Ohh, fate. You a bitch. “Ooh, he has money to blow on useless things he’s likely going to feel he wasted it. Let’s create some chaos to make him spend more, and endanger his computer to boot!!”
Every time I turn on my computer after turning it off (or using the Sleep option) when I go to bed, I hear the fans and everything kick on. Then about 6 or 7 seconds later I hear the sound of something grinding inside. Keep thinking it’s just a small fan inbalance, as
about 1-3 minutes later the sound stops.
Today, I heard that familiar sound again… then it changed to a loud grinding sound that kept on. Starting to panic I looked all over the case and found the source; the outflow fan on the back. The sound would not stop nomatter what I tried to do. So I took the side panel off and tried to carefully put my thumb right in the middle of the fan. The sound stopped, proving it’s the source.
I let my thumb go, waiting and the sound started up again, same volume as before. Kept doing this over and over, noticing there were times when it sped up all the way the sound had stopped for a bit, then started up again. But thankfully to the lord almighty, doing it enough times finally stopped the noise, and the fan has been behaving perfectly
normal.
With the scary sound gone, I knew I had to find a replacement.. fearing the fan’s going to die on me soon. Went on Amazon and looked up a replacement fan. The first one was
a Noctua fan for $15. 4 pin. But I wasn’t sure what type or size of pins the current one
uses.
Took awhile until my brain finally processed I needed to find the motherboard manual. After a lot of searching I found the official manual, and where it shows the fan pins on the board. Something about ‘SYS_FAN1’ to 4. But I dunno which one it’s plugged into. I tried to get ahold of Jero through Discord, but no use. So I tried to call him and thankfully he picked up.. but he was at work. However he still was able to help me. Hardly could hear him with all the traffic going by of where he was.
He told me to take a picture of the pins, so I did and sent him the picture.
Here I was also able to find out it’s plugged into ‘SYS_FAN1’. He said “see how there’s one pin that’s exposed?” Looking at the picture myself, yes I could see that. He said the Noctua fan should work as a replacement.
Finally I asked how do I get the old screws out, if I can use a standard screwdriver or if I need a special one from an IFixIt kit. He said they use Phillips head screws, so that’s great for me. And the Noctua fan, he claimed it should have its own screws, and ones that I “can push in”. Sounds similar to installing the CPU Cooler.
However, despite the help I still didn’t feel safe. What am I going to do between now and when I get the replacement? I won’t be able to use my computer safely if that fan fails, as it’s the only thing keeping my computer from overheating.
And why didn’t I ask Jero for this advice? …Because I felt I was keeping him away from working and I wanted to end the call ASAP, even apologized for doing so. He said it’s alright, but I just felt bad nonetheless. Told him I loved him and ended the call. But also, I actually did forget to ask at the time. I did ask later on that night, but he’s asleep.
So I asked the Microsoft Community Discord for help. I felt the fact I didn’t have
a Windows issue.. they likely won’t help me. Glad I was wrong, as I was suggested to try and dedust the fan, that maybe it’s dirty. Another one suggested to leave the tempered glass side panel off until I get the replacement, as the heat will vent out through the
opening (since heat rises). However they also said by doing so it would “make your inflow fans useless”. ..Hmm.
I have been checking my temps (though Speccy) and everything seems nominal on the motherboard. So, maybe I can try a game, while also keeping a watchful eye on the outflow fan (making sure it’s still spinning).
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UPDATE (December 1st): It’s the next day, and as soon as the fan started spinning the noise happened. This time I grabbed my phone and was able to record the noise, to add further explanation of what’s going on. Managed to stop the sound a second time. Tapping the middle of the fan to slow it down didn’t stop it, but putting my finger in the middle and then quickly moving to the fan blades to hold it a second, then move the fan slightly in reverse, then letting it go, finally stopped it. I waited a bit to make sure the noise wouldn’t come
back (and I could feel air coming out of the case), and it’s been gone since.
Then I sent the video to Jero, and he said the baring inside the fan is “definitely worn
out”. I asked him “would you know how long I have until the fan dies? Would it possibly survive until I get the replacement?” He said “It’ll keep going for a long time, but you’d have to bear with the noise”. …GOOD. That is a major sigh of relief I don’t have to
panic.
Infact, he said I could do without that fan at all. That I can just remove the fan, close the case and my computer will run fine, that the heat will simply rise out of the case. But that is, if my room doesn’t get too hot. He also said I’m fine keeping the side panel open, as the case would “be passively cooled” with the outside air, hence what the person meant about my front intake fans “would be useless”.
Finally, he suggested I get HWMonitor installed and keep checking my temps to make sure everything stays within normal limits.
UPDATE (December 2nd): Last night when Jero went to bed (spent time with him
in VRChat as it’s been awhile), I was using HWMonitor. And I noticed one of my hard drives getting dangerously warm (47C). It seems I have to have the side panel on there afterall.
After putting the panel back on, the temp, somehow, magically dropped 2C. I don’t think airflow works that fast to cool electronics down, but OK. Then I thought “you know, what the hell. I’m curious if Jero’s idea actually works”. Turned off my computer and unplugged it from the UPS, then pressed and held the power button down to discharge everything. Took the side panel back off, unplugged the fan and with one of those multi-bit screwdrivers my father had, I carefully removed the fan from the case. Honestly I thought it was going to be a bit of a challenge trying to find the screws, but they literally screwed the fan to the back of the case (which made it easy for me). The second screw got away from me but thankfully it dropped on the table and I was able to find it.
With the last screw, the fan was about ready to fall right on my GPU… I will NOT let that happen! Managed to grab it.. barely, and very carefully removed it out of the case.
All there was left to do, was to give my parts a good de-dusting. And wow did the dust fly out of the case.. so much I wasn’t using proper protection to keep it out of my eyes, nose and mouth. Ugh, that wasn’t smart of me! But I’ve never heard anyone dying from
dust, so, I believe I’ll be fine.
Now all there’s left is to put the side panel back on, plug it back in, turn it on, and monitor temps like crazy with HWMonitor, because I absolutely have to worry about them until I get this replacement fan. But from what I seen, Jero’s suggestion is working. Temps seem pretty nominal (even without an outflow fan). My three inflow fans are helping to stabilize the temps.
However, this is just the computer on idle. I’m not using it for a game. ..Actually scared to see the temps soar to dangerous levels. But, I did discover the drive that went from 47C, to 45C in a split second. It’s my external drive. That explains a lot.
Also when I went to bed, Kovo was ranting (once again) in Telegram about how
awful GW2 is compared to other games he likes. Yes I know you’re paying me back for me ranting about Destiny 2, but if you want to reverse roles and act like me.. then I can act like you. Anyway, I told him what Jero suggested (that I did), and he said “that sounds right”.
Then he asked me “what about GW2?” I said I’ll be testing the load. Then he said that
the Steam Deck should support it… I wish it did, but according to their store page, they offer ZERO controller support. Let alone Steam Deck support. Then he asked me “do you have the Dock?” I said “yeah, I do”. He said that he heard you could set up your Deck as a laptop through it, and possibly connect your keyboard+mouse through it.
And sure enough, it is possible! Unfortunately the screenshot here, doesn’t show my mouse cursor. But it does work! So does my keyboard! 😁 Now I don’t have to worry about my computer overheating! ..I could play VRChat like this.
The only problem is, I only have one keyboard and one mouse. So I can’t use them on the dock while also typing in a blog post. But, I was able to discover I can, easily swap from my computer to the dock and back when I need to, just by unplugging the USB cables.
…I wonder if I can connect one of my monitors to this. That way I won’t be forced to play on a tiny screen.