My ATI AIW 9600XT is dying, fan whining bad

[AAman]

Like the title says, this thing is whining and loud- every once in awhile, it'll stop whining for a few minutes, I don't know if it's returned to normal or stopped completely when that happens though.

I took it out to replace the fan, but it's surrounded by a metal enclosure that I can't figure out how to get off- or even if it's possible to do so without frackin' the card.

Any video card gurus out there? Can this be fixed or am I doomed?

thanks

 

[hater2win]

I had a 9600 XT that occasionally wailed or sounded like something was wrong with it, but all i did to fix it was was stick my finger under the video card and touch the center of the fan, fixed it till forever. It seemed that the fan would make that noise when i bumped up against my case or jarred it a little. If you have your case in a position where it may be vulnerable to slight shock or jarring, this may be the problem for you too. Next time you hear it wail, stick your finger under there and touch the center of the fan, it will stop. That is if its the same problem...

 

[Fraggable]

You usually have to squeeze two pins on the underside of the card to get the heatsink off. You can buy any one of 100+ GPU coolers from your local computer store or newegg. You could even get a completely silent one for that card.

 

[AAman]

hmmmm, I'll have to pull it out tomorrow and play with it, the noise is killing me, and I swear I smell that electrical ozone effect, could just be my paranoia, lol

 

[BadThad]

Just buy a small fan for it, no need to go thru the pains of removing the heatsink. Take the old fan off and rig the new one on ANY way you can. I've done it with a single, sheet-metal screw (the pointy kind) and the cards work just fine.

 

[AAman]

well, hard to get to the fan, but after the second time pulling it out pressing on it the noise has stopped for now, I'll have to check and see if it is still trying to burn out if I start up a game