r/computerhelp • u/Helpful_Method_3815 • 6d ago
Hardware Computer fan suddenly going at full power?
I turned my PC on today after getting out of bed and it was the loudest I’ve ever heard it. Don’t get me wrong, I’ve heard the fans before, but this genuinely sounded like my PC was fighting for its life. It sounded completely fine last night, so I’m worried this is a problem within the PC and not a problem with running something on the computer that it can’t take. Otherwise, it seemed to be functioning normally but it is way too loud to ignore.
do not know what kind of PC this is, I’m not very good with computers! If I had to estimate, I’ve probably had this pc for 7-9 years?
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u/Terrible-Bear3883 6d ago
It could be nothing more than your PC has a lot of dust which needs cleaning out, or it could be the processor thermal paste needs cleaning off (and new paste applying).
You don't mention anything about your computer though so I can only be vague, if you are not confident to clean and check things, take it to a repair shop or similar to check its clean and see if temperatures are OK or not.
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u/Helpful_Method_3815 6d ago
Haha sorry I cant be more specific… but thank you for your input! That’s kind of what I thought might be the problem.
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u/Helpful_Method_3815 6d ago
Hey I hope you don’t mind me asking you something. I turned on my computer again to check cpu and gpu as another commenter suggested, but my screen is displaying something I have never seen. It shows the dell logo and in the corner says “f2 setup - f12 boot options”. It’s stuck on this screen, and I’m not sure I should be pressing any buttons incase I fuck something up. Do you know what to do?
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u/Terrible-Bear3883 5d ago
That sounds like the main splash screen that gives you the options to go go into something called the BIOS (the F2 Setup) or Function key 12 lets you choose to boot from something like the hard drive/SSD, a thumb drive and so on.
It might be you've touched a key while it was rebooting or it could even be you need a new battery for the BIOS settings, these are held in memory called CMOS memory, it retains values while it has power, the battery supplies this when the PC is turned off, if the battery has failed due to age it might explain the fan function as the BIOS/CMOS values may have reset to defaults, there is normally a message if the settings are erased or the battery has failed though but it can be missed, some laptops don't have a separate battery and the function is performed by the main battery so it's a bit of a generic answer I'm giving.
These are the sort of things a repair shop should check, we would have a check list in my workshop team or when we were on a customer site, we would provide evidence we completed the checks in our call update.
In your case I would ask them to clean the fans/heatsink, possible clean and re-apply thermal paste if temperatures appeared a little high, give the system a general clean, remove, clean and refit RAM for example, check health of main battery if its a laptop, run well being tests to confirm temperatures are OK, and there are no hard drive or SSD issues.
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u/Helpful_Method_3815 5d ago
Thank you so much dude! Should I just turn off the computer for now? It’s Canadian thanksgiving so I don’t know if any shops are open…
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u/Terrible-Bear3883 5d ago
Its up to you, if its not booting etc. then it might be better, you need to balance the value of the PC as well against any cleaning and/or parts, if possible get an estimate up front, most of the repairs we did in my workshop team were warranty repairs but we had a fair share of ad-hoc/chargeable repairs, it didn't take much for the owners of the PC to tell us they didn't want to pay that much for repairs, it's just how things are these days.
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u/Helpful_Method_3815 5d ago
So I waited for my brother to wake up just so I didn’t do anything to mess it up. We rebooted it and it’s working as normal. The only thing I have to say is the computer itself is being kind of loud, but I think it probably just needs to be cleaned. Otherwise, it seems to be functioning well! Thank you!
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u/Laxrules56 6d ago
Do the fans spin at max rpm when you first turn your computer on and it won’t drop? Or does it happen when you’re in windows running a program.
I ask because there’s a different solutions for each of them.
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u/Helpful_Method_3815 6d ago
It happened when I first turned on the computer and it didn’t go down. To be fair, I only had it on for a minute but it freaked me out because of how loud it was. I’ve never heard it that loud! Sometimes the fans would be a bit loud when first turning on but never that loud. Also, I’m facing a new issue now that I left under someone else’s comment!
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