fan on computer, help!

[unruliejulie]

Can anyone tell me why the fan has kicked in on my computer, its louder than i have heard it before and the whole thing seems slower too. Is this anything to worry about or not?

[HWKE]

It's likely that your computer needs cleaning. When dust accumulates inside your computer, the CPU will not dissipate heat as efficiently to the heatsink.
This means the CPU and motherboard get hotter, causing the fan to operate. The dust will also accumulate on the blades of the fan, so it doesn't work quite so well and also make the fan unbalanced through having more dust on some blades than on others. Hence it makes more noise because it's vibrating.
So, after all that, your computer probably needs cleaning. To do that, unplug from the mains and take the side/cover off and clean it gently with a new paintbrush, a vacuum cleaner, or an air jet. Pay particular attention to the fans and don't touch the chips with anything conductive such as metal, or your fingers.

[unruliejulie]

thanks so much HWKE. So long as i know the thing isnt about to blow up on me, im happy! lol I will clean it tomorrow as you said. Thanks again :-)

[Paulst30]

If you cpu is a socket 478 then you may have snapped one of the clips that hold the heatsink onto the processor.

It happened to me when i was fitting a new fan and i couldnt even surf th enet without my cpu overheating.

worth opening the case to check incase

[alfgbt]

There are many sensitive parts , which can be damaged by static electricity inside a pc. I would not recomend using a paintbrush or anything else except compressed air to clean around the motherboard area.I have seen many a pc ruined by people cleaning boards with a brush.The best way to clean fans is to unscrew them & then manually clean .

[ACtheTROLL]

Paintbrush is Ok so long as it's brissle
(verrrrrrry soft - a girlie blusher type brush is good)

if you feel the fan move (rocking ... not going round;-) - you could be in trouble

whatever else you try .... don't use a domestic vac - unless you want to create a vandergraph generator
for anything other than (carefully) cleaning out the bottom of the case AFTER you finish dislodging the muck

If you have a static strap use that .... if not ... hang on to a radiator and discharge yourself (he he) against the case before you open it - keep hold all the time you are prodding