please forgive this NOOB!!!

Hi Paul,

I regret I am not qualified to give you any solution other than to phone Dell's technical support so that a warranty claim is registered. This is ultra-important because once the machine is 21 days old you can no longer get a new replacement, only a refurbished version. In this case it is likely they will replace the fan because that's not a software issue.

The reason I'm answering you at all is to warn you NOT to spray it with WD40! Apart from the fact such an action would probably void your guarantee, you should know that WD40 is water-based. It is not a lubricant, it's simply a freeing agent. While it may kiss goodbye the canary, it would be a temporary solution because as it gets hot the noise would reappear. You are treating the symptoms rather than the cause.

As you all probably know popping the side while powered up shuts it all off so I can't LOOK to see exactly where or which fan it is.

Remove side panel and then Power-On the Aurora.

Be very careful while operating and inspecting the PC with the cover off. Don't spray anything on it.

You musta missed that after the WD40 comment....I made it in jest....I'm only old...not dumpf!! And yes WD 40 is more a solvent than a lube.  I just like the way it smells.................  ................... Thank you for the inpunt anyways.  I have done as you suggested

I'm happy to report that my Aurora is now as quiet as a sleeping baby.  After some tips from Chris i popped the side and opened the little saloon door thing that covers the Nvidia cards as it seemed the noise was coming from that general area.  Under the bottom card was a harness with 4 or 5 wires and it had a tag identifying something or other but it had gotten folded up under and into the card and was striking the fan therein.  With the point of a pencil i was able to drag the little tag out of there and VOILA.........SILENCE!!!!  Case closed.  Now hopefully Santa will leave some first person shooter in my stocking so I can slaughter a few thousand people and imagine they are some of the idiots I work with...and NO!  I do not work @ the Post Office............!!  I suppose that's not all that funny.  Deal with it!!   Merry Christmas to all!!  And as Tiny Tim (Cratchet not the musician) was so fond of saying ..."God bless us ...........every one!"

Peace,

Paul

While I hope you are not placed in a position to have to report more problems with your machine Paul, I do hope you will return to bless us with some of your prose. Your wit is superb and your contributions bring a smile to what could otherwise be a rather dark place due to the nature of the beast.

Merry Christmas to you and yours old boy!!

Paul,

unfortunately, incorrect assembly is common with the Auroras. My SLI dual NVidia 460s had the incorrect power cords connected. Also, the cable bundle underneath the lower card was wedged against the fan, causing it to not spin. I had to fix it myself. For the money I paid,I expected better.

Thanks for the kind words.  The closer I get to the end of it the more and more I realize that life is just way too short for all that "dark" you have mentioned.  It's always been said that life is short and I agree but what nobody ever warned me about was that it gains velocity!  Seems every year goes by just a wee bit faster.  What it's not too short for is TOYS!!!  I likes me some toys....and this Aurora is certainly one.....compared to my first 386-25 on which I used to play "Reader Rabbit" with my 4 year old (she's 23 or so now) this Dell is a monster...well there just isn't any comparison, really.  But as far as what you said about "more problems.....From your lips to God's ears, friend.....let the virtual slaughters begin!!!

Peace, Merry Christmas and Feliz Nuevo Ano!! (I'm actually French Canadian but I'm taking a Spanish class)

Paul

Well when checking my FedEx tracking I noticed that this box shipped from El Paso from which I can only draw one conclusion as to where it was assembled.  General Motors, Ford and Chrysler all assemble thousands of their products there too.  Saving on labor costs seem to be a huge huge motivator for all companies these days, like it's the only cost.  Well, the old expression "you get what you pay for" applies to the quality of labor as much as anything else.  We have done our darndest to take the word LABOR right out of our lexicon.  Companies have a department called Human Resources and back when I was just a puppy this was called Labor Relations.  Bear with me here. I'll only be on my soap box for a few more sentences......But excuse me....I am not a railroad car full of iron ore, or a tanker full of crude oil, or a pallate of ply wood.  I'm not a human resource........I'm a human BEING.  And I wont work for a bag of rice and beans.  Will you?  Once ALL the work in the USA is off shore except for tatoo parlors and crack houses (oh and greeters at WalMart - where all the boxes say made ELSEWHERE  ~ you know where, my MacBook Pro shipped via FedEx from Shanghai)...the "you know what" will be so deep we'll be drowning in it.....And Donald Trump has put "YOU'RE FIRED!" into our lexicon..........heavy sigh!  Good luck kids if you are blessed with only an average intellect .....learn a skill!!!!!  Or get used to saying "Welcome to WalMart!"  Learn Mandarin while you're @ it!!!

Rant off.......

Peace,

Paul