Loud fan on Chaintech motherboard

[kbrown488]

I bought the Chaintech ZNF3-150 ZENITH motherboard last year w/ the Chaintech RadEX cooler. When I first built this system last year I thought that my CPU fan was defective because I was hearing a very loud noise (which I assumed was from that fan). After I got a new fan it seemed like the noise went away, well today I noticed the noise came back and it's louder than ever. After investigating I discovered it is coming from the RadEX cooling fan.

Does anyone have this motherboard and can you confirm if the fan on yours makes a very loud noise as well? I read on another website that supposedly on the first produced boards they shipped a 5v fan instead of a 12v fan, and that is why it's loud. Could someone explain how more voltage can make a fan quieter?

Cliffs Notes:

*Chaintech board, loud cooling fan (RadEx Cooler)
*Is it a defect
*Thanks

 

[PumpActionWalrus]

It may be the bearings going out in that smaller fan. I have an NF7-S that did the same thing. The smaller chipset fans almost always use sleeve bearings and cheap ones at that. Also, a 5v fan can make more noise than a 12v fan if the 5v fan pulls more amperes.

 

[kbrown488]

Did you buy a new fan or did chaintech send you one?