baseunit problems !!!

[retired_member32]

anyone know anything about pc's

i bought a backup base unit from ebay,it's a dual-core dell optiflex and the fan comes on after about five minutes and it sounds like a jet engine (yes it is working that hard) and stays on until i log off,this morning it stopped and jumped to bios when i tried to open dreamweaver....has anyone any idea what could be wrong with it ?

unfortunatley it had a three month RTB warranty but because it was a backup i never used it in this time....

thank you in advance

 

[Edwin]

Is the noisy fan the case fan? The graphics card fan? Some other fan?

 

[pbryd]

It could be any number of reasons.

First thing I'd probably do it open the case and give it all a good clean out.

It may be just overheating.

Use some canned air to blow out all the fluff and dust especially around the cpu fan/heatsink and graphics card.

After that if it's still having problems I'd carefull re-seat all the cables, ram, pci cards.

Hopefully that might just do the trick.

 

[accelerator]

A good forum for help with hardware:

http://forums.overclockers.co.uk/

Rgds

 

[retired_member32]

thanks for the replies...it seams to be a gradual process ,it starts sounding very quiet and within five minutes it sounds like a jet engine,this supposed to be a reconditioned unit i purchased but it was more than likely had a clean install of an operting system and sold on...:???:

 

[Edwin]

Try running the PC with the case off. Are all the fans spinning? And especially, is the fan on top of the CPU cooler spinning?

If all the fans are spinning, then keep running the PC caseless for a while and see which fan revs up to jet engine levels. If none do, then that would imply that the case gets too hot when the PC is on. If one particular fan does, that suggests that the component near the fan is getting extremely hot - what component is it?

Alternatively, it could also hint at a problem with the fan itself. But by trial and error you should hopefully be able to start narrowing the problem down...

 

[retired_member32]

Is the noisy fan the case fan? The graphics card fan? Some other fan?

i think it maybe the cpu fan ,would it be possible for the paste on the processors to have dissapeared ,it has been a long time since i dismantled a pc,also it seams much worse under stress..if you run an online game it sounds like the base unit will take off...

 

[AssetDomains]

Sounds like its your CPU fan if you have cpu paste take it out and give it a good clean to remove any clogged up dust arround the fan then replace the paste. if it remains loud then the fans caput and will need replacing

 

[Edwin]

i think it maybe the cpu fan ,would it be possible for the paste on the processors to have dissapeared ,it has been a long time since i dismantled a pc,also it seams much worse under stress..if you run an online game it sounds like the base unit will take off...

I think you've got it spot on. If the paste has dried up, there won't be a good thermal contact between the fan and the CPU so the fan's going crazy trying to cool the ever-hotter processor.

You could clean and replace the paste, or perhaps even think about a new CPU fan (a very quiet one) if noise is important to you...

 

[retired_member32]

thanks guy's...not the best start is it...i had problems with my other p.c and when someone sent me a lovely wrapped virus i started hacking the registry to pieces so it ran very lumpy so i decided to run the backup which has a RTB warranty that expired last week

i shall buy a fan,paste and canned air and have a go....

 

[AssetDomains]

If you buy a brand new fan it will probably have paste with it and you shouldn't need the air.
That being said if your CPU fan clogged up good bet other fans in the case would benefit from a blast of air so its up to you.