires to worry about. Comes off easy. Apparently, it's not the same for you. If you're really determined to get it off, just try prying it off with a fan. A CPU fan is not exactly the most sensitive piece of equipment anyway, and even if it goes wrong, it might be for the better, because...
...at the same time, I'd advise getting a whole new heatsink, instead of just a fan. But that's just me. Thermal paste might be a little trouble, but there's way too much or some weird pad thing, it's not that hard to deal with.