Do I need to, and should I replace my laptop fan?

[Nvidiaguy07]

My old laptop actually still runs ok, but I think the fan is dying inside. When using normally, you can hear the fan making noises. The noises sounds like an old hard drive, but a little louder. The laptop runs HOT. When using normally, you can feel the heat on your hand. When playing a game, your hand is on fire if its near the side vent (hey at least the fan is still blowing out some air).

Installed coretemp to monitor temp, and ran prime95 to see how hot this thing gets. After 1-2mins, one core is around 95C and the other core is at 85. It gets so hot it gets to a point where it gets scaled down from 2.4ghz to 1.6, or possibly lower so it doesnt overheat. Without running any apps, the temp is 74c and 64c.

The laptop is an MSI 1651, which is a barebones version of the gx620. Its a decent performer, so I was planning on giving it to a younger cousin who plays dota and garrys mod and crap like that.

Does this sound like just the fan needs to be replaced, or does the cpu need to be reseated as well? The back is pretty easily assesible, so i dont think it should be that hard. Worth it? and can i trust ebay to get me the right part?

I was thinking of getting this: http://www.ebay.com/itm/New-CPU-Coo...?pt=US_CPU_Fans_Heatsinks&hash=item27d5d8fbdc

or this: http://www.ebay.com/itm/New-CPU-Coo...750?pt=LH_DefaultDomain_0&hash=item2c84aa8146

 

[bradly1101]

I replaced a fan in a 2002 Dell lappy. Had to completely gut it to get to the fan, but it was fun and it runs like a champ.

 

[Nvidiaguy07]

ok so before ordering the part, I decided to see if the problem could be fixed without getting a new fan. I removed the entire heatsink/fan and clean everything out. Used arcticlean to clean, and applied new AS5 (it looked pretty bad before), and I cleaned out the fan with compressed air, and an old tooth brush for the really caked on parts.

Put everything back together and its 100% better. Been running mixed on prime95 for about 10 mins and the highest temp ive seen is about 64C. when i turned the laptop on, I think it was idling at around 30C. I guess the dust buildup was what was making the fan make that noise.

On a side note, does AS5 go bad (in the tube)? The consistency seemed more dry than the last time I applied it, around 2-3 years ago.

 

[mfenn]

Nice job! Nothing like a good cleaning.

As for the question about AS5, yes the suspension will separate out into solid and liquid over time. If the cap isn't absolutely sealed, the liquid will then slowly evaporate. However, it's OK to use as long as it still spreads OK.