Is this a big deal?

October 3, 2011 3:08 PM

I replaced my graphics card and power supply and nothing blew up! Hurray! I mistakenly loosened one of the screws on the fan to my heat-sink and now there's a distinct rattling coming from it. Boo! How big of a deal is this, and what's the best way to fix it?

I was replacing the power supply and thought I might have to shift the heat-sink fan casing to do so. I unscrewed one of the screws before realizing that I didn't need to, and this was a very terrible idea. I tried screwing it back it, but I'm not sure if I stripped it, or if I'm just not applying enough force, but it wouldn't bite into the grooves.

Now there's a rattling coming from the fan (I'm pretty sure, anyway, the vibrations on the fan casing match up with the sounds coming from it). Everything is working alright, and the case isn't burning up with excess heat. Should I risk damaging my board by applying enough pressure to re-screw the heat-sink, or is this not a huge deal outside of the noise?

posted by codacorolla to Computers & Internet (11 answers total)

Buy a new screw.
posted by The Master and Margarita Mix at 3:11 PM on October 3, 2011 [1 favorite]

Which heat sink? The one on your CPU or the one on the Graphics Card?

Just thinking that the CPU heat sink shouldn't have screws, but little pluggy and twisty things..

Either way, if it's definitely a screw, The Master is right. Buy a new screw of the same size. But also see whether you can get one of ever so slightly greater width (guage? 6.20am.. words..) and the same length, in case the first doesn't work.

Alternatively, you might try the tiniest dab of superglue.
posted by Ahab at 3:24 PM on October 3, 2011

Just a guess, but did you remove the screw that holds the fan inside the power supply? If so, those often don't screw back in because all that holds them in place is the screw itself. You might need to pull on the fan while you screw it back in. You could use a twisty-tie, or just gravity, to get the fan to rest into the threads.
posted by thewumpusisdead at 3:30 PM on October 3, 2011

Response by poster: Just a guess, but did you remove the screw that holds the fan inside the power supply? If so, those often don't screw back in because all that holds them in place is the screw itself. You might need to pull on the fan while you screw it back in. You could use a twisty-tie, or just gravity, to get the fan to rest into the threads.

Yeah, this is what I'm talking about. I don't think the initial question was quite clear enough in description.

Is it going to be dangerous for the computer if I let it ride for a little bit, or should I fix this as soon as possible.
posted by codacorolla at 4:30 PM on October 3, 2011

if you open up your power supply to reattach the fan, DON'T TOUCH ANYTHING BUT THE FAN. those capacitors hold a lot of energy that would love for you to ground it. you don't have to be so paranoid as to not fix the fan, just be careful. in the meantime your computer will be fine, power supplies aren't as affected by heat as a CPU is and your computer will not die.
posted by Mach5 at 4:51 PM on October 3, 2011

As long as the fan is still spinning, your power supply isn't in any danger.
posted by The Great Big Mulp at 4:52 PM on October 3, 2011

Response by poster: Oh, crapy, I mistyped again. It is the fan over the CPU. So then I should fix that as soon as possible?
posted by codacorolla at 5:02 PM on October 3, 2011

Can you take a pic of the fan in question. and where the screw was that you took out?
posted by schmod at 5:18 PM on October 3, 2011

3 screws should be plenty to hold the fan on. Remove the screw and see if the rattling goes away. If you are lucky everything will be quiet. If not you may get a vibration from the fan that may require the 4th screw to stop the vibration.
posted by troll on a pony at 5:37 PM on October 3, 2011

It's also possible that one of the cables in your computer could be sitting on top of the fan -- this makes a lot of noise, can happen pretty easily, and should be taken care of right away.
posted by The Great Big Mulp at 7:54 PM on October 3, 2011

Best answer: Having removed one of four screws, it's possible that the remaining three are exerting enough pressure to tilt the heatsink/fan assembly. This can break the contact between the heat sink and the CPU leading to eventual overheating, and could make it difficult to re-thread thread the screw you removed. You might consider loosening (removing is probably not necessary) the remaining three screws incrementally, and then trying to rethread your screw, assuming it's not stripped. If you're able to get the screw rethreaded, I suggest tightening the screws in an X pattern, and only a few turns at a time.

As for the risk of not addressing this immediately, it depends on whether the sound you're hearing is simply a vibration from two not-quite-touching pieces or whether the noise is symptomatic of the fact that your heatsink/fan may no longer properly be in contact with the CPU's head spreader (the metal piece that covers up the circuitry of the CPU). If it's the former, you can continue ad infinitum with no real concern other than your own sanity from the noise. If it's the latter, you risk damage to the CPU from overheating. This is probably more likely to take the form of shortened lifespan rather than imminent catastrophic failure, since the heat sink is still in place but may have shifted or lost some of its contact.

You mention that "the case isn't burning up with excess heat"; have you used a utility (possibly accessed via your BIOS/UEFI screen or a program like Speedfan) to measure the temperature of the CPU, or is this just based on how hot the air exhausted from the case feels? I'd suggest trying to get an accurate reading of the CPU's temp this way to compare with the normal operating temperature range for your CPU.
posted by EKStickland at 10:10 PM on October 3, 2011