Small noise problem with the Silencer on my Radeon...

[whitewarrior11]

Hello guys,

I have a small problem (it's not even affecting gameplay or anything), it's just annoying. My Sapphire Radeon X800XT PE has a Silencer installed. I bought the card used from someone on another forum and the card is running wonderfully good in all the games I'm playing. The problem is noise. When I start my computer and at random times during operation (no matter how much time the computer has been running before), the fan starts doing a loud noise. The only way I've found to stop the noise in giving a *smooth* slap on the top of my computer case (don't tell me it could be bad for my cpu parts please). I was just wondering if anyone had the same problem before or has heard of it? Can I do anything about it? I've cleaned the fan TWICE during the last week to no avail.

 

[sodcha0s]

The fan MAY be going bad. I had a silencer on my 9800Pro and it started making rattling, or vibration type noises after a little over a year. I cleaned it to no avail. One day I was in the middle of an online game, paused and left for a few mins and when I returned there was no video. Seems the fan puked and fried my card...

Anyway, I can't say for sure if that's the issue for you, but after my experience and after reading about several other similar issues with other folks, I'd be cautious.

 

[1Dark1Sharigan1]

Originally posted by: whitewarrior11
Hello guys,

I have a small problem (it's not even affecting gameplay or anything), it's just annoying. My Sapphire Radeon X800XT PE has a Silencer installed. I bought the card used from someone on another forum and the card is running wonderfully good in all the games I'm playing. The problem is noise. When I start my computer and at random times during operation (no matter how much time the computer has been running before), the fan starts doing a loud noise. The only way I've found to stop the noise in giving a *smooth* slap on the top of my computer case (don't tell me it could be bad for my cpu parts please). I was just wondering if anyone had the same problem before or has heard of it? Can I do anything about it? I've cleaned the fan TWICE during the last week to no avail.

You can always get it replaced. It has a 6-year warranty . . . though it's a lot of hassle . . .

 

[mindless1]

It is very very bad to slap the system like that. Heavy cards (like the video card) may flex and crack surface-mounted solder joints. Hard disk may suffer too. Just...... don't.


Take your fan off and peel back the sticker carefully (so that you can put it back on later- try to avoid touching the sticky side with your fingers as fingerprint (oil) will reduce it's adhesion some.

With the label peeled back check on the bearing. If it's a sleeve bearing (bronze colored), rather than ball-bearing (silver, but not the silver center shaft), put a drop of thick oil (almost grease) in it. Don't be fooled by those who suggest something ridiculously thin like machine oil or WD-40, they will not work nearly as well nor as long for more reasons than I care to enumerate at the moment. Been there done that, and learned. Gear oil (80wt) is about as thin as you'd want to try. Thoroughly mixing grease with lighter oil (but not TOO light) to thicken it enough that it's drop-point is just barely below room temp will work in a pinch.


Be careful not to get any on the fan hub so the sticker will adhere later. You only need a good-sized drop, not to fill it onto overflowing.

If the fan has ball bearings you're going to need to replace it, but a properly lubed sleeve-bearing fan can last quite a while, even years if you relube it periodically.