Video card fan has recently become VERY noisy!!! Please help with this noisy fan!

i have a geforce 4 ti4800. ive had this card for at least 3 years, and its the oldest part to my computer. the fan on the video card has recently become VERY noisy, in fact its so loud i can hear it from other rooms of my house.

i took the side of my computer tower off, and i looked at the fan. i used some compressed air to blow away any dust, and also blew the air on the fan itself in case any dust was making that noise. i started my computer again, and it STILL made that noise!!

i used my finger to move the fan back and forth, and it could not detect any resistance to the fan, so i dont think anything is applying force in the opposite direction.

would it be possible to shut the fan off? i have a case fan that is situated right next to the video card so i think it will have enough cooling. how do i shut the fan off on the video card?

is there anything else i could try? could i at least lower the RPM of the fan?

 

I don't think you can...Cause it might be soldered into it......If it's three years old it's lifespan is almost up and i would save up some money to buy a new one they are pretty cheap these days

 

u could be able to remove the card and replace it with an aftermarket fan, as should be just clips, also try taking the sticker off and lubricating the inside of the fan, as may just be "dry".

 

thanks very much for all of the helpful replies!

i finally fixed my noisy video card fan but i did it in a illogical and risky way. what i did, i took the video card out of my computer and then i unscrewed the face plate and then the fan itself. then i cleaned the entire fan area and the fan itself with some q-tips to get the dust out.

then i put the fan back in, and put only 1 screw in there to hold it in, so that the fan it hanging at a slight angle. i did not put the face plate back.

after putting it back in, the sound was gone! however, i am now worried about how hot the video card might get now that the fan is not directly into place.

i played quake 4 for about an hour, and had no problems. i then placed my finger on the video card and found it to be scorching hot! i could not keep my finger there for more than 4 seconds or so!

i have no experience as to how hot something feels in a computer, so it may have been the regular temperature. but like i said, i played quake 4 for abou an hour with nothing wrong.

we will have to see as to what happens to the video card. if it does overheat, will my computer shut down automatically? i know my computer would do that if the processor were to overheat, but im not sure if it would do that with the video card. im not even sure if i can monitor the temperature at all, the only thing i can monitor is the processor heat.

if something does happen i wouldnt be angry, because the card is indeed 4 years old and i have read around the interweb to learn that 4 years out of a video card is a good amount of usage.

 

I see. i will definitly pick up some heat sink compound to reduce the heat. the reason i have the fan hanging on an angle is because, i guess, that something was rubbing against the fan making a thunderous noise. now my computer is much quieter (now i can sleep!)

i left my computer on all night to download something, and in the morning it was fine. i watched a movie on it and again, nothing wrong.

how much does heat sink compound typically cost? ive not bought any before, but i have seen it applied, ive done it on my processor, which is a pentium prescott 3.2e, which does run hot, however i have had no problems with that and ive had it 1.5 years.

 

I would get Artic 5, should not be that expensive around 5 i would think (going when i last brought some... ages ago)