computer noises
Our computer has recently started making unhappy grindy fan noises when it starts up. It usually goes away in a few minutes (maybe 2-5 in most cases), but I don't trust it. I opened it up yesterday and narrowed it down to the fan on the graphics card. This is about the limit of my experience to date with this sort of hardware stuff. The computer is about 4 years old. We had the power supply replaced while still under warranty because it developed similar symptoms, but we haven't had any other trouble with it, and it's still doing everything we need it to.
So, um, what does anyone think I should do? Are there usually other symptoms that will come up before the fan actually fails? If the fan fails, will it probably just take out the graphics card, or might it cause more extensive damage? Is this the sort of fix I should try myself, and if not, would it be cheap enough to be worth while on a 4-year old machine?
So, um, what does anyone think I should do? Are there usually other symptoms that will come up before the fan actually fails? If the fan fails, will it probably just take out the graphics card, or might it cause more extensive damage? Is this the sort of fix I should try myself, and if not, would it be cheap enough to be worth while on a 4-year old machine?