Fan noise with age

Just a quick question, do heatsink fans get noisier with age, I've had my Volcano9 for 2 weeks and I'm pretty sure at 3000rpm now it's making at much noise as 3500rpm would've made when I first got it?

Our perception of sound is highly subjective... things that bother us one day won't even be noticed the next. Today might simply be an annoyance day??

I've also noticed that the "new fan" silence doesn't last long, especially on ball bearing fans. They do <i>seem</i> to quickly get noiser than day one but they also tend to stay that way for a long time. It's not like it's going to be much worse in 6 months than it is after the first 2 weeks... until a couple of years down the road the fan wears out and the bearings get real sloppy that is.

There are some things you can check... is there anything interfering with the blades? Are there any wires near the intake airflow? Are there any wires or cables near the outflow from the heatsink? Is there anything hanging loose near the fan? All these things, and more, can increase noise.



---><font color=green>It ain't better if it don't work</font color=green><---