km9588

Hi,

I am not quite sure if this thread belongs in this sub-forum but I wasn't really sure where to put it. Basically, my fan is unusually loud in my Dell Dimension 9100. I believe this is happening because it needs to be cleaned but I am unsure about how to clean it properly. Am I correct though? Or could it be something else?

If the fan is not running correctly, that would slow down the computer, correct?

Thanks.

grimx133

It won't be the fan itself slowing down the computer, it'll be the heat that the fan is having a hard time getting rid of. Probably clogged with dust bunnies. You need good airflow to keep a computer running properly. I'd guess that your case has never been opened, you're going to have to do so and clean it out. Pick up some canned air at an office supply shop or computer shop. Take the cover off and blow out as much dust as you can. Pay special attention to the cpu heatsink and fan. This'll be a fan that's mounted directly on the motherboard. Of course, the case fans need to be clean as well, but cpu heating is most helped by having lots of air going through the fins of a heatsink. If the fins or the fans are clogged, this doesn't happen. At this time, don't take anything apart, aside from opening up the case to get at the motherboard and fans. If the cpu fan is taken off, you need to thoroughly clean the old thermal paste/pad, and reapply fresh. If it comes to that you'll need to get some paste.

Get it clean as you can, and see how it goes from there.

trizzle

too add on, if you need to clean those hard-to-reach places, you could use compressed air cans sold at general hardware shops. good luck cleaning

thedarkwolf25

As a side note on Grim's post, make sure to unplug your computer and I advise taking it outside so that you don't wind up flinging dust all over your room. Another cause of loud fans is the RPM that it is running at but if the fan has only gotten louder since you have owned the computer than it is most likely dirty and clogged with dust, dander and so forth.

WereBo

I'm not sure about the 9100 internals, but some Dells have a massive plastic 'air-duct' arranged over the CPU/heatsink/fan assembly to vent the warm air out of the PC. I'm not sure how the fixings are, but that will need to be moved, if necessary, to get to the heatsink/fan underneath.

trizzle

yes! my current dell has this massive green air duct that channels the air right to the rear fan and takes up alot of space. So far I don't have the need to remove it yet.

magnethead

And while their "intelligent" design may work in the Dell Labs, it's a POFS in real world. I put a TR2 478 on my mom's 4600, and just building my dad a cheap custon from all my old parts because the 4700 is a sauna.