Greetings All! This is my first post in this hardware forum. I've been a PC DIYer off and on for years, mostly ON when the economy mandates a low-cost solution. If ever an economy mandated a low-cost solution this is it. My current problem which I hope to resolve myself is a tiny (about 1" square) fan mounted to one of the APG chipsets (it's screwed into the cooling fins) on one of my motherboards (SOYO DRAGON Plus! VIA KT266A ATX). The blasted thing started making a mighty racket (for such a small fan) in the last few months. Two months ago I dismounted it, cleaned it, and gave it an ever-so-light touch of WD-40 before remounting it. It was quiet until this week when it started making a racket again. I have the Mother Board manual and all the specs and the odd thing is that the fan doesn’t show up in any of the MB photos or MB diagrams or anywhere else in the manual – it is never even referenced. This computer was purchased in early 2002 as a (then) cutting edge gaming machine. It is no longer used for gaming and although I am using the AGP port (NVIDEA GeForce FX 5200 128 MB) it’s not getting much exercise: the most high end graphics I ever use it for is browsing the Web. For the most part the computer is now used for email, personal accounting, word processing, small spreadsheets. I've also beefed up the storage subsystems and use the machine as a backup data storage device for my other computers. When I had the fan off I tried to find some identifying markings – there is only an alpha-numeric stamp, very faint, very small. If I wanted to replace it I’m not sure how I would even identify it to a vendor. So, my question for the forum is one of advice: given that the fan is not referenced in the manual and that it undoubtedly does not provide much cooling the way it’s now operating is there any reason why I shouldn’t just disconnect it? I don’t want my graphics subsystem to suddenly start cooking off rounds at me but I can also see that finding a replacement for that goofy little fan will probably be a hassle. Any thoughts you might have will be greatly appreciated. If you need more information I’m eager to supply it. Best regards, Dennis
Hi, You could always leave it off, the if you get any problems you know its required or when you do have if off, see how hot it is with your finger!
Oh Well...I guess it wasn't put there in the first place for a good reason?...Like it was not needed. You never know the long term effects of not using it. Is there something wrong with taking the fan to your local computer shop to see if you can replace it? If you can it might cost you all of $20.00
Greetings Net Jockey! Thanks for trying to be helpful - unfortunately the sarcasm in your message belied any helpfulness you may have intended. It’s always amusing to me how some individuals feel it necessary to reinforce what they think is their superior knowledge by copping an attitude. Such behavior is seldom called for, but all too often seen. Would you believe that I was concerned about the long term effects. Contrary what your tone implied, I’m not an idiot. Anyway, since I live in a rural area I avoided the cost of gas for a round-trip (50 miles) to my local repair store by calling TigerDirect and describing the fan to a sales rep. He quickly identified it as a 40mm chipset cooling fan and recommended the Cooler Master Blue ICE Chipset Cooler with LED Fan - $6.99. The fan came mounted on its own heat sink – meaning that if I wanted to replace the old heat sink I’d have to pull the MB - the release pins are on the bottom side. No problem though, because the new fan was mounted on the new heat sink in the same way as the old assembly, it was screwed in between the heat sink fins. I simply dismounted the new fan from the new heat sink and screwed it onto the old heat sink. Problem Solved! Cost: $6.99 plus shipping (and the shipping was less than the cost of the gasoline for the trip to town). (FUN NOTE: I frequently order from TigerDirect and I always select the standard (cheapest) 3-5 day shipping. I always receive the order in 3 days – and this was no exception. TigerDirect (to steal a phrase often used by my grandchildren) RULES! Have a great day! Dennis
