PC Fan Making Rattling Noise: A Guide on How To Solve It

A PC fan making rattling noise can mean a lot of factors that can go wrong. This article explores the environment that causes those factors to produce that noise. We will also look at how those factors can be prevented with potential solutions to enable a smooth working or gaming experience for you.

This article will go into detail and explain all you need to know about the production of a rattling noise by the fan of your PC by developing a deep understanding of the issue.

Why Is Your PC Fan Making Rattling Noise?

The fan of the PC is making a rattling noise due to various reasons:

• Thick layers of dust and dirt or mechanical defects. 
• An increased temperature of the CPU
• The loose connections between the CPU and the fan. 
• If the PC is placed on an uneven surface
• The speed of that fan is too high. 
• Demanding applications can result in the PC fan rattling noise. 

– Thick Layers of Dust and Dirt

The collection of dust and dirt is one of the primary reasons for the noise coming from a PC. In most cases, there is a thick layer of various particles that are settled around the blades of a rattling fan after a considerable time has passed. 

This can become a threat to the spinning mechanism of those blades as their movement is disrupted because of these particles. This disruption is one of the causes of the recurring noise and should be considered as a signal to clean the PC and unblock the movement.

– Mechanical Defects in the Fan

There can be certain mechanical defects as well that can become a problem for the fan and can lead to recurring noise. These defects can be the result of constant wear and tear of the fan at a certain time. 

In some serious cases, a CPU fan running with mechanical defects may eventually stop spinning and harm the entire system leading to constant damage.

– Increased Temperatures of the CPU

An exhaustive and demanding performance of the CPU for a long time can cause overheating that may subsequently lead to an increase in its temperatures. 

This increase impacts the performance in different ways like crashing the running programs, freezing the screen, and even producing weird noises like rattling.

– Loose Connections Between the Fan and the PC

Although very rarely, a fan can make the grinding noise due to its weak connection of loose screws with the casing of the PC if there is nothing else wrong. 

They can be loosely connected as a result of their mounts not being attached firmly. The attachment may also not be firm due to constant wear and tear over a considerable period.

– PC Placed on an Uneven Surface

The placement of your computer on an asymmetrical or irregular surface, especially the PC tower, can also cause its fan to produce that noise. 

The body of the internal parts of that fan can get bent due to the constant placement in that position. In this way, the fan may struggle with regular work and movements for a smooth operation and even produce that noise.

– Increased Speed of the Fan

The speed of a fan is not inversely proportional to the total amount of internal heat generated and temperature. It means that deliberately increasing the speed does not ensure a decrease in heat generation and temperature. 

However, it can contribute to the production of disturbing noises as it is not running at the optimum speed anymore, and its rotation per minute is far from normal.

– Certain Demanding Applications Burning Out the PC

A concurrent running time of different demanding applications can burn out your PC as it can get overheated due to the intensive consumption of system resources. 

In this way, they burden the ventilation of the coolant system with the fan and even cause an imbalance in the amount of generated heat. With this, the fan can get damaged badly and produce a rattling sound. 

These are all the internal and external problems that have the potential to cause that noise.

How To Fix the Rattling Noise Made by the PC Fan?

To fix the rattling noise coming from the PC, follow the steps below:

• Cutting down the PC when not in use.
• Cleaning out the collection of dust and dirt.
• Checking the current temperatures in the CPU.
• Lowering the speed of the fan.
• Closing demanding applications running in the system.
• Ensuring surface evenness and tightening connections.
• Replacement of a new fan with the noisy one.

– Shutting Down the PC When Not in Use

One of the first solutions that should be tried against the noise involves shutting down the PC when it has a minimum usage. In its minimum usage, the fans of a PC spin to no avail and cause an unnecessary generation of additional heat. Its dissipation can be ensured by an additional effort of the fan that is already gathering dust. 

In this way, a modern PC can also increase CPU temperatures due to the intense loads, especially from background applications running. Therefore, it is recommended that a PC is shut down if it is not being actively used so that the unnecessary spinning of its fan and production of the noise can be prevented.

– Cleaning Out the Collection of Dust and Dirt

Another primary solution for the noise from the fan should be cleaning out the potential dust and dirt collected on its rotor and blades. This collection is usually a stepping stone for the fan to start having other issues as well that can affect the entire system. 

To clean it out, you first have to unlock it from the casing of the CPU and then scrub it. After this, you have to use a USB vacuum cleaner to cleanse it properly and then place it in its original location in the CPU. In the end, you can switch on your PC to ensure if its fan has stopped making the noise.

