Dell inspiron 531 fans constantly blowing hard

[Vivi]

Well, after, (thinking) that the previous problem with this computer may have been fixed. something new occurred today. As soon as I powered on the computer, the fan i inside began running and blowing very loudly, constantly. Though, when I sign into account, it doesn't take as long as before. I still have SMART enabled in BIOS. but the fan, even right now, is constantly blowing loudly.

Please help.

[diif]

Re: Dell inspiron 531 fans constantly blowing hard

The heatsink/fan hasn't been knocked has it ?
Download speedfan from here http://www.almico.com/speedfan.php run it and see what temperature the cpu is.

[Uranium-235]

Re: Dell inspiron 531 fans constantly blowing hard

heatsink clogged by dust? it might be blowing loudly but is the air coming out fast or slow, and how hot is it?

[Vivi]

Re: Dell inspiron 531 fans constantly blowing hard

heatsink clogged by dust? it might be blowing loudly but is the air coming out fast or slow, and how hot is it?

Its very hot, I keep smelling something like something's burning.

[stj]

Re: Dell inspiron 531 fans constantly blowing hard

if this is the one running slow in the other thread, then we already pointed out that the cpu heatsink is clogged wih dust and the whole machine really needs to be cleaned out.

[Vivi]

Re: Dell inspiron 531 fans constantly blowing hard

My master already cleaned out the computer yesterday, and this happens.

[stj]

Re: Dell inspiron 531 fans constantly blowing hard

post a fresh foto of the cpu area.
either he missed it, or he messed up the fitting of the heatsink somehow.

[TractorGear]

Re: Dell inspiron 531 fans constantly blowing hard

Heat causes system file corruption. Meaning, necessary Windows system files can become corrupt causing any problem imaginable, including freezes, crashes, BSOD's, slowness on boot, etc...

I've also found a connection between overheating and hard drive errors, which can be repaired via the use of "chkdsk".

Also using "msconfig" you can use Selective Startup to disable all non-critical functions. Sometimes you turn off the thing that's broken, as a way of helping to narrow where the problem is, Windows vs. non-Windows.

A speedtest report should tell whether or not your system is still running hot. There are other temperature monitoring and reporting softwares available.

Disconnnect all unnecessary peripheral devices during troubleshooting, such as printers, USB drives etc... as they can cause problems and removing them from the system can rule them out (or in) as a cause of the problems.

[c_hegge]

Re: Dell inspiron 531 fans constantly blowing hard

^
Wrong. A hot running CPU does not cause file system corruption, unless it is shutting off all the time, which does not appear to be the case here.

Another possibility is that he damaged the fan (which could have happened if he windmilled it too fast). I've seen this happen once before to a customer after cleaning a HP pavilion. It turned out that he somehow damaged the fan's PWM circuit, so the fan was not responding the throttle commands from the motherboard. It just needed a new CPU fan.

[stj]

Re: Dell inspiron 531 fans constantly blowing hard

that would be pretty dumb given that you cant really clean the heatsink with the fan in place anyway - the dust cakes into a sheet.

[Vivi]

Re: Dell inspiron 531 fans constantly blowing hard

So its the fan that is broken now? Is it safe to keep running it? Even though I see no problem so far.

[stj]

Re: Dell inspiron 531 fans constantly blowing hard

we didnt say that, we are speculating.
open the case and with the power off, make sure the cpu fan looks normal,
then power it up and make sure it spins o.k.
and take some more foto's

it could just be something stupid like it not being put back properly after cleaning.

[Vivi]

Re: Dell inspiron 531 fans constantly blowing hard

we didnt say that, we are speculating.
open the case and with the power off, make sure the cpu fan looks normal,
then power it up and make sure it spins o.k.
and take some more foto's

it could just be something stupid like it not being put back properly after cleaning.

I have the case opened, but I have no idea what the cpu looks like. I don't see anything spinning, but I could be looking in the wrong place, or not hard enough.

[c_hegge]

Re: Dell inspiron 531 fans constantly blowing hard

You are looking for the CPU fan. The CPU itself is hidden by the fan and heatsink (or radiator).

If it spins normally and isn't clogged with dust, then it should be OK.

As has been suggested earlier, though, you really should install SpeedFan and check the temperatures. That will tell us if it is a problem with the fan or if it is overheating

[Vivi]

Re: Dell inspiron 531 fans constantly blowing hard

You are looking for the CPU fan. The CPU itself is hidden by the fan and heatsink (or radiator).

If it spins normally and isn't clogged with dust, then it should be OK.

As has been suggested earlier, though, you really should install SpeedFan and check the temperatures. That will tell us if it is a problem with the fan or if it is overheating

I'm not sure how to download it, not sure if it wants to buy it first.

[c_hegge]

Re: Dell inspiron 531 fans constantly blowing hard

^
http://www.almico.com/speedfan451.exe
Download and open that file

It's a free program, you don't have to buy anything.

[RJARRRPCGP]

Re: Dell inspiron 531 fans constantly blowing hard

Heat causes system file corruption. Meaning, necessary Windows system files can become corrupt causing any problem imaginable, including freezes, crashes, BSOD's

Very true when overclocking cores and overvolting the Vcore, due to a known phenomenon that rarely, if at all occurs at stock core clocks and stock Vcore.

In addition, there appears to also be a phenomenon where OC'ing the cores to the edge and overvolting the Vcore to an xtreme level causes the processor to be fussy with temps, where it's possible that the core temps going higher than around 50 C causes a crash or error.

[Vivi]

Re: Dell inspiron 531 fans constantly blowing hard

this is what I see:

[c_hegge]

Re: Dell inspiron 531 fans constantly blowing hard

Your temps all look normal. I'd say it's just a problem with the fan not responding the throttle commands (or the motherboard's fan controller not issuing them). As long as you can put up with the noise, it shouldn't be a problem.

EDIT: Just noticed, it looks like the CPU fan is at 1700RPM and the Case fan at 1200RPM. That's not actually all that fast, or even close to full speed. On those Dells it's usually about 3000-3500RPM for the CPU fan and 2000-2500RPM for the case fan.

[Vivi]

Re: Dell inspiron 531 fans constantly blowing hard

Your temps all look normal. I'd say it's just a problem with the fan not responding the throttle commands (or the motherboard's fan controller not issuing them). As long as you can put up with the noise, it shouldn't be a problem.

EDIT: Just noticed, it looks like the CPU fan is at 1700RPM and the Case fan at 1200RPM. That's not actually all that fast, or even close to full speed. On those Dells it's usually about 3000-3500RPM for the CPU fan and 2000-2500RPM for the case fan.

So how do I speed up that fan to get the fastest speed it supposed to have?