GPU fan not spinning - help!

[JediKnight]

My desktop machine went kaput (technical term) a while ago.. the symptom was the machine would simply freeze up after a while. After trying a few diagnostic and troubleshooting steps that didn't resolve the issue, I finally got around to opening up my box, and discovered two things:

1) On the bottom of my video card, a red LED was turned on (I had never noticed this before; it could have always been like that.. but I don't think so)

2) The GPU fan was not spinning

What are my troubleshooting/repair options?

The obvious answer is to replace the video card (a somewhat long-in-the-tooth by gamer standards Radeon HD 4890 http://www.powercolor.com/global/products_features.asp?id=133 that has been sufficient for my needs), but if there are other options, I'd like to consider them.

A couple of notes:
1) Had to earlier replace a dead power supply and monitor (can a monitor damage a GPU or vice versa? dunno..) on this machine.
2) I unplugged the desktop to move it for troubleshooting. When I plugged it in again, BIOS settings were lost (the machine is almost 4 years old.. do CMOS batteries die that quickly?)

 

[Don Karnage]

Take it apart and see if it needs to be cleaned. If its a dead fan take the fan and shroud off and zip tie a 120mm fan to it

 

[ericloewe]

My desktop machine went kaput (technical term) a while ago.. the symptom was the machine would simply freeze up after a while. After trying a few diagnostic and troubleshooting steps that didn't resolve the issue, I finally got around to opening up my box, and discovered two things:

1) On the bottom of my video card, a red LED was turned on (I had never noticed this before; it could have always been like that.. but I don't think so)

2) The GPU fan was not spinning

What are my troubleshooting/repair options?

The obvious answer is to replace the video card (a somewhat long-in-the-tooth by gamer standards Radeon HD 4890 http://www.powercolor.com/global/products_features.asp?id=133 that has been sufficient for my needs), but if there are other options, I'd like to consider them.

A couple of notes:
1) Had to earlier replace a dead power supply and monitor (can a monitor damage a GPU or vice versa? dunno..) on this machine.
2) I unplugged the desktop to move it for troubleshooting. When I plugged it in again, BIOS settings were lost (the machine is almost 4 years old.. do CMOS batteries die that quickly?)

A monitor shouldn't damage your graphics card, unless it had some sort of surge on the input - since you mention a dead PSU, you might have been particularly unlucky.

As for the CMOS battery, it depends. Most I've seen have never run out. Basically, the more the computer is plugged in, the longer the battery will last. Anyway, it should be easy to fix. Buy a CR2032 battery (at least all I've seen are CR2032, but you might want to check yours) and replace it.