Rattle noise

[DEY123]

So I am running the following system

OS: Win7 Ultimate (64 bit)
CPU: Phenom II X3 740 (@3.7GHz)
GPU: GTX 460 1GB(core:825, Shader:1650, Memory:4100)
RAM: 6GB DDR2- (CL4 @824MHz)
PSU: Ultra X2 - 550 Watt
MB: M2N-SLI Deluxe


As you can probably tell some of the parts are quite old (5+ years for my PSU, MB, case, and some of the RAM). The rest of the components I upgraded about a year ago.

Anyhow on occasion when my PC starts to get hot (from gaming for a few hours) the PSU fan must kick into a higher speed then normal (It is top mounted and draws air from inside the case and exhausts out the back). A portion of the time when it does this there is a very annoying clicking sound (sometimes it is quite loud). I imagine this has something to do with the bearings going on the fan.

I would prefer not to repalce my PSU until I am ready for a whole new rig (which I am targetting in 1 to 2 years). The only thing that would make me change my mind would be if there was a significant chance it could damage my MB. I know my PSU is fairly low quality but it has done the job for 5 years now (and even had the clicking sound maybe once a month for the past 18 months). I cut a new opening and added a fan in the top of my case about 9 months ago so that I have 2 exhaust case fans now. This has helped reduce the frequency that my PSU RPMs go to max.

Any advice on what I can do or what the risk to the rest of my system are would be appreciated.

 

[sosofm]

Buy a new PSU , to be used when you upgrade.

 

[hella-d]

If Its A Good Quality PSU Just Change Out To A New Fan

 

[DEY123]

Thanks for the answers so far...My challenge with getting a new PSU is I would rather wait to get one when I have a better idea of what my new system will need (which is 1+years away.

As for the idea of replacing the fan if it is a quality PSU I think most experts would say my current PSU is of marginal quality. I looked up how to replace the fan and it seems a bit trickier then adding a case fan in that it involved soldering. I soldered electronics back in highschool but it has been many years and I don't really want to buy a soldering iron just for this.

Any thoughts on if my PC is at risk. I can always try and get a reasonable PSU on a blackfriday sale and just hope it will be enough without being too much for what I decide to do with my next set up (I hate to buy a big PSU in case I SLI and then end up going with a single card or the reverse).

In the end it will probably be like $80 to $100 for a reasonable quality PSU that is 600+ watts. I would rather put off buying a new PSU if it can be avoided. I would rather avoid the expense if my PSU has a chance of making it another year or so. I run my computer for probably 3 hours a day and maybe 4 days a week on average with sometimes running it for 12 hours in a day and other weeks only turning it on once or twice.

 

[mcnumpty23]

not all psu fans are soldered on--i have taken apart quite a few old non working psu just to get a spare 80mm

fan out of them

even if its soldered rather than muck about with a soldering iron as the last time i did that i dropped the iron

and without thinking caught it before it hit the floor so it wouldnt burn the carpet-- which led to a bit of

and a few bags of frozen peas being used

i just cut the fan off and cut the connector of the new fan and use terminal blocks to connect the new fan