Noisy fan on computer...what do i do?!!

willing2learn_3

Hi everyone

What does it mean when you keep hearing the fan on the computer get noisy - then quiet, then noisy....a bit like a car when the fans come on...is the computer trying to cool down?

What would cause this? Is there anything I can do? Noticed some sites seemed slow also - although not this one.

be grateful for any advice....maybe i should be doing something to maintain the computer?

thanks!! :-)

closed

processor getting hot, probably normal, possibly bloat or malware. Check to see if a process is hogging the cpu in task manager, and post a hijackthis log

sco0ter

Check to see if you have a build up of dust/fluff. Try a air spray to clean out the fan.

asbokid

willing2learn wrote: »

Hi everyone

What does it mean when you keep hearing the fan on the computer get noisy - then quiet, then noisy....a bit like a car when the fans come on...is the computer trying to cool down?

What would cause this? Is there anything I can do? Noticed some sites seemed slow also - although not this one.

be grateful for any advice....maybe i should be doing something to maintain the computer?

thanks!! :-)

The fans wear out. The bearings tend to fail, and they become noisy. There are several fans in a PC. There will be at least two fans: one on the CPU and one in the PSU. Sometimes there is one on the GPU, and occasionally additional fans are fitted to the PC case. They don't cost much to replace. Two or three quid at most. I've suffered lots of fan failures over the years. They failed more often when I was a smoker. But an open fire also causes a large amount of dust to be drawn into the PC, and this can clog the fan blades and make it noisy. One annoying thing about noisy fans is that often they become quiet once you've opened the case, making it a detective exercise in working out which fan is the noisy one!

harveybobbles

I often hoover out the vents on the back of the tower on this PC to remove any dust/crud that builds up in there.

And if i'm really bored I will take the PSU out and hoover it thoroughly.

pledgeX

harveybobbles wrote: »

I often hoover out the vents on the back of the tower on this PC to remove any dust/crud that builds up in there.

And if i'm really bored I will take the PSU out and hoover it thoroughly.

I'm pretty sure it's not a good idea to put a hoover anywhere near the innard of your computer, especially the psu. I think it's something to do with the build up of static... (don't quote me on that!)

I agree with scooter. Take off the side panel(s), get a can of compressed air and go nuts! Make sure you get right into the cpu heatsink.

If that still doesn't help, while you've got the sides of, see if you can hear which fan is the one making the noise. I neat trick I sometimes use is to use and empty kitche/toilet roll holder(cardboard tube bit) and put that to your ear and point it at the different fans to try and isolate which is the culprit.

Have you checked your temperatures? Maybe use everest/coretemp to see if they're all reasonable and nothing is overheating.

birkee

I always use a vacuum cleaner, but not directly. I use a paint brush to displace the dust / fluff, and let the vacuum take it from there in loose form.

A good way to detect a noisy fan, is to take a long screwdriver and put the tip on the fan (non rotating part ha ha) and place your ear on the handle. It's amazing what you can hear. The kitchen roll centre mentioned above sounds interesting though, but a screwdriver mechanically conducts the noise to your ear, it doesn't depend on transfer of noise via air, and is not influenced by the noise of air going through the fan.