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Fan noises generally mean the bearings are going... that's the number one cause of fan death. They're simply not meant to run for ever; eventually the bearings in the fan wear down. Then it'll begin to make a fun whining or humming, maybe even a bit of grinding. Eventually it'll seize right up.
If the fan is still turning you can probably leave for now, unless you want to get rid of the obnoxious noise. In that case, you're probably looking for a new 40mm. As has been mentioned, you may want to check out your parameters first, though; if the temperature isn't excessive, you may be able to get away without running a fan on the northbridge at all. My A7N8X gave me 5 years of faithful service without a northbridge fan before finally giving up the ghost last week. My new Gigabyte GA-8I945GZME-RH is fine with passive (ie, fanless) cooling as well.
Yes, I converted from AMD to Intel. I was a bit nervous at first, but I'm quite satisfied with the Pentium D's performance.
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I wake up in the morning more tired than before I slept
I get through cryin' and I'm sadder than before I wept
I get through thinkin' now, and the thoughts have left my head
I get through speakin' and I can't remember, not a word that I said
- Ben Harper, Show Me A Little Shame
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