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Background:

A few months ago I upgraded my pc, part of which included adding an Asus GeForce 9600 GT; shortly after installing, the Fan on the graphics card started to make a most irritating grinding noise. I found that if I knocked and tilted my case a few times I could get it to stop grinding & quieten down (the hit-it fix). Over time this grinding has become more frequent, to the point that it's almost non-stop; and so that it vibrates the case and thus you can hear it all through the house. It's been driving me insane because everytime I get it to stop, the *slightest* of movements starts it going again, which includes me moving, somebody walking past, infact anything. This weekend it's been especially bad, in-fact I've felt like throwing the f'ing thing out the window; finally this morning I had enough and thought I have to get a new fan for this thing.

Searching the internet found me no replacement fans, which meant I was looking at sending the card back to get it fixed (and thus missing out on work), buying a full new cooling set, or buying a new card - the last two options would have led to pc-murder as seriously this noise goes right through you. Thus after running out of options  I tried to fix it.

How to fix a noisy computer fan:

1. Remove the fan from the computer (in my case this meant removing the graphics card and unscrewing the plastic cover and fan).
2. Once you have the fan removed, remove the stickers from it.
3. On one side you'll notice a small recess with the end of a small metal pin on it (the bit that holds the fan together, and which the fan spins on)
4. Take a small, toy plastic soldier and chew off the arm (or rifle butt it if has one).
5. Take the cap off a bottle of Filippo Berio Extra Virgin Olive Oil and fill said cap approx half full with said olive oil.
6. Dip one end of the plastic arm / rifle in to the olive oil, then dab the smallest of drops on to the small metal pin in the recess of the fan (from step 3)
7. As you do step 6, gently pull the two parts of the fan about 0.5mm apart and turn the fan clockwise and ant-clockwise.
8. Repeat steps 6 & 7 until you feel the oil has worked its way in and loosened it, "oiled the fan".
9. Be very careful not to swamp the thing with oil, it's an electronic part and you'll break it.
10. Reassemble what you took apart in step 1.

I do believe the specific brand of olive oil, or even the fact it's olive oil isn't of significant importance, likewise the soldier arm / rifle could be anything small that's good for poking.

As an extra bonus, my graphics card is now running 20 degrees cooler when idle :)

Short version:

1. Oil it

Disclaimer:

This worked for me, I'm most pleased, if it doesn't work for you or you break something, don't blame me - but it might be worth a try.

Regards!