Graphics card fan not spinning

geordie_lass_2

Hi folks, I wonder if you can help.

The fan on my graphics card isn't spinning any more. I've taken it out and am using the onboard graphics ATM.
I emailed the manufacturer who want £26 to fix it.

The card is an nVidia GeForce 8600GT and is 10 months old. I have updated the drivers but this didn't make any difference.

My questions are:

Is it straightforward to fix this myself or do I need special knowledge, tools etc?

If so then where would I buy the correct replacement fan?

Is it worth fixing or would I be better putting the money towards a new card?

basmic

Prepare to stump up about £20-30 for a new cooler for the card. Sometimes, when you hear the fan grinding, a drop of oil in the bearing/s is all it needs to allow it to spin free again.

basmic

Just had a quick look about for you, and this would do the job: http://www.novatech.co.uk/novatech/specpage.html?AKA-VC03B

geordie_lass_2

Hi basmic and thanks for your help.

The fan always ran quietly but has just stopped working. All is fine until I try to run a game or Google Earth, anything that needs the graphics.

How do I oil the bearings please? Sounds like it's worth a try.

DatabaseError

under 12 months it should be covered by warranty - contact the supplier.
I changed the cooler on an 8800GT to a vortexx neo (ebay took 5 minutes and works far better...and quieter...than stock. Cost me around £20..but there is another in the range without LEDs for a bit less money

davetrousers

Is the fan still getting power?

basmic

Basically you remove just the fan from the card. Sometimes there's very small screws holding it to either the card or heatsink.

Once the fan is free, look under a sticker for a small, round, rubber seal - if there isn't a rubber seal, you might be able to see the fan spindle under the sticker.

Just remove the seal, place a very small drop of oil into where the spindle is and give the fan a little move. If you think the fan needs another drop of oil after a few turns, then apply another drop - but remember, you don't want oil everywhere!

geordie_lass_2

davetrousers wrote: »

Is the fan still getting power?

I don't know but I presume it is as I have graphics. How would I find this out?

Sorry, I'm not very techie minded

davetrousers

You'd need a multi-meter.

geordie_lass_2

Hmm, so it might be that the fan simply has no power. Sounds like it might be best to let Zotac fix it rather than me messing about with it if I don't know what the problem is.

Now I'll have to decide if it's worth it or if I should just buy a new card. This one has DDR2 memory, I've heard that I would be better going for something with DDR3. Decisions decisions.

Thanks very much for your help guys.

macman

As long as it's getting power, it must be the fan/card. And if it is, you're under warranty for another 2 months at least. So let the supplier deal with it, it shouldn't cost you anything at all.