Noisy power fan

[techtv]

hi i am hoping somone can shed light on my problem i have a amd 1800xp everything was fine but now its noisy when i turn it on very annoying i think its the power supply fan but not sure as the time is okay on my clock and things run normaly hmmm not sure about it any help will do

cheers

 

[dakota81]

It's either your power supply fan, cpu fan, or possibly chipset / video card fan (but almost positive not these last two). The best way to tell if it's the power supply fan or cpu fan is simply put your ear next to the PSU and listen.

One thing that provides atleast temporary relief is I take a pen and stick it into the fan while it's running. The noise is caused by an imbalance in the fan, maybe by some dust buildup, which gets jarred loose when the fan is suddenly stopped.

...atleast that's my attempt of an explaination of why jabbing a pen into the fan shuts it up. =)

 

[Grenage]

While I won't recommend pen jabbing ...

Dakota is probably right on the dust buildup, it could be the bearngs going or even the hard drive on the way out.

Best thing to do is take of the cover and turn on the machine, localise the problem device, clean it and if there is no improvement replace it.

If its the Hard Drive then try to backup all your information asap.

 

[edfair]

Better a pencil eraser than a pen. Better yet a piece of paper rolled up to the size of a pen. Fans don't have much power so almost anything will stop them.
Bearings go noisy before they sieze, so fan replacement is required pretty soon after they go noisy.
Be prepared to cut the wires and splice for the new one. Connectors aren't standard but the power requirements are.

Ed Fair
Any advice I give is my best judgement based on my interpretation of the facts you supply. Help increase my knowledge by providing some feedback, good or bad, on any advice I have given.