hi all

real simple here is my problem, there is a sound (sounds like a bad bearing)
that comes and goes, often i will not hear it for days then one day it might do it all day, it likes to do it on start up then when my os (suse9.2/ xp pro)loads it stops, or it may countine

it is not my hard drives,
it is not my lan sound grapghs cards becuase they have no moving parts,
i just replaced my power supply and that did not work
i am 98% sure that it is not my cd roms

the only thing left is my cpu fan(right)



ps i forgot when i um gentley tap the back of the case (near power supply) it goes away

the sound is also never constint, it changes volume and pitch when is fussing about

thank for any replys

It definately sounds like a fan is either going bad, isn't mounted tightly, is rubbing a cable, or is temp controlled. One thing that came to mind is the CPU fan. Many of them can be controlled by the motherboard, increasing RPM's when the temp goes up. CPU temps will general go up during boot up and loading anything for that matter.

i have had this cpu/fan for over about 2 years

"is rubbing a cable,"

i know its not cables, sounds different, and i have checked


" isn't mounted tightly"

will check to see if it is lose but i dout that

"many of them can be controlled by the motherboard, increasing RPM's when the temp goes up. CPU temps will general go up during boot up and loading anything for that matter."

sometimes the niose starts up when it is idealing, like i leave it on at night, and at 3am it wants to make a fuss

i see no reason for it to now after 2 years have an increase in temp, but i will check with software,

i guess the only way to really find out is replace it

thanks for the quick reply and the tips

it does sound like a temp problem but when it um tap it it goes away so i am thinking thats not it

It could just be that the fan is starting to go bad, which could cause the occasional squeels. Most fans are rated for around 50,000 hours of use. That's about 6 years of life, under good conditions, being used non-stop. I have noticed that dust, the fuzzy stuff in paticular, will soak up whatever grease is on a fan. I'm no expert but I'd guess it also soaks up the grease inside the fan as well, which would leave you with dry bearings, etc. It sucks, but I'd buy a new CPU fan.

Didn't think to ask earlier if you had one, but could it be a case fan? In any event, I'd say find the fault fan, and simply replace it. Fans are fairly cheap unless you're using an aftermarket CPU/Heatsink. Either way, it's cheaper than a replacing a processor and whatever else burns up when your fan dies...