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What would cause a graphics card fan to rattle?

I

Indolent

Platinum Member
The card in question is a Visiontek Xtasy Geforce 4 Ti4200 128mb. Lately the fan on the card rattles, making a very annoying noise, and, I'm assuming, not cooling the card properly because it's not spinning like it should. It almose seems like it is off balance or something.

When I open the case while it's running (I know I'm not supposed to do that but...) and lightly press the fan with a finger, it stopps rattling and spins fine for a little bit untill it starts rattling again.

This site has pictures of it along with a close up of the fan.

Anyone else have a problem like this?
 
Originally posted by: John
lube it
Click to expand...

And clean the blades well so its not out of balance.

There is a lube spot underneath the sticker (one side of the fan or the other).

 
WD-40 is not really a lubricant and it dries fairly quickly. It will clean out bearings and provide some lubricant for a short period of time, but then your problem will be back.

I recommend any 3-in-1 oil or what I use is a microlube like Prolong with its needle like applicator. (Motor oil would work in a pinch)
 
Thanks for the help but, I don't quite see a lube spot unde the sticker...

If it's dead, and I need a new fan, do you have any good recomendations?



*edit* spelling
 
You'd have to unscrew the fan from the card and flip it over to lube.

Visiontek referred me to 1CoolPC. They seem to be pretty decent and have very fast shipping. I got the Thermaltake GF4 Copper thingie, and it works, but it can be pretty loud, but my CPU fan drowns it out, so it isn't much of a worry for me.

EDIT: You can also get an exact replacement for the blue orb fan from 1CoolPC
 
The best solution is to replace the fan. I had that happen on a Radeon board - so I removed the fan and replaced it.
It was not a bad bearing - but it hangs upside down, and it simply started slipping away from the normal position (the blade assembly) and slide down just enough to rattle. Lubing won't correct that.
 
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