– Checking the Current Temperatures in the CPU

Overheating is also a major contributor to the production of fan noise, therefore the temperatures of your CPU are important values. They must not be excessively high to ensure a smooth movement of the fan so that the noise is not caused by their increase.

Check the below-listed steps to decrease the temperature of your CPU:

• First, you have to visit the Start menu and select the gear icon present on the left so that a new window named “System Settings” is opened. 
• In that window, you have to click on the “Update and Security” option and then select the “Recovery” option present on the left panel. 
• After this, you can choose the “Restart Now” option present within the window named “Advanced Startup” so that a blue window opens with the “Choose an Option” button.
• With this, you can first select the “Troubleshoot” option, followed by Advanced Options, then UEFI Firmware Settings, and finally the “Restart” option.

These respective options redirect you to the BIOS menu, where you have to find the Hardware Monitor, which can be named PC Health, H/W Monitor, or Status. These names vary from model to model, where you have to decrease the temperatures that may either be seen in Celsius or Fahrenheit. Keep in mind that temperatures around 104°F – 122°F (40°C-50°C) for an idle PC and below 176°F (80°C) for a running PC are considered normal. Any anomalies in these temperatures can lead to irregularities in the system and even cause overheating to produce the noise.

– Lowering the Speed of the Fan

An intensely high fan speed is never beneficial regardless of the temperature. Therefore, it has to be lowered whenever it is suspected of creating that noise. Check the step-by-step procedure below to lower the speed:

The above-mentioned procedure (lowering the CPU temperature) is to be followed to lower the speed of the fan as well until the selection of the “Hardware Monitor” option. After that, you have to choose the “Fan Speed Control” option and locate the “RPM Settings” button. 

There, the numbers can be reduced to lower the speed of the fan, and you can click the “Enter” button after reaching the required value. Finally, you have to select the “Esc” key so that you can come back from the BIOS menu.

– Closing Demanding Applications Running in Your System

The demanding applications running in your system have to be managed wisely. Their exhaustive consumption of processing and strain on the CPU can cause its fan to rattle. 

You first have to hit the Start menu to open the Task Manager, or you can simultaneously press the Shift, Esc, and Ctrl keys from your keyboard. Then, you have to select the “Processes” option, where you can see a list of all the currently active applications. You can right-click on the ones that are not currently required and are also heavily consuming the system resources. 

Finally, you can click the “End Task” button with which they are closed, and further consumption from them is prevented. In many cases, the closure of demanding applications is proven to be a reliable solution for noise issues from the fan.

– Ensuring Surface Evenness and Tightening Connections

Your PC should be placed on a flat surface, including connections and hardware, to set its orientation in a way that its components are far from each other. In this way, you can ensure that they do not come in contact due to their wrong placement in the path of others. Similarly, the fan must also not come near other components with an ideal placement on either a floor or table. You must also ensure that your PC is ideally placed in the middle of a room and away from walls. 

With this, vibrations are not transferred from the fan to the walls, so they cannot pull the compressed air away from its circulation around the PC. In this way, its temperature remains within the normal range and eliminates the risk of overheating and the production of that noise. Furthermore, the connections between a fan and its PC should also be tightened. You have to firmly connect the ports between them or replace them with new ones if they are badly damaged.

– Replacement of a New Fan With the Noisy One

This solution should be considered as a last resort when nothing else works to solve the problem of the noise. You can easily replace a modern fan with your current one that makes the noise as the whole procedure is simple, and new fans are readily available.

Here are the steps to take for the replacement. You first have to figure out the fan attached to the casing that is causing the noise and carefully look at its connections and wires. The wires have to be disconnected, and the fan has to be slowly unscrewed so that it is loose from all the sides. 

In this way, you can take away your current fan from the shell and bring the new one to place it in its position. After that, you just have to reconnect the wires and tighten the screws of your new fan and close the casing.

Conclusion

This article dissected the rattling noise caused by the fan in a PC and also discussed potential solutions for it.

You must keep the following points in mind to eliminate this problem yourself:

• A thick layer of dust and dirt collected on the blades of a fan can disrupt its spinning mechanism and eventually cause that noise.
• An increased speed of the fan can also produce that noise as it does not ensure a decrease in heat generation and temperature.
• You can scrub the fan and use a USB vacuum cleaner to cleanse it as well so that the collected dust and dirt are cleared out.
• The speed of the fan has to be kept within the normal range so that it does not affect the movement and cause that noise.

The problems listed in the article can have easy and simple procedures as troubleshoots depending on the usage of that fan. These procedures are free, and you don’t need to involve any professional help from service providers that will charge you for the service. 

This article can facilitate you by providing intricate details about this problem, and you can come back to it any time.