17 R4, VGA fan making weird noise

Question

Hello, I have an Alienware 17 R4 laptop and recently its fan started making a weird noise. Its kind of loud so it makes the experience unpleasant, and there is something wrong, because it wasn't making that sound before.

I have run the diagnostics and here are the results: https://streamable.com/gpjarv

On the video you can clearly hear the difference between the CPU and VGA Fans. And although the tests show that everything is OK, you can hear that the VGA fan sounds odd.

What is wrong with my VGA fan?

A51-06 · Accepted Answer

@Maramax, Its sad to say but your FAN has officially died. Try doing the test one more time but if it still doesn't spin then you need a replacement.

A51-06 · Answer

Clean the fan itself and then see if it makes the same noise. Make sure the fan is properly seated in place. I also would recommend telling me what the speeds were for the GPU fan compared to the CPU fan.

AWX17 · Answer

It's an old trick, but one way to determine if the fan-bearings are worn out, just try tilting the machine side-to-side and forward-backward.  A loose, worn out bearing will cause the fan to really vibrate, even squeel (out of balance). Fans are usually pretty straight forward to replace.

Maramax · Answer

I removed the back paned from the laptop and used air-flow machine to clean some dust, but its still making the noise. The speed was like this:  https://ibb.co/34yQ3zk https://ibb.co/41Gy7Jz

A51-06 · Answer

I agree with @AWX17 over here about the bearings because I can clearly see that the speeds are perfectly fine as mines go about the same. But its probably a bearing issue and I think you can oil the bearing too? I just would wait for AWX17 to reply back to get more help.

Maramax · Answer

I tilted the laptop side to side and upside-down, but the sound did not change. Perhaps I need to take it to the workshop.

AWX17 · Answer

Just make sure it doesn't run/overheat causing permanent damage.
One person here did and burnt his motherboard. Literally.
Yes, if you are uncomfortable opening it up to determine which fan it is, you may want to take it to the shop. If you do open it up, one of the fans will be loose on it's spindle, I would expect.
...I am assuming you have an SSD, that this is NOT an old mechanical hard drive about to fail. I recently seen one of those as well.

Maramax · Answer

UPDATE:  My VGA fan went silent today. I have done another test and this is the result: https://ibb.co/x2Tmwbz

Maramax · Answer

hey, my fan stopped working today, what do i do now?  https://ibb.co/x2Tmwbz

A51-06 · Answer

Yes you can go ahead and do that. set the PC in power saving mode and hold FN+F7 I think? to switch from NVIDIA Graphics to Intel Integrated Graphics. so the GPU wont get hot.

Maramax · Answer

yeah it doesn't spin. can i continue using this laptop for now? i will replace the fan later, but i should avoid gaming for now?

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17 R4, VGA fan making weird noise

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