Planetarion Forums - one of the fans in my computer is playing up

Nusselt · 2 Jan 2004, 23:13

its the little one above the big one on the motherboard, ie not the big fan with the heat sink that i assume goes cools down the processor but the smaller one underneath. The poor thing has trouble starting up, when i turn on my computer it tries to get up to speed but it cant, it makes a noise like a car trying to start up that cant start up

nah nah nah nah nah nah nah nah nah

so i took my finger and i gave it a little nudge and the fan got up to speed and is now fine, except im having to do this everytime i start up.

two questions

1) I assume this defective fan needs to be replaced as it is affecting the workings of the computer (although tbh i have no idea what this fan actually does and my computer is fine as i push start the thing when i switch on), maybe it just needs to be cleansed of what ever dust ails it, is taking it apart difficult?

2) If it does need to be replaced, is this an easy thing to do, for someone like me who hates touching things inside the 'magic box'

oh and i took the side panel of my computer of while it was switched on, i thought that the panel pushed against that little switch in the chassis that automatically switched off the computer when you took to panel off, if not what is that switch there for?

thank joo

Structural Integrity · 3 Jan 2004, 10:54

A casefan that blows air into or out of your case is usually not a critical piece of hardware. People who overclock their computer usually have lots of fans in their case to keep other components cool aswell (like harddisks, bridges, etc etc). If you haven't tweaked your PC in any way (I suspect you haven't, cause you talk about "teh magic box"), then you shouldn't worry too much abouot a broken casefan.

On the other hand, replacing the fan is not difficult if you can reach the connector easilly. See, it's probably connected to the motherboard so it can get it's power. If you can't reach this connector because it's blocked by things like the heatsink, then you perhaps have to remove some other things before you can replace it.
If you can reach the connector easilly, then you buy a new fan of the same size, take the power off the case (ie: unplug it completely), unscrew the old fan (or take it out of it's clip, as some cases have) and put the new one in, and connect the new one at the place where you unplugged the old one.
As long as you are not doing anything silly, like licking the north-bridge or see what those funny round things are and wiggling them side to side, then you should be fine.
So, just do you stuff with the connector and leave the rest of the motherboard alone. It's sensitive hardware, and while it can take more than most people think, it's not made for playing.

Oh, and about the switch in the case... I dunno.

Luckeh!!!! · 3 Jan 2004, 15:48

it all depends if the northbridge heatsink/fan (the chip under the small heatsink) are integrated together which most motherboards have.

what I mean is, are you able to remove the fan altogether? (not just the fan blades)

if not it would probably be easier to replace the whole heatsink really or just buy a large passive one (the zalman from thecoolingshop

the switch on the case needs to be connected to your mobo actually.

it either sounds an alarm or switches the comp off if the side panel is removed.

Structural Integrity · 3 Jan 2004, 18:10

Oh wait... we're talking about the northbridge fan?
Ignore waht I said before, and listen to Luckeh.

Nusselt · 15 Jan 2004, 18:22

right the fan stopped making the noise so i burried my head in the sand but its started up again so it really needs replacing. I have no idea what northbridge, i have a feeling you're talking about the big fan with the heat sink. Im not. The fan im talking about is the little one underneath that. Ive measured it and its 40mm or just over 1.5 inches wide, its connected to the board via a power thingy with 3 wires in it which are in the colour of the german national flag. Through a process of deduction whereby i looked for something fitting this description i came across this

4th one down

the asaka 40mm 3 pin fan, now before i spend my hard earned money i just want to confirm that this fan is the one that goes inside the computer isnt it? because i have no idea what a system fan is, its not some weird thing thats attached to some weird place?

SyPh0n · 15 Jan 2004, 18:37

The Northbridge fan is usually 40mm like that fan. If the connector coming off the Northbridge fan is 3 pin (little one, not very big) and not a molex connector (like the one in the back of your hard drive or optical drives) then that fan *should* be ok. But I'm not 100% sure personally because I've not seen your motherboard or Northbridge.

There are dedicated Northbridge coolers on that site - look under chipset coolers rather than system fans.

meglamaniac · 15 Jan 2004, 20:19

Yep that looks about right.
We are talking about the right fan.
The big one is indeed the processor heatsink and fan (HSF), and the little one which is giving you problems is the northbridge HSF. Without getting too technical, the northbridge is a linking device, connecting many of the bits on your board together and providing a few services of it's own and so also gets quite hot.

