A Fan is going mad

[Whitmore6]

No this isnt a football game, my mates computer is making a noise asif a fan is really straining from what he has told me it is the PSU but he doesnt know too much about computers on the technical side anyway. I am going to give it a look in a few days but if i dont know what it could be there will be no point of going really, so could you help me on what it may be?
Here is a list of the spec of the computer (it is the same as when sold no adjustments)


AMD Athlon(tm) 64 X2 Dual Core Processor 6000+Memory (RAM) 4GB
20in iiyama 1680 x 1050 32 bit widescreen LCD monitor
ATI Radeon HD 3870 256mb ram (not much wonder if that is something)
614.76 GB sata hardrive



not sure about the PSU but i doubt they would sell it with a PSU that wasnt up to scratch to the rest of the comp.

Just wondering if a screw on the prosessor fan has ccome loose or not screwd in very well same happend to someone else i know.

Any help in fairly good english, no extremely tech stuff, will be extremly helpful.

Thanks alot
Sam 8)

[jonwoad]

could probably just be fan bearings going. If it is the PSU then tell him to buy a new one, if its any of the others replacement should be easy to sort out.

[O.G.C.]

if its a stock fan likly that
stock fans are usally cheap and have hort life and make terrible noice (talking about old hardware fans)

first get a fan froma aia
nexus
or even xilence (quietest fan iv head at 100%)
very cheap as well

[marsey99]

its easy to see if its a fan making the noise, stick your finger in and stop the fan and if it is the sound will stop.

i would take the cover off the 3870 and check the fins are clear of fluff in the graphics card tho as they always collect fluff and it makes the card warmer meaning the fan spins faster which in turn collects more fluff...so on...and so forth.

[alexnifty]

Is sticking your finger into a psu and stopping it's fan safe?! If you really must poke your psu at least use something insulative like a wooden stick!

I am inclined to agree with marsey99 and say it could be a dust buildup.

A factor of dust buildup to be aware of is that as dust collects on the fanblades it unbalances the fan and introduces wobble. This could be producing the noise, and will cuase extra wear on the ball bearings.

[jonwoad]

plastic cable tie could work

[alexnifty]

Just dont let it get sucked in!

I had a stressful experience once when I unscrewed my graphics card and the screw fell into the PSU (base mounted psu). I was there for ages shaking the thing until I finally got my screw!

[Whitmore6]

dont know how but he sorted it, thanks alot =]