My fan died today and isn't running at all. Is it safe to use my PC? I'm still organising a replacement from Asus which I expect will take a week or so to arrive at minimum.

If we're talking about a chipset cooler fan, I wouldn't worry about it for everyday use. But I'd want to replace it as soon as possible. This is the problem with chipset fans, their small, noisy and fail much to easily. You have a couple of options. Check to see how the chipset cooler is mounted to the board, does it use punch throughs?, thermal appoxy?, a retension mechanism? You may want to check some local or online comp. stores for passive solutions (don't replace it with another small fan, you'll be right back where you started in 6 months or less). You can also RMA the board if it is still in it's warranty period, keep in mind their just replace the cooler with another stock solution. Also if you replace the cooler yourself, you will more than likely void you warranty, and never..I repeat..never buy a mobo with a chipset fan...it's just a bad idea.

Thanks, yes its a chipset cooler fan (northbridge). I've been suggested a Zalman heatsink, but I can't use it because my 7800GT overlaps the mounting space and the heatsink is too high.

I think I know the one your talking about, is it a big blue beast? If I remember correctly the fins on the heatsink are fairly thin, you may be able to trim it to the size you need, put some arctic silver 5 on the chipset and your back in business.

In case you haven't already figured this out, if you have your system overclocked, return it to standard clocks to keep heat down. Otherwise it should be safe to run, just keep your eye on the NB temp. If you run into issues and need to use the computer before the replacement comes in you could try downclocking. Sure it'd be slower, but you'd still be able to use it. Good luck with that, its mostly common sense.
Anyone actually try the Zalman (blue) passive NB heatsink? I was thinking of getting one to replace the junk FHS on my mobo (loud).

-mcg

How to resurrect your chip fan;

Fix for Asus A8N-E Noisy, Slow or Failing Chipset Fan on Motherboard

Items required:

1. can of WD40 (or similar) with extension straw for nozzle
2. a tissue

What to do:

With the computer off place your computer in a position so that the motherboard is vertical (motherboard is already vertical in a tower case). Stuff a tissue under the offending chipset fan (to soak up any excess WD). Then stick the extension straw between the fanblades at the top part of the fan and give it a couple of squirts of WD. We are using gravity here to help the WD get where it's needed. Make sure the tissue is in place and is not going to let any WD drip down out of the fan. Now go and do something else for half an hour or so. This will let the WD do its magic and also give it time to dry out. If you don't wait, you'll end up with WD40 sprayed everywhere by the fan and it probably won't be lubricated as well either. So wait. You may want to hold another tissue over the top side of the fan when you turn the computer back on, just to be sure (and depending on whether you gave it more than a couple of squirts or not). Remove the tissues when you think it's safe and you're done. The fan should be going like a little champion again.

Can anyone confirm if the above trick with wd40 works or not- im a little timid to be spraying that onto my mobo, even though it seems to make sense.

Ive got the same problems as stated above, chipset failure/fan too slow warning on bios startup and recently ive been getting multiple bluescreen crashes, which makes me think my system is becoming very unstable...