CPU fan at the end of its life ? - Tech Support Forums

rh71 · April 17th, 2003, 01:00 PM

It's a Thermaltake Chrome Orb and I've had it for about 2 years now (whenever it came out) ... and only recently it's started to make different hum noises - and they're loud enough to annoy. I took the actual fan out of the chrome encasing (which was easy to do) and spun it on its own and it still made the noise, so I know it's got to be something underneath the fan where the chip, etc. are... a bearing maybe?

Should I just buy a new fan or somehow grease this baby up ? Does this ever happen to you guys?

Is replacing a CPU fan easy to do?.. since I have to remove the old one from the top of the CPU...

What's the best CPU fan for a Socket A (T-bird 1.0GHz) these days ? SHould I go with another Orb ?

dunbar · April 17th, 2003, 01:15 PM

If the shaft can vibrate enough to make noise, the bearing has been damaged and adding lubricants won't help a lot.

I just tried re-lubing a small fan, because it was unique and I can't find a replacement for it. You are talking about performing 15 minutes of disassembly/reassembly, adding lubricant, reassembling, and reinstalling a $10 fan. Then, the expected life span is extended by maybe a month or two (the heatsink gets reused), hardly worth the effort. Spending $10 for a new fan (www.digikey.com) makes more sense to me, or even better, getting a new cooler.

rh71 · April 17th, 2003, 01:41 PM

I have been listening to this thing hum and vibrate for the last 2 hours. I'm going insane. I'm definitely going to buy a replacement... from newegg...

What do you think of the Speeze CPU Fan Model 5F263B1M3 (halfway down the page) ?

tony_j15 · April 17th, 2003, 01:41 PM

Yep, if a fan goes kaput, just buy a new one. One of my fans just recently started vibrating real loud. Took it out and saw that the bearings are going bad.

rh71 · April 17th, 2003, 01:44 PM

Is 2500RPM enough ?! Maybe there's something in the HS to help this low speed dissipate heat even with the low RPM. The Chrome Orb currently runs at 5500RPM.

DanU · April 18th, 2003, 05:37 AM

That HSF uses a 80mm fan. Big fans don't have to spin as fast to push as much air as the 60mm fans. Also, because of the slower speed, they're quieter.

I changed my 60mm fan to an 80mm fan that spins at 2400 RPM. Things are MUCH quieter now.

dunbar · April 18th, 2003, 07:41 AM

RPMs are not the proper way to measure airflow. CFM, or as the industry sometimes uses LFM - those are measures of airflow. It has been shown that with a given fan design, increasing RPM would increase airflow (and would shorten bearing life), but faster RPM also increases noise, at the same time. If you can get the same airflow from a lower RPM fan, chances are good that the lower RPM fan may be quieter (but poor designs can make the lower RPM fan noiser as well). All told, shop for CFM to be high, noise to be low, and RPM to be low as well.