A fan on my motherboards suddenly starting to be loud
 

So a computer of mine has suddenly started to get a little louder than normal. I cracked it open, and it appears to be a fan that is making the noise. It isn't the CPU fan or PSU fan or GPU fan, but a smaller fan that's attached to a smaller chip that's on the motherboard. What size is that likely to be? Is there a definitive way to measure it so I know what to buy?

Probably a northbridge fan. They're usually 40mm or smaller. Anything you can secure will work, ideally with the same connector so you keep any rpm monitoring.

Places like NewEgg sell them but rape you on shipping. ZipZoomFly is a little better but only reaches reasonable prices in quantity. Does anyone you know (or their parents) have an old pc in the closet?

You might think about converting to an oversize heatsink. The fans aren't necessary with enough aluminum, and it gets rid of one of the more annoying noisemakers in a system. http://www.zipzoomfly.com/jsp/Produc...oryCode=110607

I understand they make pieces of wood with marked divisions along their length at regular intervals. Hold one of these calibrated pieces of wood next to the object in question and note the number of divisions that correspond to the dimensions of the object.

I have an ASUS A8N-E and it did the same thing... all i did to fix it was i took some WD-40 with a straw and gave it a little shot behind the fan while it was running... i did that about 6 months ago and havent had a problem since...

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.

I've used WD40 in the past but prefer using a silicon spray these days.
Spray into the crack between the moving and not moving pieces.
If lubricating does not work or if the fan movment is not free (spins easily), remove the fan and take it to places that may sell a replacement.

I have got power supply fans to work well that would not even turn by removing them. Soak in hot dish water (really soapy). This will break up and remove crud that gets in the fan from years of cig. smoke, cooking oils, dust, etc.
Rinse, let dry, oil the shaft and bearings (or silicon spray), replace. I have done this to my own machines so I know they are still working years later.

Spraying does not always work on the little fans. Some are very cheaply made, I guess.

:eek: :eek: :eek: :eek:
SAY IT ISNT SO!...WD-40 is a conductive lubricant...lol.. you are lucky you didn't short out the MB...lol

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i own somethign similar to this:
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16835108072

and i love it, it does void the warranty, and only if you are confident with removing the old fan and heatsink and installing a new one.

everything liquid is conductive you just need to make sure you are very careful.

surround the area with cloth and use very tiny little bursts with the straw... however it is obviously much wiser to do this with the fan not on the mobo :P

negative... (pure) water is not conductive, as well as many other pure substances... none the less, WD40 on a computer is not a good idea.

I have a asus motherboard that had a fan do this too apparently its a problem they know about. If you have a asus as well.... call them and tell them whats going on. i did it and they had a new fan at my front door for free in 4 days took about 15 min to replace it and its been happy ever since.

Calling your motherboards company and telling them your problem is always a good way to start. worst that can happen is your out a few min time spent on the phone. Hopefully you will get yourself a free replacement. Most well known companys are willing to fork out a buck or two for a new part like that and keep a future customer.

The 40s always die first for some reason. I've had a couple get all nasty on me, but i pull them out, peel back the label and squirt some sewing machine oil down the hole there. The trick is getting the label back on, but a dot of superglue worked like a charm for me.

It won't be like new, but it won't be as noisy, saves on getting a pretty lame fan shipped to you too :P That is assuming you already have some light machine lubricant lying around!

Same thing happened to me a while back. I used some sewing machine oil on the little sucker and it's been quiet ever since. Don't know if sewing machine oil is any better than WD40, but it works.