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LinXNut
September 5th, 2011, 06:56 PM
Hi, this has nothing to do with Ubuntu...But I really need help figuring out what's wrong with my desktop computer. About a week ago I was moving the tower to another room, and I accidentally dropped it. I freaked out, and found nothing bad at all! The only difference is when I go to run an application that uses heavy graphics, or a lot of my CPU, the cooling fan on top of my CPU goes haywire! It gets really loud and noisy, and before I dropped it, it never used to do this.

Do I need a new fan?

Is my CPU shot?
:(

Thanks

IWantFroyo
September 5th, 2011, 06:58 PM
Open it up, and make sure the fan is in the right place. If it moved a little, then something might be blocking the air, making the insides of the computer hotter, and making the fan go faster.

Also, some cables might be next to the fan now, and if they're getting hit, it'll make the fan sound louder.

LinXNut
September 5th, 2011, 07:04 PM
I took off the cooling unit off of the CPU, and the fan and everything is perfectly intact. One wierd thing however is when I take the side of my computer off to show the inside, the fan slows down. So I definitly think its a heat problem, but I never had this problem before.

Frogs Hair
September 5th, 2011, 07:09 PM
Make sure the graphics card is seated properly in the slot if it has a card and not a internal controller . A little movement can cause strange behavior some times . The thermal compound or pad for the CPU may have been disturbed on impact causing high CPU temp . Take anti static precautions if possible .

mips
September 5th, 2011, 07:12 PM
The only difference is when I go to run an application that uses heavy graphics, or a lot of my CPU, the cooling fan on top of my CPU goes haywire! It gets really loud and noisy, and before I dropped it, it never used to do this.


Nothing serious.

I suspect the heatsink is no longer properly seated on the CPU. The bump could have loosened the heatsink clips.

My advice would be to:
1) Get a tube of Arctic Silver 5 thermal paste
2) Remove fan & heatsink from CPU.
3) Remove any residual thermal paste from CPU & heatsink with isopropyl alcohol or methelated spirits.
4) Apply new thermal paste to CPU.
5) Install heatsink & fan assembly.

There are plenty of guides on the net on how to do this.

Phrea
September 5th, 2011, 07:12 PM
Yea, most likely a fan problem like IWantFroyo said.

Try and clean the fan with a paintbrush to see if it makes a difference.
And you definately want to check out anything near the fan, also like suggested.

I'd just get a new fan if above things don't work.

EDIT: does it sound like when you were a kid: card touching your spokes? I mean, that's just cool.

Bandit
September 5th, 2011, 08:21 PM
Nothing serious.

I suspect the heatsink is no longer properly seated on the CPU. The bump could have loosened the heatsink clips.

My advice would be to:
1) Get a tube of Arctic Silver 5 thermal paste
2) Remove fan & heatsink from CPU.
3) Remove any residual thermal paste from CPU & heatsink with isopropyl alcohol or methelated spirits.
4) Apply new thermal paste to CPU.
5) Install heatsink & fan assembly.

There are plenty of guides on the net on how to do this.

This + blow the dust out of the machine.. If the fan still get noisy and starts to make squawling noises like the bearing is going out. Replace the fan, if its a speacial fan size thats not very common. Just go ahead and spend 25 bucks for a replacement fan/heatsink unity. And steer away from cheap brands. You dont got to go expensive, just dont go to cheap. Get one that size and airflow match what you have. Your CPUs fan/heatsink are the life of your computer, it fails, your CPU dies..

nerdopolis
September 5th, 2011, 10:54 PM
This is unrelated to the CPU fan/heat issues... but if the computer sustained impact, shouldn't their be a concern that the hard drive experienced any damage, like bad sectors, or a shortened lifespan?

sffvba[e0rt
September 5th, 2011, 11:03 PM
Nothing serious.

I suspect the heatsink is no longer properly seated on the CPU. The bump could have loosened the heatsink clips.

My advice would be to:
1) Get a tube of Arctic Silver 5 thermal paste
2) Remove fan & heatsink from CPU.
3) Remove any residual thermal paste from CPU & heatsink with isopropyl alcohol or methelated spirits.
4) Apply new thermal paste to CPU.
5) Install heatsink & fan assembly.

There are plenty of guides on the net on how to do this.

It already got another +1 but I want to add my little to 2c worth by giving this another +1...

Make sure to do this ASAP before you loose your CPU and likely your mobo...


404

IWantFroyo
September 5th, 2011, 11:08 PM
When my computer was clogged full of dust, I unplugged it, took it out side, and blasted it from about 4-5 feet away with a leaf blower (no extension).
It got rid of the dust quite well. It might be worth trying, here, just to make sure it isn't dust falling into fan that caused the problem.
A aerosol can of compressed air works well, too.

LowSky
September 6th, 2011, 12:14 AM
Dropping a PC can have many little issues. A cracked capacitor, broken processor pin, or unset processor. That isn't including the other components. The power supply being full of little items that can be an issue.

3rdalbum
September 6th, 2011, 02:18 AM
One wierd thing however is when I take the side of my computer off to show the inside, the fan slows down.

It SEEMS like the heat is escaping and causing the fan to slow down... but that's probably not the effect at work.

The noise of a fan is not of the fan itself; it's of the air being pushed around. When the case is closed, the fan has to work harder to suck in air from the front of the case. Being pulled through a narrow opening in the front of the case, and possibly through an air filter, creates a lot of turbulence in the air, which generates noise.

When you take the side off the case, the fan just sucks in air from the big wide gap you've now created. Less effort, less turbulence, less noise. It sounds like the fan is going slower, but it might not be; it might even be spinning faster.

Try not to leave the side off the case either, because that deprives the hard drives and RAM of airflow.

blueturtl
September 6th, 2011, 08:46 AM
This is unrelated to the CPU fan/heat issues... but if the computer sustained impact, shouldn't their be a concern that the hard drive experienced any damage, like bad sectors, or a shortened lifespan?

Unless the OP was moving the computer while it was running, the hard drive read/write heads would be located off-disk. So in short: no, not unless it was a really big bump.