computer noises

[maxemulien]

Our computer has recently started making unhappy grindy fan noises when it starts up. It usually goes away in a few minutes (maybe 2-5 in most cases), but I don't trust it. I opened it up yesterday and narrowed it down to the fan on the graphics card. This is about the limit of my experience to date with this sort of hardware stuff. The computer is

Comments

[steuard]

I can't really comment intelligently on how you might actually fix the fan or on what the worst case scenario would be if it failed. (I find it a bit hard to believe that a fan failing on a separate graphics card would lead to damage for the whole computer, but I don't know enough to rule it out.)

But I will throw this into the mix: odds are good that since it's been four years, you could get a replacement graphics card that's the same as or better than what you started with at an awfully low price. Maybe this is your computer's way of asking for an upgrade. :)

[akakd]

Earplugs?

[akjdg]

About a year ago, I accidently broke the fan off a graphics card on a computer at work (it was making some sort of noise). I shrugged, claimed victory (I stopped the noise, afterall), closed up the case and the machine is still working fine.

My best guess (take it for what you will), is that the card will work fine without the fan, and if not, the card frying will not permanently damage the rest of your machine. I think that symptoms of the card frying may not be graphics related, so if you kill the fan and experience future weird computer behavior, suspect that card first.

For informational purposes, I recently bought a refurbished very-powerful-compared-to-my-5-year-old-laptop computer at Dell for $400 (incl. $100 shipping to AK). New computers are cheaper than I thought.

[pmb]

Very few things are worth fixing on old computers if you value your time at any level higher than around $10 per hour. Make sure your data is backed up, and go ahead and keep on keeping on. New computers are extremely cheap, particularly if you don't need a monitor, keyboard, or mouse.

[jkyllo]

The advice so far is spot on. More than likely you won't notice anything by not having active cooling on the graphics card. If you do intensive 3d stuff or the machine is in a particularly hot room then the chip could get too hot and eventually fry. I don't think most people really push their cards though so I wouldn't worry about it.

As an anecdote, I have a card with a dead fan that has been running happily for years but it's only running in text mode so who knows.