I think It's my CPU fan but I don't think it's going bad....

[pyrate83]

Ever since I bought the computer in February, the CPU fan has always been the noisiest...at least I am pretty sure that's the fan I'm hearing since I only have 3 fans total. The PSU, the case fan and the CPU fan. It just makes kind of a low buzzing sound. The sound fluctuates somewhat and sometimes it won't be making much noise at all. It's a cooler master fan that came straight from the factory. Any suggestions on how I could quiet that fan down so it doesn't make it's rhythmic buzzing sound anymore??????

Thanks.

[pixel]

I get this with a fan over one of the motherboard chips.

Try removing the fan and putting a tiny drop of oil on the spindle, then hold it upside down and spin it round with your finger for a few minutes, this should help.

It worked for me, but as soon as I started moving my PC and openong it up again the noise started happening again.

[The village idiot]

Most of the noise comes from the blades. The reason it makes more noise sometimes is the fan speed will increase when the processor temp goes above the set temperature. If you are really concerned you could replace it with another. Just make sure it has the proper connection. All 3 wires

[gmatov]

Try gently gripping the sides of the heatsink on the CPU and feeling for vibration. Might be a little warm, but you shouldn't get burnt.

If you feel vibration there, but not elsewhere, I would contact the vendor (7 month old machine ) to see if they would cross-ship a new one, or go buy a new one now.

Personally, I always keep a few on hand. They tend to die at inconvenient times, like when the stores are closed.

If you have a MoBo monitor, keep an eye on the temps and fan speeds. If the temps go up, and the RPMs go down, change it immediately. They're too cheap to let a CPU burn up over.

Cheers,

George

[pyrate83]

Well, like I said I haven't had anything leading me to believe the fan is going bad. I mean, it's basically done this since Feb. when I bought the system so I'm not really concerned about damage.

As for the motherboard monitor, I tried to use that once but couldn't figure out a darn thing on it. I gave up but I just would want a more user friendly mobo montior.

I also should prolly mention that my CPU fan is very clean, no dust or ne thing since I just recently blew it out and vacuumed it with compressed air so my airflow would continue to stay good and temps normal.

[Greenspock]

Replace it. Fans are cheap anyway. Don't put yourself through the torture of a noisy fan. These things aren't really meant to be "fixed".

If you want, you can post to the thread "What are you listening to now?"

[pixel]

Try what I described above. Another thought could be that it is an equaliser fan (the one I have which makes noise has an equaliser), this means it can slow down and speed up, causing those horrible noises.

Maybe try going into the BIOS and disabling the equaliser, hopefully this should leave it spinning at a steady rate, and not have fluctuating noise.

[Solarjetman]

I also should prolly mention that my CPU fan is very clean, no dust or ne thing since I just recently blew it out and vacuumed it with compressed air so my airflow would continue to stay good and temps normal.

Good for you. A process overlooked by many.

[gmatov]

Pyrate,

I didn't really mean a Windows prog MoBo monitor, I meant your BIOS monitor. When you're done for the day/night, restart your machine and hit whatever key takes you to Setup, click over to the category that has MoBo monitor, and see what your temp and speed are..

If you are approaching, or are over 70 F, and your fan is under 4000 RPM (depending on the fan's normal speed; some close in on 7000 RPM ) and if you can feel any vibration in the heatsink itself, but not on other devices, I would replace that fan/heatsink. They run less than 20 bucks for good ones, less you want to take some of the hardcore advice to not buy anything less than a 50 buck one. You know, you only gets what you pays for.

Horse puckey.

George

[burna3000]

I've got a similar problem, with one fan much noisier than the others, yet sometimes its quiet
Pyrate- how important is it to clean up inside? Does the dust cause problems? What do you use to do so?

[pyrate83]

Well, burna, I just use compressed air and a hose on my vacuum and that's pretty much it.

Good luck!

BTW-I don't think you will encounter probs unless your insides are super dusty. But it's always good to make sure the fans are clean so your system won't run hotter than it has to. :P

[gmatov]

Pyrate,

I don't want to worry you, but it is not a good idea to run your vaccuum inside your box. The dust flying down the hose can cause a huge static electric charge, devastating to some components.

They sell small battery operated, therefore isolated, vacs for that.

There have been explosions in factories that had no ground wire, or eroded through ground wires in their vac systems. The ground wire runs through the hose and discharges the static builup.

Air, lots of it, and it was the propellent, not liquid air that went into your RAM slot, evaporates instantly, nonconductive, don't worry..

George

[pyrate83]

Thanks for that piece of info. George. I never really took the vacuum hose inside the case though. I used the compressed air to blow all the dust either outside the case or on the floor of the case and then very carefully vacuumed it out. But for future reference I will not use a vacuum cleaner with my computer just so I don't run the risk of damaging the system with electrostatic discharge.

Thanks again.