Now, as to what you need to do to get the old fan off...
First, look at the big HSF on your processor. Assuming it's a fairly standard unit, there will be a metal strip that goes across the middle of the heatsink (the bit under the fan), probably horizontally. It pokes out of the sides of the unit.
At either end, this strip will disappear down towards the motherboard. On one side (usually the right side, sometimes the left) there will be either an exposed area of the strip that you can push down on, or a small slot arrangement which you can wedge a flatblade screwdriver into and push down on.
It is this strip that clips the whole getup onto the processor socket, and at the bottom of each end of the strip is a small thin plate-type arrangement that goes over pins on the socket. Pressing down and out where I just mentioned unclips the unit.
What I have just described is the standard for AMD processor sockets, but Intel ones are very similar.

NOW

Look at the HSF over the northbridge.
Is there a similar system that you can see? Are there any obvious clips, things to twist, or any other mechanical holding system?
If so, you're in luck - you just need to buy one that has the same system and attach that.
If not, there will hopefully be a method of removing the fan only. It may simply unscrew (most fans screw in place with 4 screws, 1 at each corner). Then all you have to do is buy the replacement fan. Oh, and make sure you attach it the right way round (it should blow down, towards the motherboard).

Luckeh!!!! · 15 Jan 2004, 20:41

use this http://www.thecoolingshop.co.uk/tcs/...?idproduct=696

and do away with active cooling on it

Nusselt · 16 Jan 2004, 02:44

ok i now know thats the fan i need, but i was just wondering about the power thingy you were talking about, the three power cables end in a connector. The connector is female, and on the board theres a juntion thingy with three little pins sticking out which is the male connection. How can i tell that the fan i need has that? all it says is the power settings?

The other thing is that the fan in there at the moment doesnt have a heat sink type thing underneath it

should i get the first one on this list ie the one with the Blue LED thing which seems to have an added bit underneath

actually i might just get both, they're dead cheap so why not

and luckeh thanks for the advice but i want to stay away from something that mentions thermal grease

Luckeh!!!! · 16 Jan 2004, 11:41

the added "bit" underneath is the heatsink.

if you are so scared of using thermal grease, just use ANY white paste grease like Arctic Alumina or Arctic Ceramique, they are non-conductive and non-capacitive and basically no real harm.

Nusselt · 16 Jan 2004, 11:52

yeah i know what im saying is that the fan i have at the moment has no heat sink, is it ok to buy that fan with a heat sink and put it in? its the same size but has that heat sink added.

And i dont think you got what i meant. I despise opening my computer case, i really really dont want to touch anything in there and am only doing so because i must, as such ill stick to things i understand like screws and screw drivers instead of weird pastes

pablissimo · 16 Jan 2004, 13:03

The northbridge generally has its own heatsink; the metal cap on top with the grooves in is a heatsink of a fashion. So if you wanted to you could put a fan with a heatsink on it without causing any electrical damage at least.

This assumes that there are pegs or mounting holes around it to attach another HS to.

SyPh0n · 16 Jan 2004, 13:19

Quote:

Originally Posted by Nusselt

ok i now know thats the fan i need, but i was just wondering about the power thingy you were talking about, the three power cables end in a connector. The connector is female, and on the board theres a juntion thingy with three little pins sticking out which is the male connection. How can i tell that the fan i need has that? all it says is the power settings?

The other thing is that the fan in there at the moment doesnt have a heat sink type thing underneath it

should i get the first one on this list ie the one with the Blue LED thing which seems to have an added bit underneath

actually i might just get both, they're dead cheap so why not

and luckeh thanks for the advice but i want to stay away from something that mentions thermal grease

Right.

The fan you've currently got is the Nortbridge cooling fan. It is screwed in by 4 screws?

Right.

Underneath the fan is a small square chip? Or is it a small block with ridges in? That's a heatsink, which you say it hasn't got.

Right.

That original fan you posted is a 3 pin fan. The connectors you have is a 3 pin connection. If you don't have a heatsink on the Northbridge, this fan is just a straight replacement. If your old fan is screwed in like the new one, this is a straight replacement.

However: if the fan is held in directly onto the heatsink (which you say you don't have), you will probably need to replace the heatsink and fan. In which case, you will need to be using thermal paste/grease and need to buy that one with the LED in.

Conclusion: from what you've said, it's probably best to take the old fan off, and buy the 3 pin 40mm Akasa fan as a straight replacement. It's just a case of unscrewing the old fan, pulling the connector out, putting the new fan in the same position, screwing that on it, and connecting the 3 pin connector to the 3 pins on the board. (Which you probably knew already).

LIke you said, it's cheap, and if it doesn't work buy the Coolermaster one with the LEDs or find another site that sells Northbridge HSFs.