[SOLVED] Is the fan on an AMD 3700x series Wraith Prism easily user-replicable? Can you buy official replacement fans?

[Cyber_Akuma]

Built a system for my friend about a year and a half ago, they told me that today the system was lagging and shutting down.

Found out the CPU fan stopped spinning, did some troubleshooting and it worked again, but then the next day it stopped again. So looks like most likely the fan died.

Since he doesn't have much skill with PCs, and since I heard of all the horror stories of how easy it is to damage an AMD CPU with it's official cooler because the cooler/paste it comes with tends to become like glue and rips it out of it's socket.... before I suggest he just replace the entire cooler, can you easily replace the stock fan with an official replacement without having to take off the heatsink?

 

[Lutfij]

You mean replaceable? No, you will need to source the entire heatsinkfan, not just the fan. You can use a spudger and place it between the IHS and heatsink contact plate, to avoid the stuck because of glue like issue, yes it's happened with older AM3 processor but to be frank, that only happens on some boards where the bowing was sever to cause the IHS top to flex and the thermalpaste ends up being the putty to eventually seems like glue to rip the processor out of the CPU socket.

Also, to be on the other spectrum, I've worked with AM4 platforms, the cooler doesn't take the CPU out of it's socket, since the thermal paste's application isn't more than necessary on the stock cooler.

You're better off replacing the cooler with something aftermarket and of better quality. Budget for a cooler? Make and model of the motherboard?

 

[Cyber_Akuma]

I just wanted to know if the fan alone could be replaced cheaply without removing the cooler. If we're going to replace the entire cooler we might as well go with a Noctua NH-D15 or D15S. I checked on Noctua's site and pretty much all their coolers should be compatible with his board and case.

The motherboard is a Gigabyte X570 Aorus Master.

This is the system: https://pcpartpicker.com/user/NightstarAce/saved/sJDykL

That GPU was always meant to be temporary until we can afford a good one but... 2020 happened.

 

[iPeekYou]

I just wanted to know if the fan alone could be replaced cheaply without removing the cooler. If we're going to replace the entire cooler we might as well go with a Noctua NH-D15 or D15S. I checked on Noctua's site and pretty much all their coolers should be compatible with his board and case.

The motherboard is a Gigabyte X570 Aorus Master.

This is the system: https://pcpartpicker.com/user/NightstarAce/saved/sJDykL

That GPU was always meant to be temporary until we can afford a good one but... 2020 happened.

I had one myself, and tried to do the same. After all, my old AMD HSF (scavenged from local PC dump-- the fan makes for a powerful tiny spot cooling fan, I might add) can, why not right?
Found that it can be done, but you must be willing to risk damage to the housing. IIRC I couldn't find how to unscrew the thing without opening the fan housing up. Seems doable since the shell is comprised of two parts (top and bottom), just not easy. Ended up just upgrading the entire thing for a proper tower cooler.

 

[Kona45primo]

There's nothing stopping you or him from just taping or gluing another fan on top of the old one. That should work assuming the fan isn't too big.

The cooler can be a bit tough to remove, but I don't think it should be too bad if it's an old cooler. Dry paste should be easy with some heat & twists. I just had to battle it out with a freshly installed H60 water block, MX-4 was holding tight. Took about 5 minutes of twisting and sliding back and forth before it let go.

 

[DSzymborski]

Really, the horror stories are typically people who weren't careful to begin with. Thermal paste isn't really glue; dental floss or fishing line works quite well before heatsink removal to separate the plate from the CPU.

 

[Kona45primo]

Oh, that's brilliant. Could have certainly used some dental floss on Saturday.

 

[iPeekYou]

Really, the horror stories are typically people who weren't careful to begin with. Thermal paste isn't really glue; dental floss or fishing line works quite well before heatsink removal to separate the plate from the CPU.

Wish I had thought of that during my last cooler replacement; it was scare-inducing to wiggle the cooler back and forth. I see people doing it smart by giving the cooler bit of a twist ended up twisting their CPUs with the cooler.

Hopefully AMD will eventually adopt a proper lid/bracket for their chips; Intel's done it since their brilliant days.