GTX 970 Asus Strix - One Broken Fan?

[Treiskaideka]

I recently noticed a very loud noise from my GPU after a couple hours of gaming. I quickly changed the fan percentage in GPU Tweak manually and noticed a very loud, kind of lawn mower noise from the GPU fans. 
Like this: 
 

I got scared, quickly turned off my PC and opened it up, removing the GPU. My first thought was some kind of obstruction. I couldn't see anything, put it back and when starting it up again, even at high fan settings it sounded normal and as before. 

I set a slightly warmer but less fan demanding fan curve and continued on. 

Until yesterday. Playing with some friends, it started doing the noise again. I turned off the computer, turned off the power completely and restarted. Seemed to fix it. I went to bed not much later. 

Then today, after half an hour of Kingdom Come, it started the noise again. 
I put up GPU Tweak and Open Hardware monitor, set it to a low setting and let it run. Initially OHM reported around 900 rpm, then the noise started to get louder and as it got louder, the reported RPM dropped up until 200 ish, when i turned the fans off. Upon opening the side panel and manually stopping the fans by hand for a short while, i determined that only the right fan makes those noises. 


My first solution idea was to unplug the fan, unfortunately the right fan is hardwired (i think) to the splitter of both fans ( yellow arrow) so the only solution would be to cut it off. 

 

But, since it's saturday evening and I really don't want to do anything irreversible without a good plan, I refrained from that. 

Basically, I need 2 Solutions: A long term one (replacing the fan somehow) and a short term one (being able to use it without getting deaf for the evening) 

As a short term, reversible solution, i taped up the right fan to stop it from spinning, relying only on the left fan. 

This is currently working (i have okay temperatures in browsing, with the side panel still removed, the right fan is not moving an inch)

Now, my current pressing question is, Does this obstruction damage the card itself? Or maybe just the fan? 

Also, what would an acceptable temperature under load and in idle be, so i have a goal to aim at.  

Then for the long term solution: 
I want to get a 4 pin case fan to strap (zip tie) onto the shroud, over the broken fan (header cha_fan3 is nearby on the motherboard). 
What kind of fan should I get ? (I am partial to beQuiet and would like to use it as an additonal case fan once I actually get a new GPU) 
Should i remove the broken fan ( 4 or 5 screws) and snip it off when putting the new fan over it? or could the blades potentially help the air flow ?
Do I really need to cut of the broken fan? 
How do I best regulate that additional fan when plugged in as case fan.


Other noteworthy things:

• Fans on GPU only spin when GPU Fan duty is 34% or higher. This has been for at least a year (maybe since I got it)
• Now with the right fan obstructed, open Hardware Monitor reports 0 RPM
• I really want to avoid buying a new GPU until the new nVidia gen
• Lowering the GPU boost clock in GPU Tweak seems to do nothing, as it still boosts higher under load
• I used normal, not electrical tape, since it sticks better
• The first time it happend the GPU was 2 years and like 5 days old. 

 

And lastly, what do you think is actually broken with the fan? When spinning with hand, it felt less "snappy" than the good one, as if the magnets are weaker? 

Thank you for your help  

[emosun]

4 minutes ago, Treiskaideka said:

And lastly, what do you think is actually broken with the fan?

graphics cards to day are cheaply built with flimsy coolers and cheap junk fans , you never saw this kind of cheapness on expensive high end gpu fans 10 years ago.

just replace the cooler with a different one with working fans there's plenty of used coolers and brokens card to choose from on ebay. no need to make a project out of it.

[Treiskaideka]

2 minutes ago, emosun said:

just replace the cooler with a different one with working fans there's plenty of used coolers and brokens card to choose from on ebay. no need to make a project out of it.

I don't think i can change the cooler without taking of the whole heatsink. Which I would like to avoid. 
Just buying a fan that I can later use seems to be the cheaper alternative, especially since there are a ton of uncertainties with ebay (I could buy a whole new Heatsink with fan for 50€ ) and if i try to get a good deal, it'll probably take a while. 

[meenmeen1103]

Sounds like a normal worn out bearing. Taping the fan down probably isn't the best idea, it's still drawing power (the most it can actually since current draw peaks at startup) and while it doesn't matter if the fan itself overheats, the mosfet powering the fans is also under unnecessary load. You can try disconnecting just the problematic fan, there's a separate connector for it right here

[SimplyChunk]

just search for strix 970 replacement fan on ebay and this will come up.  It's not too hard to replace a busted fan

 

 

[Treiskaideka]

3 minutes ago, meenmeen1103 said:

Sounds like a normal worn out bearing. Taping the fan down probably isn't the best idea, it's still drawing power (the most it can actually since current draw peaks at startup) and while it doesn't matter if the fan itself overheats, the mosfet powering the fans is also under unnecessary load. You can try disconnecting just the problematic fan, there's a separate connector for it right here

Sorry, i forgot to mention, that is the connector to the left (good) fan. the right one splits up right under a bit of shrink wrap, so probably soldered on. No connector there. 
I wish it was the left one. 
Thus replacing the fan would also take soldering (which would be possible but very tricky )

[Treiskaideka]

4 minutes ago, YouSirAreADudeSir said:

just search for strix 970 replacement fan on ebay and this will come up.  It's not too hard to replace a busted fan

 

 

That's still as expensive as a case fan, would require soldering, and take at least a month to ship (I live in Germany btw)

[meenmeen1103]

1 minute ago, Treiskaideka said:

Sorry, i forgot to mention, that is the connector to the left (good) fan. the right one splits up right under a bit of shrink wrap, so probably soldered on. No connector there. 
I wish it was the left one. 

Ahh right you are. Well since that particular fan is toast anyway, see where the wires are laying flat right under the fan blades? You could use a narrow knife or razor (like an xacto) to cut at least the black ground wire

[SimplyChunk]

3 hours ago, Treiskaideka said:

That's still as expensive as a case fan, would require soldering, and take at least a month to ship (I live in Germany btw)

Ok, I'll wish you luck