Fan Clicking/Grinding - Replacements DONT WORK!

[Matt Elwood]

Hi, pls help I have this CPU fan noise problem thats driving me insane. It started about 2 months ago so i replaced the fan, the new fan then began doing this after a couple of weeks. I have just replaced the fan again and now this clicking noise began instantly. The noise can be heard even when the blades are NOT rotating, yet the sound is deffinatly coming from this one CPU fan. I cannot think what else to try or even what is causing this, any suggestions are appreciated. 

[8-Bit Ninja]

Is the housing the fan sits in damaged? 

[Matt Elwood]

1 minute ago, 8-Bit Ninja said:

Is the housing the fan sits in damaged? 

its actually mounted to the outside of the case so there isn't any housing other than the plastic edge to the fan. Someone suggested i use rubber dampeners between the fan an case to cussion the noise which didnt work either

[OhioYJ]

Wait the noise can be heard even when the blades are not rotating? Are you sure the fan is the problem? A couple thoughts:

• A while back I swore I had a fan that was going bad in one of my PC. Even ordered a replacement. Then even the replacement didn't cure the noise. After investigating further it turned out the hard drive was was mounted with those tool-less sleds, and was loose, causing a clicking noise to resonate through the case. Some foam tape on one side to firm it up stopped the noise.
• Is this fan a DC voltage controlled fan? They will do weird things if you get below their minimum turn on speed, including clicking. Perhaps check your fan curves in the BIOS? Or if it's a PWM fan, just make sure it's set to PWM.

[Brennan Price]

Unplug what you think it is. If the noise still continues, carry on (one at a time) unplugging devices with moving parts until you can determine what it is. As @OhioYJsuggests, it could be a drive that it making the noise. It could also be a water pump, a fan you hadn't considered and anything else. Some of these things should only be unplugged briefly so as to not cause damage. It could take a while though as I'd also recommend turning the machine off to unplug anything. 

 

When you have definitely found what it is, check its surrounding area for any potential to rub/ways for it to not work as intended.