Fan Problem? NGeForce FX5600 AGP 256

[10whiskers]

My first post, so here goes...

I have a 2 1/2 year old nVidia GeForce Fx 5600 AGP 256mb video card. A few months ago, I was hearing an "odd" noise coming from my case. I thought it was coming from one of the other fans, so cleaned and checked each one. Still the same. Then, I remembered the video card had a fan and pulled it out, cleaned it and put it back in.

Well, the noise "changed" in that before, it was making a noise like a belt on a washing machine was working too hard. Now the noise is metallic, like the metal fan is hitting the metal fan guard. The noise is always there during start up and sometimes has long and short bouts of noise during use. It can get quite loud and is very distracting.

I'm a noob at everything, but I was thinking if I dropped the fan guard down a bit (not screw it in all the way. It's really tight anyway. Had to use my fingernails to pry it down to get it off), that maybe the fan would not hit against it. But, what if it's hitting the fan guard sideways. Would it be okay to take the metal fan guard off all together? Does anyone think it could be ball bearings instead? I'm just pretty upset, as I thought this card would last longer, than 2 1/2 years. I don't even use it for gaming. Someone urged me to buy it, thinking they might game on my computer, but they never did.

What do ya think? (remember, I'm a complete noob, so speak kind of 1st gradish if you can.) I sure hope someone can help. (Oh, it's the 5600 ultra without the TiVO. It just has the DVI, VGA, and S-video out.)

 

[PanicX]

If all this guard is doing is preventing you from touching the fan, then its safe (heh, ironic) to remove. Be sure though that any screws are not also holding the heatsink on.

 

[Federelli]

Can you test it while it's not attached to the GPU? The you can tell what it exactly is.

 

[jaroddog]

A good way to isolate whether the video card is causing the problem would be to try another card, even if that meant stealing an old pci video card off of another machine. Once you're sure that it is the video card, you could take the fan guard off, as others have said. If that doesn't work, consider replacing the fan (or video card if you're wanting an upgrade).

Regards

 

[Federelli]

jaroddog, no need for that, you can simply turn the PC on with no video card at all.

 

[jaroddog]

Depending on how subtle the noise is, it will be hard to tell if it is gone when your computer is practically screaming beep codes at you. That is something I can guarantee. Trust me.

 

[10whiskers]

Thanks for the heads up about the screws. I didn't think about that. I do know it is the fan on the video card, though. I've had the side panel off and when the video card fan stops, the noise stops. I'm not really sure if the fan is supposed to run continuously, but it stops at brief moments. Thanks everyone. Even the jokes improved my mood.

 

[Federelli]

Oh yes, the fan is meant to run continuously. Something is definetly not right there.

 

[jaroddog]

The good news is that if it is video card fan, they are relatively cheap to replace. A few months back, before my 9600xt went bad, I bought a fan for it because the stock fan was incredibly noisy. I've got an Antec Super Lanboy with both of the 120mm fans on it running at 5 volts (instead of the 12 volts they are originally wired for). After installing an aftermarket fan, the noise went down considerably, with my machine just whispering sweet nothings in my ear all night long. So benefits from a new fan can come in the form of a quieter machine (they are generally the noisiest fan in a system) and a cooler gpu.