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by thechas
Make SURE that the noise is NOT coming from your hard drive.
If it is coming from your hard drive, back up your data and replace the drive NOW!!!
Otherwise, YES it is likely that you have one or more fans with bad bearings.
It is a good idea to clean the vents and fans on your PC at least twice a year.
Your problem could be any of the fans (at least 2) in your PC.
It is CRITICAL that the CPU and power supply cooling fans spin up quickly and run at the proper speed.
With the power off, you should be able to easily spin either fan by hand.
If ANY fan sticks or grinds when you spin it by hand, REPLACE it.
If the noise is from the power supply fan, it is easier and safer to replace the whole power supply.
Chas
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by csmith
Usually this is the fan bearings.
A hard drive failure makes more of a high pitched scream.
Replacing the power supply is the easiest solution.
Get a fan motor with ball bearings.
Ball bearings last a lot longer than the regular sleeve bearings.
Regards, Chris
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by sgt_shultz
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by donmars
by donmars
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by hereinoz
Check for the cables touching the CPU fan as mentioned above, but my bet would be the CPU fan itself.
The easy way to check is to take the cover off the machine and turn it on. When the grinding begins, momentarily stop the CPU fan with a finger, (wear a glove if it is a biggie - it can hurt a little - and don't try this at home, kiddies!) and if the grinding stops, replace the fan.
Don't stop the fan for more than a moment, though, just long enough to have the noise stop (or not stop), half a second will do it. Any longer and you can start to get things a little warm with some processors.
If it is the fan, replace it ASAP. If that fan stops, or runs slow for any length of time, and things get hot, you can not only fry the CPU, but you can damage the motherboard as well. And it doesn't take very long for things to get hot, either.
Some CPU fans require the whole heatsink to be removed from the CPU, in order to replace the fan.
If that is the case, be aware that you will have to clean off all the old heat conductive compound between the heatsink and the CPU, and replace it with a high quality heatsink compound. The higher performance the CPU, the higher quality the compound needs to be.
If you are at all wary about getting to this level of the machine, then once you have identified if it is the CPU fan, take it to a reputable computer shop and get them to replace it. It will cost a little more, but it beats frying a CPU.
If it is the power supply fan, replace the power supply. It is possible to replace the fan; it is possible to service the fan, and if it is an old power supply that is difficult to get, that is an option, but if it is an ATX type power supply, just get a new one.
Don't hang about with it, though. It is important to keep all the fans on the machine spinning happily, for the health of the machine.
by hereinoz
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by athomas
If the fan is going to be difficult to replace (I have a chip cooler on the test rig's motherboard that is unlike any other), you can remove the fan and, using a scalpel or fine blade, carefully peel the sticky label back about half way. If there are two labels then first look at the denser, possibly metallized, label.
You will, if you have the right label, see a depression and perhaps a bearing.
Add 1 or 2 small drops of light machine oil. Stick the label back on and you are back in business.
About the dust - its good practice to give the innards an annual cleaning with compressed air. If you use a rather powerful blast, such as at your local vehicle repair shop, remember to immobilise a fan with a pencil - never your finger (danger of embolism), when cleaning it or the fan can overspeed.
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