[Namflow]

I have a Dell workstation from about 6 years ago. Recently, I have been replacing bits and pieces (hard drive, memory upgrade, usp 2.0, etc) to bring it up to date. I noticed this past week that one of the fans inside is making noises. It is like the fan is struggling at times to operate. Is there an easy way to replace the fan? Do I need a special kind of fan? Could it be my power supply?

Thank you in advance.

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Howdy:

Have you opened the case yet to check to see which fan it is?

Case fans are relatively easy to change; CPU fans a tad more difficult and a PSU fan usually means a new power supply is in order.

Murray

[Murray S.]

Howdy:

Have you opened the case yet to check to see which fan it is?

Case fans are relatively easy to change; CPU fans a tad more difficult and a PSU fan usually means a new power supply is in order.

Murray

[Namflow]

I will open the case and look tonight....thank you for the quick reply!

[Namflow]

sounds like it is coming from the CPU.....can someone guide me thru acquiring and then changin this fan? I have a Dell Precision Workstation 330 with the Pentium 4 1.5 chip. Thank you in advance

[Murray S.]

Howdy dirty is it?

Get a can of compressed air and blow the fan and heatsink out. Use it on the case fan and psu fan as well.

Murray

[Namflow]

ok.....i took off the green cover, and blew the dust out of the fan. I did the same for the psu. The problem I have now is that I turned on the computer and it is still making the noise but I can not tell where it is coming from. It sounds like it is coming from an area between the psu and the cpu. The main fan is much lower in the case. Anyone have any ideas? It sounds like something is struggling to work. Is there any way to positively identify a bad fan?

*Edit- also what am I looking at worse case scenario if/ when one of these fans break? Will I need a new motherboard in the case of the CPU? Will the computer not turn on in the case of the PSU?

Thanks

Edited by Namflow, 05 December 2007 - 03:54 PM.

[Namflow]

*** UPDATE *** I am home now and my wife says my computer is turning itself off. I am assuming this means it is my power supply. Can someone please confirm this before I spend $100 on a new powersupply.

Thank you.

[Murray S.]

Not necessarily the PSU. It could be the CPU fan and it is shutting down before your processor is damaged.

I suggest you take it to a tech and have tham check and change it out.

Murray

[Namflow]

when you say take it to a tech....do you mean Bestbuy? Can I run diagnostics from home?

[Murray S.]

No you can't.

If you bought the system from Best Buy, take it back there. Is it still under warranty?

You could attempt to remove the fan and heatsink on your own but, if you have never done it, you could cause more damage to the CPU.

Murray

[The Skeptic]

Look at the fans of the cpu and psu and see if they spin freely. If any of them is having problems of noise or speed they should be replaced (the entire psu has to be replaced).

To help you locate the noise: turn the computer off and disconnect the cpu fan connector to the motherboard. Turn the computer on for 10-20 seconds. If the noise disappears then it's the cpu fan. If it doesn't then it's probably the psu fan.

CAUTION: Never connect or disconnect a cable while the computer is turned on. Do not run the test for more then about 20 seconds. Do not forget to reconnect the cpu fan cable.

Regarding overheated cpu: that is perfectly possible as suggested by murray s. The problem is that any faulty fan can cause this. It will overheat quickly if the cpu fan fails, slower if the psu fan fails. It is important to locate the source of the problem.

Two other things to do:

1: Check that there is no dust accumulation, particularly below the cpu fan, blocking air stream to the heatsink. Also check that the air inlets into the psu are clean. Clean with can of compressed air.

2: Download and install Everest from the link in my signature. Click on Computer and then on Sensor. Let the computer run for about 10 minutes and report temperatures of cpu, hard disk and motherboard.

[Namflow]

the computer seemed to stop making the same noise it was making...now it is making a constant whine (not too loud, though).

Everest:

CPU 108 degrees C

Hard disk 32 degrees C

Motherboard 96 degrees C

Edit- I have been watching the fan speed of the Chasis and PSU- the chasis has stayed pretty steady at approx 550 RPM while the PSU fan has ranged between 370 and 430 RPM. Is this normal?

Edited by Namflow, 07 December 2007 - 03:13 PM.

[Murray S.]

108 is way to hot for the processor. It is your CPU fan as I said earlier.

Murray

[The Skeptic]

Yes, I agree that the cpu is way too hot, but so is the motherboard. I wonder how the computer survive these temperatures, It should have been fried by now. The whine that you hear could be an alarm set on by the BIOS when cpu temperature goes too high.

1: Did you clean the heatsink, psu inlets and other parts from dust?
2: You didn't mention anything about the cpu fan. If there is no sensor reading please report, by looking at it, if it is spinning freely.
3: I an surprised that there is no indication for cpu fan speed since it's most important. I am not sure about psu and chasis fan speed but had it been the cpu fan I could tell you that it's way too slow. BUT, at the same time, I have seen computers with automatic fan speed that run THAT slow when load is minimal and the cpu is relatively COLD.
4: Regarding 108 C degrees of the cpu: As far as I remember you may get this value if the temperature sensor is deffective (open circuit or short, I am not sure).


Please do the following:

1: Remove the side cover, leave the computer open, run it for about 10 minutes and watch temperatures.
2: Enter the BIOS, go to "Computer Health" or Hardware Monitor", or something similar. There you should see temperatures, fan speeds and voltages. Let the computer run for about 10 minutes and write the values .
3: In the same place you will probably have an option to choose what to do if the cpu overheats. If it's set to alarm please set it to be switched off at a certain temperature. Choose 75 or 80 degrees. Save the new parameters, and run the computer. If it overheats it should shut-off automtically.
4: Touch the heatsink after the computer is working for about 20 minutes. It should be warm but touchable. If it burns your fingers or feel very hot then we don't need any sensors to tell us that something is wrong.

[Namflow]

the computer has been off since last night.....I just turned it on and immediately EVEREST says the motherboard is at 96 C and the CPU is at 108 C. The hd started at 25 C and is climbing slowly. Something is not right- there is no way the motherboard and CPU can be that hot right after starting the computer.

How do I go into the BIOS?

*EDIT- the machine has been on for a little while now and the heatsink on the cpu is a little warm- definitely not hot.

Edited by Namflow, 08 December 2007 - 04:00 PM.