Gpu issues: sudden coil whine and faulty fan after cleaning

[murrly]

Yesterday I decided to clean my entire pc as it was fairly dusty and I had been having some issues with the computer freezing for about a second then resuming while gaming. So I opened it up cleaned all the fans, cleaned the gpu (didn't take it apart) etc. I also decided to reapply cpu thermal paste as it was about 1.5 years old. I then reassembled and powered it on to see if everything was fine and everything was fine except that one of the gpu fans started spinning for about 1 second at boot then stopped. So I hooked up my monitor and opened the gpu utility and tried some different fan settings, but nothing. The fan would still spin for a second at boot then stop all while the second fan was working. I then loaded up a game to see if that would get the fan going, it didn't ,however a fairly loud buzzing noise was made once I was in game. I alt tabbed to check temps and it stopped, alt tabbed back in game and it began again. Did some googling and apparently this is coil whine. Did some more testing by changing max fps in game and the buzz was higher the higher the fps. Opened up case to try and locate the sound and sounded like it was coming from the gpu. I then rebooted with gpu removed and launched the game again using integrated graphics, no buzzing and cpu temps where as expected.

So my questions are: is there any way to fix this? Did i damage the gpu while cleaning even though I didn't take it apart? Would this be covered by warranty?(is still under warranty)

Thanks

Specs:
Sapphire hd7950 oc edition 3gb
Intel i5 3570k
OCZ ModXstream Pro 600w modular
Asrock z77 pro3
G Skill 8g(2x4gb) ddr3 1333mhz

 

[phis6]

So my questions are: is there any way to fix this? Did i damage the gpu while cleaning even though I didn't take it apart? Would this be covered by warranty?(is still under warranty)

Thanks

Specs:
Sapphire hd7950 oc edition 3gb
Intel i5 3570k
OCZ ModXstream Pro 600w modular
Asrock z77 pro3
G Skill 8g(2x4gb) ddr3 1333mhz

Well, I think as long as you didn't tinker anything and the whole GPU is still intact with the warranty sticker undamaged then you could still claim for a warranty replacement or service.

 

[denis280]

So my questions are: is there any way to fix this

make sure it's all the way in.check connection.

 

[Ketchup]

Well, you could replace the fan with another one that would fit the unit, but I would just send send it back for a replacement.

 

[Drummerdude]

If under warranty, send it back. If not, and if you feel like you're confident in your knowledge, I'd say take the fan apart ( retention clip on the back side ), clean it, lube it with some 3 in 1 or a gun lube ( NOT WD-40 ), put it back together, plug it in correctly, and you should be fine. If not, your local computer guy can usually fix it for around $15-$20