fan noise on boot

[floris]

Hi there,

When I boot one of my systems, the following happens once in a while.

One time it just loads nicely without any noice, and the second it loads like a fan is running at full power, once the system is fully loaded the noice has reduced.

I can't really locate which hardware it is, but the CPU is new and is kind of excluded. I am thinking the videocard or the psu.

Anyway, I can't really tell without turning the other fans off, which is a bad thing :>

Anybody have some tips?

[cscgal]

Boot up your computer with the sidepanel off of the case. Listen and look which fans are causing the problem - the CPU fan, which case fans, etc.

[floris]

We can't, it is a system integrated in the design of the table. We'd have to complete disassample the table to open it up. If we also want to keep it running. :) (Yes, upgrading is a hell).

We did this once, but was very hard to find the noice, since the hd's and other hardware make quite some noice too.

[cscgal]

Why don't you check out download.com for those programs that gamers and overclockers use to measure fan rotation and CPU temperature? Oh wait, that won't work - it only happens at bootup, right? :-/

When this happens, do you notice the computer feeling any hotter than usual? I can't really offer much more advice given there's no way to find out *which* fan is the problem - cpu or not.

A similar thing happened on my mac when there were some low level hdd errors. I would turn it on and the fan would just keep getting louder and louder and the computer would never boot into OS X. I reformatted and the problem instantly went away.

[spikes]

as an aulturnative to what is causing the noise, the fan may not be running fast it may be broken.
it's quite common for the attachment between the fan and the motor to come lose, this means the when the computer starts the motor spins fast and the fan spins slow, usually with some noise.
after a short amount of time the fan will pick up speed due to the friction between it and the motor and the noise will stop.
however if this is the cause it will only get worse as the fan becomes more worn.

i've had this happen a few times on cpu, gpu and case fans. heres an easy way to locte the noisey fan. start the system up and put one finger on the center of the fan, thereby slowing it down and see if the noise changes, please be carefull some fans are suprisingly sharp! oh, and ground yourself first just incase you touch anything else.

hope it helps you find the prob.

spikes

[TallCool1]

When I boot one of my systems, the following happens once in a while. One time it just loads nicely without any noise, and the second it loads like a fan is running at full power, once the system is fully loaded the noise has reduced.

What you are describing is a common problem with cheap sleeve-bearing DC brushless fans. As the lubricant dries out with age, it becomes gummy and sticky in the bearing. This also throws the blade off-axis. As the fan warms up due to friction from spinning against the gunk, some of the gunky oil melts and acts like it's supposed to, lubricating the bearing and allowing the shaft to re-center.

When you get the unit open (I don't think you have much of a choice), you can use the "poor man's stethoscope" -- an old paper-towel tube -- to isolate the noisy fan. Sometimes (rarely) they can be lubricated, but replacement is best.

In a case like this (in both senses of the word) I would use aPanasonic brand fan, as they are the best quality available, by far. I get them from Digi-Key .

[rdzlyz]

Hi there, When I boot one of my systems, the following happens once in a while. One time it just loads nicely without any noice, and the second it loads like a fan is running at full power, once the system is fully loaded the noice has reduced. I can't really locate which hardware it is, but the CPU is new and is kind of excluded. I am thinking the videocard or the psu. Anyway, I can't really tell without turning the other fans off, which is a bad thing :>

Anybody have some tips?

its your North Bridge fan i have the same problem

[frrossk]

its your North Bridge fan i have the same problem

Man, this thread is one year old...You're replying NOW???

[spiffer]

Man, this thread is one year old...You're replying NOW???

It makes sense since people such as myself might reach such a forum as this through a search engine and find the contribution useful regardless of the time it was sent relative to the rest of the messages in the thread.

[TeresaC]

Well, my situation is that occasionally my computer started not booting and had all this fan noise. I could usually recover it with the f11 command. Would run diagnostics, virus checks, etc. and assume the system was okay. Now, lets see if the problem continued and then didn't boot up with excessive fan noise that could then be the fan???? I will take it apart and look at it closer but it beats buying a whole new system. Old or new keep them posts coming that's how we nerds learn! I will keep you posted on my success or failure.