Noisy Dell Fan

[996GT2]

I'm currently running a Dell Dimension 4550 until I do my Conroe build in August, and the system has a 2.66GHz Pentium 4 Northwood processor with 1GB DDR333 RAM, 1 120GB Seagate ATA hard drive, and a passive nVidia GeForce4 MX420 video card. It's been very, very quiet for several years now, but lately the rear 92mm fan has been throttling up in RPM to the point where it is annoyingly loud. The Heatsink on this computer has no fan on it, but is ducted to the 92mm. The computer used to have very little rear airflow, but now with the fan spinning much faster there is quite a bit of rear airflow, and it is not very warm either.

Here is the fan in my Dell
http://www.sidewindercomputers.com/nmb92lowsp36.html

Does anyone know why it decides to throttle up speed after about 3 years? The CPU usage in task manager says 0-2% while I am doing basic tasks, yet the computer is still really loud. There are only 2 fans in the computer, and the PSU fan does not move much air, so I'm 99% sure the 92mm is the suspect.

EDIT: I opened the case and there is not much dust inside, so I don't think that's the problem

 

[pkme2]

Have you checked the fan for possible dust buildup?
If not that, then replace fan is the next option. Its very difficult to diagnois a problem from afar.

 

[GalvanizedYankee]

Blow out the case with a hair dryer, yes, out of doors.

Use canned air & a new paint brush to clean the sinks.

Blow it again with the hair dryer. Replace the fan, at $5 + ship it's a steal.

I bought several of those fans and don't own a Dell


...Galvanized

 

[RallyMaster]

room temps are high. the heatsink doesn't feel that hot to you because the ambient is making hands insensitive. I don't think the fan needs replacement...you just need to cool the room a little bit more.

 

[bdww00]

um yeah probably

my 1800 at 1.4 yeah cuz 1.53 is too hot and produces blue screens so...

 

[GalvanizedYankee]

OP, those are sweet thermally controlled fans but they do have a rather high failure rate.

I would clean + replace as indicated above. Three years service is a time for some preventative maintainance.


...Galvanized

 

[Operandi]

If the fan is ramping up it's most likely working fine, it also really should last well over 3 years unless you expose it to excess heat. One of the machines I built has one of these on a XP-90. Starting out it moves along at roughly 1300 RPM and tops out at 1600 or so by the time the case warms up.

If that is the same fan as you currently have the only way I could see it reaching past the low 2000's RPM range is if the thermal sensor has gone bad; running your fan at full speed needlessly.

I would also double check your CPU temps though just to make sure the heatsink is doing its job.

 

[GalvanizedYankee]

Originally posted by: Operandi
If the fan is ramping up it's most likely working fine, it also really should last well over 3 years unless you expose it to excess heat. One of the machines I built has one of these on a XP-90. Starting out it moves along at roughly 1300 RPM and tops out at 1600 or so by the time the case warms up.

If that is the same fan as you currently have the only way I could see it reaching past the low 2000's RPM range is if the thermal sensor has gone bad; running your fan at full speed needlessly.

I would also double check your CPU temps though just to make sure the heatsink is doing its job.

Those fans are known to have a 20%failure rate. Dell was charging>$100 for
a replacement fan.

...Galvanized

 

[Operandi]

Originally posted by: GalvanizedYankee

Originally posted by: Operandi
If the fan is ramping up it's most likely working fine, it also really should last well over 3 years unless you expose it to excess heat. One of the machines I built has one of these on a XP-90. Starting out it moves along at roughly 1300 RPM and tops out at 1600 or so by the time the case warms up.

If that is the same fan as you currently have the only way I could see it reaching past the low 2000's RPM range is if the thermal sensor has gone bad; running your fan at full speed needlessly.

I would also double check your CPU temps though just to make sure the heatsink is doing its job.

Those fans are known to have a 20%failure rate. Dell was charging>$100 for
a replacement fan.

...Galvanized

Bummer, must have been a bad batch or something.