Noisy Compaq Computer - fan problem?

Hello all. Apologies if this seems like a rather naive question, but here goes.....

I bought a Compaq Presario around a year ago and over the last few weeks it has become decidedly noisy. It sounds very much like the fan is whirring away and then goes quiet again. I am wondering whether this is a cooling problem and whether the fan is working efficiently.

I would be grateful for any advice.

Thanks

Techmog

I have a Dell XPS that's about 2 years old and it's doing the same thing now also. On startup it whirs for a bit then goes back to normal. I'm thinking it's probably a faulty fan or maybe too much dust got into it or something.

I intend to open up the case and start it up so I can pinpoint exactly where it's coming from. Maybe you could do the same. In all likelihood it's probably a fan, but it could be something else. Once you find the source, you'll know what needs to be replaced.

I have a Compaq Presario 3320US which is 2 years old, and the fan is ridiculously loud sometimes. The loudness is intermittent, although it is more often loud than not. It sounds like there is a colony of crickets living inside my laptop! Its actually embarrassing when I'm in public where its quiet enough for people to hear it. I've blown it out with a can of air regularly since buying the computer. I don't have the overheating problem you are having - I think the fan is just defective. I think many components are built with really cheap fans now. I've also had fans from two different external hard drive enclosures spaz out on me - they sounded like lawn mowers! I tore out the defective fans and replaced them with fans that are normally used for chipsets in desktop machines. I'm going to take my Presario in since its still under warranty.

The fan may just be clogged with dust and needing a good clean.


Remove side panel.

Detect where noise is coming from (although while your in there you may as well clean all your fans).

Power off pc.

Remove fan to allow room to clean properly and then apply a little lubricant (sewing machine oil works a treat)...then replace.

If it is the heatsink fan then now is a good time to remove the heatsink, clean heatsink & fan, lubricate fan and reapply thermal paste (Arctic Silver 5 is best but a generic paste would do).

While your in there give the inside a little dust down, and tidy up any cables to allow better air-movement around the inside of the case.

Put the side back on and power her up...done!

Be careful while you're in there if you're removing heatsinks. Don't apply too much force else you could crack the processor.

Also when blowing the dust out be sure not to get too close, I have seen traces lifted off a motherboard because the kid was trying to get every piece of dust

How I would start would be unplugging all fans (Except for processor fan, you don't want to burn the processor up) and the hard drive. Then powering it up and seeing if it is the processor fan.

A) If the noise is there, swap the processor fan out with one of the other fans to rule out the power supply fan.

B) If the noise isn't there, power down and plug in one fan at a time, and finally the hard drive. If the hard drive is the culprit - then backup your data and purchase a new hard drive from somewhere like Newegg.com or your local Best Buy.

Good luck and let us know what it is!

If the fan makes buzzy noises that come and go (and there's nothing obvious like a wire laying on top of it hitting it) then the fan bearings are:

a) If ball bearing, shot.

b) If sleeve bearing, dried out and (now) shot.

I'm guessing b). The fans in commodity stuff these days are cheap, cheap, cheap.

My compaq became more and more noisy until finally it sounded like a jet airliner taking off. I opened the case to investigate the fan and found a thick mat of accumulated fluff, including cat-hair; mmmm, and dust between the fan and the heat sink. I removed the offending lump of garbage and now the compaq is back to the quiet, well behaved state it was in when I first bought it.

Hmm I might try that, my computer is so noisy I can't leave it on while I sleep anymore, it's gotten that bad!