Utt ohh.....do I need a new CPU fan?

[dhoyda]

Alright, I was playing some internet games last night and my processor fan stopped, and then started to tick, like it would move a little bit and stop like it couldn't fully spin. I took off the case, and just tapped it and it spun a little and did it again, so this time I tapped the blades a little harder and then it worked.

Does this mean my CPU fan is dying?

Any recommendations on:

CPU Compound?
New CPU Fan?
and how to get the old one off the cpu?

Thanks

 

[Archangel]

yes... your Fan's bearings are worn out by the sound of it.
is the fan screwed onto the heatsink? because if, you could just replace the Fan with one of similair size, without having to take the heatsink off.

edit: i see in you'r sig you're planning on upgrading to an X2. a very good Fan fould be the Arctic cooling: Freezer 64Pro.
I have the Zalman CNPS9500 atm,. and its truly great too, but more expensive than the freezer
as for thermal compound,.. i can only reccomend the "Zalman ZM-STG1 Thermal Grease". its very easy to apply, and its better than AC5

 

[PC eye]

Artic Silver 5 and now a more expensive liquid Pro are rated the best thermal compounds. The Zalman CNS9500 does a great job here with the plans of either going with the FX60 or Opteron 185. Both are dual cored. As far as the fan that is on there now is that stock or 3rd party?

With the stock hsf you simply take a small flathead screwdriver to ease the retaining clips off of both sides of the heat sink. You will see the three loop holes on both sides of the retaining clip. Once the hsf is completely removed after the initial tug to break the hold of the original compound you wil need to clean all of the old compund off before going to apply a new coat of fresh compound.

For cleaning many use denatured or commonly labeled rubbing alcohol to dissolve the old stuff to some degree and carefully rub or scrape this off. Some use old rags, coffee maker filters, or anything that doesn't give off lint. An old bandana over industrial rags is preferred. Once it smooth and shiny you are ready to apply just enough to have the new compound spread thinly when lowering the new hsf inplace. It helps to apply AS5 in a circular motion in order to stir it a little due to separation of ingredients.