Thread: PC fan problems, going mad

Originally Posted by la Huerta

so if the cpu is not over heating, what can cause this and how can i fix it, it's is driving my quite mad...

Do you mean the "wind noise" from the fan is becoming louder, or can you actually hear the motor working louder?

Although most CPU fans are "bearingless" they still wear out and develop noisy vibrations. The simplest fix is to replace the fan... they're pretty cheap.

sorry i kind of wrote the thread in a hurry (the fan was going mad again !)

what i mean is the fan itself starts up 33min after reboot, it's starts at low speed, for a few moments, then the speed goes up and up till it's full on like a jet engine , the fan itself sound fine mechanically, it's just runs flatout, and just stays that way till i reboot, then the cycle repeat's itself.

there does not seem to be any over heating, it will do this whether i am working, or the pc is idle...

i tend to work nights so it's a bit of a problem

This is a desktop or tower case? Not a laptop?

You sure it's the CPU fan and not the power supply fan?

If it's definitely the CPU fan it's a puzzler... do you have "motherboard tweaking software" installed? Something that'll allow you to overclock CPU speed and/or fan cut-off temperatures? Often supplied as a system utility on the mfr's mobo driver CD. Perhaps some setting has screwed up in there? 'Cos it sounds like the fan has been set to cut in at a very, very low temp, and as the CPU comes up to normal operating temps the fan works harder to try and bring it back down below what it can actually achieve...

to be honest i know as much about the inside of my pc as the inside of the dunny on the space station...

it's a dell optiplex desktop 3gig with xp pro, and has 79% free space.if you looking at it from the back, the power cable is on the right and the fans outlet is on the left, whether it's the cpu or not i do not know.

here is a pic i found, it is'nt the exact same one, the inside of this machine is a little different than mine, but the fan is pretty much the same, it's the big grey thing on the left that looks like a dust extractor...i can see the AC fan behind the power cable, so i am assuming it's the cpu, it also has 2 heatsinks under the fan.

I have a Dell GX280 that has a variable speed CPU fan that normally run quiet but sounds like a jet engine if the processor is working hard. There is a heat sensor in the fan assembly that varies the fan speed, it could be crook if it runs flat out all the time.It may be worthwhile looking in the task manager to see how hard the processor is working or that something else is running that shouldn't be. Here is a similar problem.

"http://www.hardforum.com/showthread.php?t=925293"

Mark

thanks for the info marker...

i also [ame="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Uwhy6AmnQsI&NR=1"]found this on youtube[/ame], it's the exact same machine as mine, look at that dust, i only gave the little heatsink a blow .

how can i safely do this, i don't like mucking around inside pc's, what about static...and i don't have an air compressor.

any tips or advice on cleaning welcome...

Are you sure its a fan and not a CD left in the caddy that is spinning up?

i ain't as dumb as i look Wongdai but thanks for the tip

it's the fan at the back that sits on top of the heatsinks

I have a Dell and it used to do that all the time, very noisy, especially in hot weather. Eventually one day the computer started telling me it had shut down because of a thermal event. Replaced the fan, not as noisy but some time later started same thermal event thing, so techy changed computer so fan comes on all the time. Dont get that heavy revving fan sound any more, and no more thermal messages. I can still hear the fan but no where near as bad as when it upped a gear before.

Donna

FWIW, I dislike using compressed air to blow out a PC, for static reasons. I particularly dislike "spinning the fan" with it! But I don't mind pulling mine to pieces and cleaning it out with a 1" camel-hair brush.

Which doesn't really solve your problem, sorry.

And yes, that's the CPU fan.

It's speed is normally controlled by a thermistor mounted inside the CPU socket. That thermistor appears to be working OK, as it's also the one that is used to measure the temp displayed on your screen... which is apparently alright. Perhaps Dell used a fan with an in-built thermistor instead? So it's controlled separately to the temp reporting thermistor? Again the solution would be to replace the fan.

You could always just install Speedfan and control the fan speed manually.

I reckon Marker might have been on the right track.

Right-click in the task bar, select Task Manager, and take a look at which processes are using the most CPU. There's a strong possibility it will be a dodgy version of Acrobat or Flash ... or maybe something else you just installed.

I've been happily blowing the dust out of PCs for years with compressed air (just keep your finger on the fan so it doesn't spin) and never had a static problem. And I'm in Canberra, too, so there's none of your wet coastal air here!

The inside of a PC isn't all that static sensitive so don't worry about opening it up and zapping something by accident (unless you really go for wearing nylon/wool mix clothes) - PC insides usually get done in when serviced by screwdriver blades, ham fisted techs forcing something, or the odd screw that finds its way between the motherboard and the back of the case. (whoops!)

If it's not heat related, its either the the OS or the motherboard doing it...but I'd try a replacement fan just on the offchance that it's misreporting its speed.

After that, I'd try a Linux-from-CD (to rule out a software problem)...and if that doesn't fix it, either 1) try new motherboard, or 2) live with it.

I wrote a blog entry on this problem last year...

http://chockssquawks.blogspot.com/20...heat-sink.html

Let me know if it helps at all

-Chock