Question Did I potentially damage my GPU fans?

[Noobpunk]

Hey all,

Without lying the pc case down on its side to do work, I instead opened up the side panel to plug in a 4 pin fan header and in doing so I accidentally pressed one of the fans of the GPU.

Could somebody please explain what potentially I may have done?..

 

[SkyNetRising]

Was pc turned on? Were fans spinning?

Does the fan spin now?

 

[JohnBonhamsGhost]

depends on the card and it's fans.
most fans can take some interference with no damage but it depends on their quality.

what has this resulted in that makes you think it is damaged;
not running,
making extra noise,
curve not working correctly..?

 

[Noobpunk]

Was pc turned on? Were fans spinning?

Does the fan spin now?

The pc was off from the power supply.

I played a game of warzone afterwards and it seems fine. Would this be a sort of issue that I would come to face immediately?

depends on the card and it's fans.
most fans can take some interference with no damage but it depends on their quality.

what has this resulted in that makes you think it is damaged;
not running,
making extra noise,
curve not working correctly..?

Im using a Strix 3090. Nothing really just because im the paranoid type I would like to know is all!

How would one know if the curve is not working correctly?

 

[JohnBonhamsGhost]

How would one know if the curve is not working correctly?

if you've set a manual curve and it doesn't kick on at the designated startup temperature.

most modern GPUs have a default setting so that the fans will not kick on at all until reaching ≥45°C.
so if they don't spin at system startup that is perfectly normal.

 

[shiriken]

Yes, some force can change the fan axis which could affect performance. Check fan speeds at idle and under load. Also, do a visual check if you can when the fan is spinning to see if there is wobble

 

[Noobpunk]

Yes, some force can change the fan axis which could affect performance. Check fan speeds at idle and under load. Also, do a visual check if you can when the fan is spinning to see if there is wobble

https://imgur.com/a/8PIB9Nc

Here is what it looks like. To be honest they looked like this before..unless my eyes are lying but what do you think?

In game this is how it looks however I tested on MSI Afterburner to increase the fan speeds and at 80% fan speed there is no sign of wobbling.

Could somebody please help?

 

[Noobpunk]

https://imgur.com/a/lK50If0

View: https://imgur.com/a/lK50If0


Heres another

 

[Karadjgne]

Bearings are not all that fragile. They'll take quite a beating and still work just fine, no damage at all. What is fragile is the fan blades and their attachment to the hub. Blades rarely ever break in the middle, it's almost always the entire blade breaks off. You'd not be asking if that'd happened already, so your concern while valid, is fruitless.

Gpu fans spin up, no wobble, all good.

Did I potentially damage my GPU fans? Yes, potentially you did. The operative word being Potentially, not Damage. Damage being hitting the ringer with the horseshoe, but fortunately you missed. No damage done.

 

[drivinfast247]

Mail it to me for inspection.

 

[Noobpunk]

Bearings are not all that fragile. They'll take quite a beating and still work just fine, no damage at all. What is fragile is the fan blades and their attachment to the hub. Blades rarely ever break in the middle, it's almost always the entire blade breaks off. You'd not be asking if that'd happened already, so your concern while valid, is fruitless.

Gpu fans spin up, no wobble, all good.

Did I potentially damage my GPU fans? Yes, potentially you did. The operative word being Potentially, not Damage. Damage being hitting the ringer with the horseshoe, but fortunately you missed. No damage done.

Thank you for your response! I am here dreading it!

Then what am I seeing specifically from my left fan on the GPU? It looks really shaky on the logo in middle and the shape that the fan is making whilst spinning does also look a little shaky too..

If I can be schooled here honestly I would love it..because I feel like its just a waiting game now.

 

[InvalidError]

To me, it appears to looks wobbly only because the sticker may not be perfectly centred. If you focus on the fan blade tips by fixating on one location, all blades appear to be on the exact same arc.

 

[Karadjgne]

Forget the logo. Ignore it. They are almost Never perfectly centered so will look 'janky' all the time.

Fans today have exacting clearances. You'll rarely ever see a wide gap between the blade and the shroud, that's seriously wasted performance. If the bearings were damaged, the fan would be tilted on its axis, and rubbing on the shroud. And you'd hear that across the room.

 

[Noobpunk]

Forget the logo. Ignore it. They are almost Never perfectly centered so will look 'janky' all the time.

Fans today have exacting clearances. You'll rarely ever see a wide gap between the blade and the shroud, that's seriously wasted performance. If the bearings were damaged, the fan would be tilted on its axis, and rubbing on the shroud. And you'd hear that across the room.

So I shouldnt worry about what happened and just move on? The worry is in the past?

 

[drivinfast247]

So I shouldnt worry about what happened and just move on? The worry is in the past?

Correct!

 

[JohnBonhamsGhost]

Could somebody please help?..
So I shouldnt worry about what happened and just move on?

unless you hear excess noise and/or odd noises from the fans
or your graphics card is reaching abnormally high temperatures you have absolutely nothing to worry about.

 

[Noobpunk]

Forget the logo. Ignore it. They are almost Never perfectly centered so will look 'janky' all the time.

Fans today have exacting clearances. You'll rarely ever see a wide gap between the blade and the shroud, that's seriously wasted performance. If the bearings were damaged, the fan would be tilted on its axis, and rubbing on the shroud. And you'd hear that across the room.

Is the bearings being damaged something that would appear after making a mistake or is it something that can come over time? Because the fan on the left is much more shakier than the rest!