CPU fan problems

[Guest]

Archived from groups: alt.comp.hardware.homebuilt (More info?)

My PC has been pretty quiet and cool since I got it about four months
ago, but now my AMD CPU fan is loud around twenty minutes after I boot
the machine and my case is much warmer! By now, the fan's blades are
coated with a very thin layer of dust.
-Is it possible that it's just poorly made and failing early, or is it
unusually sensitive to dust and need compressed air?
-If a new fan is required, what is the cheapest replacement fan (for
Socket 939 AMD64 3000+) that is as quiet or a little better than the
CPU’s stock fan? I would like recommendations based on products/prices
from a reputable store like newegg or mwave.

 

[Guest]

Archived from groups: alt.comp.hardware.homebuilt (More info?)

On Sat, 24 Sep 2005 21:19:07 -0700, At my comp
<comp22@aospam.com> wrote:

>My PC has been pretty quiet and cool since I got it about four months
>ago,

Have the ambient room temps remained constant all the while?

what about average system load or component changes (as it
pertains to heat generation)?


>but now my AMD CPU fan

The stock, retail packaged AMD fan or an aftermarket fan or
fan/sink?

>is loud around twenty minutes after I boot
>the machine and my case is much warmer!

Well if the case is warmer, of course the fan should be
noisier as it has to spin faster to keep CPU as cool.
Determine why the case is warmer and ignore the CPU fan for
the time being unless it sounds more like the bearing if
failing rather than merely an increase in RPM.


>By now, the fan's blades are
>coated with a very thin layer of dust.
>-Is it possible that it's just poorly made and failing early, or is it
>unusually sensitive to dust and need compressed air?

No they aren't generally sensitive to a thin layer of dust
on the blades.

AMD retail fan should not fail this soon. Aftermarket fans
depend entirely on the quality of the specific model and
specimen of fan. "Usually" even a cheap junk generic fan
will run for several months, but if that's an appropriate
classification of your fan then put a drop of oil in the
bearing and begin searching for a suitable replacement fan.
This is of course presuming you have checked things like the
air intake passages into and out of the case to ensure they
aren't partially clogged with dust or other debris (often I
get systems that are clogged with cat hair- the long hair
strands will effective bridge small case vent holes and more
rapidly cause other dust/hair/etc accumulation. Each system
and environment varies- consider yours.


>-If a new fan is required, what is the cheapest replacement fan (for
>Socket 939 AMD64 3000+) that is as quiet or a little better than the
>CPU’s stock fan? I would like recommendations based on products/prices
>from a reputable store like newegg or mwave.


I suggest you not get the cheapest, as that is one of the
more likely ways to end up with a short-lived and noisey
fan. Chose a name brand, (as-in, a major fan manufacturer's
brand, not a PC parts relabeler product) thickest possible
and lowest RPM tolerable fan. On a CPU, generally that
would be a dual ball-bearing fan. Case intake or exhaust
can be less critical of bearing type as the heat density is
lower, a good quality sleeve bearing fan (like panaflo)
would suffice.

I suggest any of the popular online vendors, search for
their fan product pages and compare fans with same
dimensions as yours.