CPU fan tick/buzz noise

[kajabla]

Hey all. My CPU fan (the stock one for the Xigmatek Loki SD963) is making a fairly loud buzzing or ticking noise. The best way I can describe it is that when it first happened I thought there must be a wire flicking against the fan (there isn't). That happened to me once when I was new at cable management, so I know the noise. It seems to be directly related to fan speed, which is related to processor temperature. The fan is silent at low (browsing) temperatures, but the noise begins around 47-48C and gets louder as the temperature rises and the speed increases. During gaming I generally get up to around 54C. The CPU is an X4 965. I applied the thermal paste correctly, and this only started to happen, suddenly, about a week ago. I'm not using any kind of fan control software.
Is there anything I can do besides giving the fan up for lost and buying a new one? It's out of warranty, so an RMA is not an option.

 

[raytseng]

this is a mechanical issue.

see if your fan is serviceable. If it has a sticker or rubber cover to the bearing, you can try putting a drop of lubricant oil in there. (not wd-40, wd-40 is not a lubricant)
article with pictures:
http://www.techrepublic.com/article/quiet-noisy-computer-fans-with-a-drop-of-oil/5034842

You can also just check to see if there are any loose wires or even dustbunnies, hit it with a vaccuum cleaner to see if that sucks anything out.

 

[kajabla]

There are no loose wires and no dust. Thanks for that suggestion; I'll try it when I get home.

 

[kajabla]

Beautiful! I gave it one drop of 3-in-1 and it's running silently again. Thanks a lot.

 

[kajabla]

Best answer selected by kajabla.