1 Rookie
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8 Posts
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1013
July 6th, 2022 14:00
"Revving" CPU fan
I have been trying to call the 800-number for out-of-warranty service calls but so far, it is not responding ("technical difficulties"). Perhaps someone at the forum can help steer me in the right direction. The question I wish to post is a simple one: Will it be possible to replace my current CPU fan with a compatible, albeit updated, fan? I have learned that Dell computers do not accept third-party components or hardware, so that greatly limits the field in which I must conduct my search for a Dell fan that is compatible with a model this old. I am willing to consider the fee that the out-of-warranty service techies require to respond to my inquiry, as long as it's within my tightly managed budget.
But so far, it looks like that service is out to pasture.
Sheesh. What does it take to get my computer back to near-perfect operation again?
CartoonMan, longtime Dell User
redxps630
9 Legend
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14.6K Posts
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July 6th, 2022 18:00
Re: Will it be possible to replace my current CPU fan with a compatible, albeit updated, fan?
you did not say which inspiron desktop model you have? If I guess one possibel old inspiron could be 530 (LGA775 socket) or 620 (LGA1155 socket). you can update the cpu fan to a newer model inspiron cpu fan. but before you do that, consider what makes your current fan loud.
if system is still working, then it could be you have poor thermal contact btn heatsink and cpu. try repasting cpu after cleaning old paste. also check for chassis internal dust rabbit blocking air flow.
if system does not POST (which did not sound like it, since you want to optimize but not rescue a PC), then loud fan can be caused no POST issue separate from the fan.
RoHe
10 Elder
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45.2K Posts
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July 7th, 2022 11:00
What's wrong with the existing CPU fan? Not working, failed the diagnostics fan tests, PC overheating?
If PC is overheating, you might need to remove the fan+heat sink, gently clean the surfaces, apply a thin layer of fresh thermal paste, and reassemble...
Have you searched these forums to see if anyone has posted about installing a non-Dell fan in your exact PC model?
The problem isn't that a non-Dell fan won't work, but you'll get a fan failure error at every boot because BIOS won't be able to see a non-Dell fan and can't control its speed, so it reports an error. But all you'd have to do is press F1 to continue the POST and boot.
RoHe
10 Elder
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45.2K Posts
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July 11th, 2022 17:00
And we're sure it's the CPU fan, not the case (aka: chassis) fan?
Sometimes a corrupted video card drive can cause the CPU fan to sound like a 747 taking off. So you might want to uninstall/reinstall the video driver. Manually set a System Restore point first, to be safe.
If you're talking about this offer for the CPU heat sink + fan, "660" is a different Inspiron model, unrelated to your Inspiron 3847. Read that ad this way: Dell XPS 8700, 8300, 8500, Inspiron 660, 3847. The CPU's "i #" shouldn't matter.
The specs for your Inspiron 3847 say it has: WN7GG ASSY, HTSNK, FAN, 65W, MNTW/SLTW which is one of the Dell P/N's mentioned in both those offers. There's another offer for it here too. So it appears both WN7GG and WDRTF P/Ns are compatible with your Inspiron 3847, but confirm that for yourself...
Wherever you order it, confirm if new/used/refurbished, warranty, shipping costs, etc.
CartoonMan
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8 Posts
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July 11th, 2022 14:00
Hello, Ron, and Happy Summer:
Thank you for your timely response to my post. I hope that you will forgive me for uttering the following aside but when I realized that you had responded to one of my earlier posts, I thought: Ah, ha! This is the guy who scolded me for (inadvertently) posting my computer information on a public forum! Of course, you were right, a lesson learned, and I appreciate the concern.
I also realized from reading your reply that I hadn’t been as explicit as I should have been. The problem with my CPU fan is not the issue you addressed in your reply, although there are similarities. So please allow me to state my case in a clearer voice.
The suggestions you made were welcome, as always, but as far as the issue that I have presented goes, it was more a matter of been there, done that.
Your suggestions were part of a long checklist that I had already compiled over the months I’ve been experiencing this problem and that have since been crossed off. So, nothing new. No solution yet. If it doesn’t work, onward to the next item.
As I have posted on this forum, the “revving” of my CPU fan begins as soon as I turn on my machine when the inside of the tower is ostensibly “cold.” The “revving” is presumably sparked by overheating, but if that is the case then what’s causing the overheating?
Although the fan “revs” throughout the POST and into the startup, it otherwise doesn’t hamper the operation of my computer. I am still able to write passages to the novel I hope to publish one day and read and answer my e-mail. I am also able to perform occasional system maintenance—hardware and software checks on the Dell website—on my machine, both of which usually indicate a computer that is in good shape. In addition, I keep tabs on the heat level with an ingenious tool, Speccy. I have been working with computers of this type for over 40 years, so I have a fair idea of what I am doing.
So, you may wonder, how am I able to work through the loud and insistent rapid revolutions of the fan? Well, a good pair of drugstore ear plugs helps.
After consulting a few online advisory articles and viewing various demonstration tutorials, I ordered a tube of thermal paste and reapplied it to my fan. Prior to that, I had cleaned both the surface of the CPU and the back of the fan with rubbing alcohol and 2-ply paper towels. I gave the heat sink a good air hosing to clear it of any lurking dust balls and scraped off the factory-applied paste with a plastic toothpick (the stuff was as dry as a stale cracker). It took a while to accomplish this task but when I was done, both were as smooth as a newborn baby’s bottom.
However, withal, it did not do the trick.
The reapplied fresh paste did not stop the “revving”, but it did reduce its duration—from ad infinitum to between 13 to 15 minutes. After that, I can cautiously take the ear plugs out and do my work.
Which brings us back to my original premise: the possibility that I may have to replace the fan.
As you well know, Dell no longer makes available the CPU fan my computer model came with when I purchased it eight years ago. I came across a fan on sale at an online warehouse that is compatible with my computer model, but it is a series “660.” The series has an i7 core processor, I believe, which begs the question: will that fan adapt to my machine with its i3 core processor?
The “revving” has stopped. Back to writing that novel.
CartoonMan, longtime Dell User