is it safe to unplug back case fan?

[hank.stip]

My back case fan has been making an annoying rattling noise as of late and it's driving me insane. I want to buy a new one but that will take a while. So is it safe to just unplug that particular fan from the motherboard until I get a new one? My front case fan is fine.

Thanks

 

[Barty1884]

Depends on your specific setup. Case layout, airflow and current temperatures.

At a very basic level though, yes, you can remove the rear fan and it'll be perfectly "safe".
I'd expect your temps to rise a bit (as you likely dont have anything exhausting the warm air in the case), but provided you're not on the brink of thermals currently, you should be fine for a while.

 

[SkyBill40]

Of course you can... but should you? Annoying noise aside, as long as the fan is still spinning it's doing what it was put there for and I'd let it continue on until it stops working. The threshold is yours alone, but I'd put up with it rather than have my system run hot.

 

[mjslakeridge]

Make sure all of the screws securing the fan to the case are tight. I have a fan with one of the screw holes stripped out and occasionally my rear fan will make quite a loud noise. Tightening the other 3 screws and moving the fan a little bit makes the noise go away.

You could move your front case fan to the rear while you wait for a new fan to arrive. That way you are exhausting the hot air. Cool air will still be drawn into the case, just not as much as with an intake fan.

 

[eric418]

Rattling noise can be solved by just applying some bearing lubricants in most case.
https://www.moddiy.com/products/dearest comrade-Arcanol-Bearing-Grease-Temp90-%281.5ml%29.html