Noisy Athlon 64 fan

[PascalT]

My cpu's fan has been acting very loudly lately. Even when Iam not doing much on the computer it starts going louder and then back down again, rinse and repeat. it's very annoying.

My chip isn't OC/ed and I do not have the Cool'n'Quiet thing enabled (should I?) It's a retail HSF. I just bought a new fan (on its way) in case this one is about to die.

I cleaned it up as well. Could this be a window or bios related thing? Should I enable CoolNQuiet?

 

[Duvie]

Does it do it only when loading (like loadup) and when launching apps....meaning driectly related to pu usage and heat buildup??? If not I would replace it cause my stock cooler never did.

 

[Noubourne]

You sure it's the CPU fan? My DFI mobo has an auto-controlled North Bridge fan that spins up to 7000RPMs. When it gets up there in RPMs, you can definitely hear it, and it's annoying. I solved the problem by getting better case airflow, which keeps the NB temps low enough to keep the NB fan at around 3000 RPMs. A coupla 80mm Panaflos (replacing old junk generics) dropped my Case Temps 10C, and my NB/CPU temps too. And I'm only running them at about half speed.

Of course, if it is your CPU fan, I think around $35 will get you a Zalman 6000b, which is old, but very quiet and certainly enough to keep a 3000+ cool at stock speeds. Heck, I've got my 3000+ at 1.55v and 2.6Ghz with a 6000b, and it loads in the upper 40s.