Advise Needed Chipset Fan

[Melody]

Hi Guys,

Could use a little help/advise here...

Last week a computer I had 'built' indicated that the chip fan failed or wasn't fast enough...via a dos message

Well we had a couple of guys come out, first one said oh no problem you can run that way for months etc..... he turned out to be a flakey business type so not sure I trust his judgement...

Second guy OH nope do not run it that way, he replaced the cpu fan, and cleaned the little fan on top of the chip and got it running again...woohoo....well that lasted about a week...

Today Melissa goes in the computer is off, the warning comes up again via dos message, she looks inside the other two fans are running however the little one on top isn't and she touches it very hot...

We take it down the street..guy calls he can't replace the little fan no vendor has just that part....the motherboard is something I believe he said Aces amd 64 dual core..if that makes sense naturally I don't have the computer to see any of that.

He said I can run it, it will start to show various other messages or slow down...and the board replaced later...(uh I'm not crazy about that thing breaking during a sales presentation) IF he replaces the motherboard with something different I could lose data..

So which would you do replace the board now? Is it safe to use even for a few days without that fan operating? And if I do replace that motherboard any recommendations on which one to get??

I was quoted $120 for a board (need to verify type) and $150 to install it...is that reasonable?

Thanks for any input.


Melody

(If I didn't have one program we absolutely love I'd be so completely MAC in that studio!)

[Melody]

While I'm waiting I just did a quick google (think thats my favorite past time sheesh) anyway most say not to run or for a short time anyway.

The other thing I've read is that most agree to go to a heatsink gizmo instead of those little fans...do you agree with that??

If I'm replacing I don't want to deal with this again or have better odds anyway.

Melody

[Swampy]

The board is probably and "Asus" motherboard.

Keep in mind, if they don't replace it with the same motherboard, Windows XP will most likely not like it and or require a new registration key. I don't see any reason why you should replace the motherboard since everything is working except a darn 5 dollar fan.

There should be a heatsink on it already, with the fan sitting on top of it. Just like the CPU, only smaller.

Do you know what model it is exactly?

Just like the CPU fan, the motherboard will need to be removed to replace the fan... :(

Here's a heatsink without fan solution for an example...
http://www.allstarshop.com/shop/product.asp?pid=8558&sid=NXGE2Q0BCHKU8GA7E2532ULUXL8B86NF

Simple to change out, but painful because you have to remove the motherboard to do it.

The local shop should only charge you 50-75 bucks if that, plus the cost of the part.

[Auminer]

Guess I need to upgrade MB's, 'cause I've never had to remove it to replace the fan and or heatsink on my Asus. New things seem to get harder to fix...just like cars/trucks. :doh:

Asus A7N8X Deluxe

[Melody]

Don't know Dave, I just love my life lately..sheesh

As I said above they can't locate the little fan itself from vendors as I had it taken in with instructions to do ONLY that. Quote to replace the fan/install was $55.00 however if you can't get the part, that can't be done.

Guy was nice enough he isn't trying to sell a new motherboard however I can't have it breaking down during a client presentation, so thus my question can I really run the computer without it, or which board should I replace it with?

btw...yes he did disclose issues of installing a different board all of our data and programs are backed up.

I'd give the exactly model number however as I said I don't have it currently.

Melody

[Swampy]

Don't know Dave, I just love my life lately..sheesh

As I said above they can't locate the little fan itself from vendors as I had it taken in with instructions to do ONLY that. Quote to replace the fan/install was $55.00 however if you can't get the part, that can't be done.

Guy was nice enough he isn't trying to sell a new motherboard however I can't have it breaking down during a client presentation, so thus my question can I really run the computer without it, or which board should I replace it with?

btw...yes he did disclose issues of installing a different board all of our data and programs are backed up.

I'd give the exactly model number however as I said I don't have it currently.

Melody

Fans are fans more or less. There's noisy and quiet and that's about it. They all fail over time due to dust and junk getting into them. Who ever oiled it, should be shot. The oil could spread and short out the board over time, but it will also collect more dust and hold it.

One thing that I've done to revive a fan is a can of air. With the computer off, you need to hold the fan blades so they don't spin and give it a good blow underneath the blades (and the blades themselves of course). You need to prevent the blades from spinning when you use canned air however or you could make the fan spin hard enough to blow the bearings out and really kill the fan. If that first guy tried to oil the fan, the canned air probably won't do much though too.

If they guy will do it for 55 bucks, show him that heat sink above and ask him if he can install that for you. It's a simple thing where as a new mother board, usually a different kind all together means, like you mentioned, backing up all data, re-installing XP or whatever and re-installing all programs (which will all then need re-configuring to your taste too).

The question about running without a fan, if the heatsink was designed to cool properly without a fan, then yes, but since it has a fan on it, it was designed to run with a working fan. So running it with a fan that's failed is not good and while I would say it's not all that bad to use it for personal reasons like web browsing or so forth, I wouldn't use it for a client presentation.

[Melody]

Thanks for the possible suggestion, I'll have Melissa print out that page and take it down to the computer repair place in the morning.

As far as the second guy oiling something if I said that somewhere and I don't see it here, I was mistaken, Melissa verified he used canned air, his concern is that the bearings are going or something. He did call and ask us to verify the exact model number so that he can see if he can find the replacement fan however felt with the two other fans in there currently we would probably be ok but he wants to do further reserach before he says its ok.

I didn't have time to deal with this later this afternoon I had to rush home and deal with the pool guy... I get to deal with both of them tomorrow gee I can't wait.

Melody