Video card fan has recently become VERY noisy!! Please help!

[nukesgoboom]

i have a geforce 4 ti4800. ive had this card for at least 3 years, and its the oldest part to my computer. the fan on the video card has recently become VERY noisy, in fact its so loud i can hear it from other rooms of my house.

i took the side of my computer tower off, and i looked at the fan. i used some compressed air to blow away any dust, and also blew the air on the fan itself in case any dust was making that noise. i started my computer again, and it STILL made that noise!!

i used my finger to move the fan back and forth, and it could not detect any resistance to the fan, so i dont think anything is applying force in the opposite direction.

would it be possible to shut the fan off? i have a case fan that is situated right next to the video card so i think it will have enough cooling. how do i shut the fan off on the video card?

is there anything else i could try? could i at least lower the RPM of the fan?

[Guest]

Replace the fan, or remove it and lubricate it. Better to replace it.

[bagheera1]

Sounds like my CPU fan. It's probably got bearing problems.
you could try oil, that is what I do. It's a pain in the but, take off the fan, remove the fanblade from assembly, clean bearing surface, oil (thick) or grease, reassemble. Sometimes they use a "C" clip to hold the blades on. It's under the decal in the center of the fan. BTW you'll have to go through this more and more frequently as the bearing is allready damaged.

OR, go to a store with the old fan and buy a new one.
about $10 at a computer show, more at Radio Shack.

be sure to get a Ball Bearing fan, not a Sleeve Bearing Fan (sleeve fans have an S at the beginning or end of the part no printed on the decal).

probably order online too, dont forget about getting a Ball Bearing fan, they last 10 times longer.

[CWR03]

You can get a replacement fan and heat sink for around $20, or you can send the card back to its manufacturer, i.e. PNY who has a lifetime warranty on them. Once you modify the fan/heat sink, the warranty is void.

[nukesgoboom]

thanks very much for all of the helpful replies!

i finally fixed my noisy video card fan but i did it in a illogical and risky way. what i did, i took the video card out of my computer and then i unscrewed the face plate and then the fan itself. then i cleaned the entire fan area and the fan itself with some q-tips to get the dust out.

then i put the fan back in, and put only 1 screw in there to hold it in, so that the fan it hanging at a slight angle. i did not put the face plate back.

after putting it back in, the sound was gone! however, i am now worried about how hot the video card might get now that the fan is not directly into place.

i played quake 4 for about an hour, and had no problems. i then placed my finger on the video card and found it to be scorching hot! i could not keep my finger there for more than 4 seconds or so!

i have no experience as to how hot something feels in a computer, so it may have been the regular temperature. but like i said, i played quake 4 for abou an hour with nothing wrong.

we will have to see as to what happens to the video card. if it does overheat, will my computer shut down automatically? i know my computer would do that if the processor were to overheat, but im not sure if it would do that with the video card. im not even sure if i can monitor the temperature at all, the only thing i can monitor is the processor heat.

if something does happen i wouldnt be angry, because the card is indeed 4 years old and i have read around the interweb to learn that 4 years out of a video card is a good amount of usage.

[Guest]

Why don't you reassemble it properly?

[squid_80]

we will have to see as to what happens to the video card. if it does overheat, will my computer shut down automatically? i know my computer would do that if the processor were to overheat, but im not sure if it would do that with the video card. im not even sure if i can monitor the temperature at all, the only thing i can monitor is the processor heat.Um, you're talking about something getting hot enough to burn you. If it can burn you, it can burn other stuff and start a fire. I strongly suggest NOT waiting to see what happens, unless the possibility that your computer could catch fire and burn your house down (due to a faulty part that costs around $10 to replace) doesn't worry you.

[Doom9]

The whole shutdown on overhead requires special circuitry on both the CPU and mainboard so forget about the PC shutting down when any component other than the CPU overheats.
I've scorched a CPU to death when the fan came off accidentally once, so I can only stress the importance that you re-attach any fan you might ever detach properly and make sure you can't accidentally rip it off.. it should withstand a fair amount of tearing. Anything else is taking an uncalculated risk.. in my case I heard the fan coming off (well, I heard a sound I had previously not heard and those are never good.. then followed by a bluescreen immediately thereafter, and a stench a few second later when the cpu temp detector fried).

[foxyshadis]

A ti4800 is still a performance card, even if it's not worth what it was and it's a lot hotter than current equivalent cards. If you kill it you forfeit $50-80 it could make on the aftermarket.

Having fiddled with hardware often in the past, scorching hot ICs are nothing new, but it's impossible to tell from a quick "damn that's hot!" whether it's 50C or 80C, which is the difference between normalish and lethal (and dangerous, as squid_80 said). Replacement video fans are easy to find or cannabalize, don't kill it. Unless you're just looking for a reason to upgrade. :p

[CWR03]

The problem with overheating such a card is that you won't know until it's too late. I had a TI4200 and was well into some heavy gaming when the video simply quit and the computer locked. I discovered after a few tries (restarted and got desktop, launched game and computer once again locked) that the fan's power output from the video card had failed. The card was completely ruined.

[nukesgoboom]

I see. i will definitly pick up some heat sink compound to reduce the heat. the reason i have the fan hanging on an angle is because, i guess, that something was rubbing against the fan making a thunderous noise. now my computer is much quieter (now i can sleep!)

i left my computer on all night to download something, and in the morning it was fine. i watched a movie on it and again, nothing wrong.

how much does heat sink compound typically cost? ive not bought any before, but i have seen it applied, ive done it on my processor, which is a pentium prescott 3.2e, which does run hot, however i have had no problems with that and ive had it 1.5 years.

[bagheera1]

Don't spend more than a couple of dollars of thermal grease, the exotic stuff is not that much better. check out this site http://www.dansdata.com/goop.htm , also, if your computer is stable, it's probably not to hot. If your fan stopped making noise and it is still delivering air to its capacity and it's not in danger of falling off, its fine.

[CWR03]

I've also found that the "exotic grease," like the silver thermal paste, will conduct electricity. Even the tiniest amount on a component where it's not meant to be can fry it.

Keep in mind too that normal desktop graphics and watching movies doesn't stress the card much at all. My TI4200 still displays a desktop and plays movies, but as soon as anything even the least detailed is rendered it crashes.