Sapphire Radeon 6950 fan seizing

Jaysap

Distinguished
May 7, 2011
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18,510
Hey all,

I've got a Sapphire Radeon 6950, the one with a single fan.
Last night my machine started getting choppy, so I checked the fan and saw it wasn't spinning very well and the temperature was high.

The fan was wobbly a few months ago, but I just pressed it down and it spun freely again.

If I manually spin the fan, it stops after a rotation so I assume it is seizing up somehow.

Can I just unscrew the fan and clean it out or regrease the bearing? I'm not experienced with this stuff, but to me it looks like the fan is just screwed on. If I do that, do I need new thermal paste?
 
Yes definitly check to see if there is still warranty first. If not then try removing the cooler and cleaning it up first, because they can get real dirty. If the fan is still running slow and could give out at any time, you can get a real nice after market cooler for it as a replacement. I went through the same problem a couple years ago with my HD5870, and ended up buying an after market zalman cooler. I tried at first to get a replacement fan and they were $20 each, so I just decided to get a new cooler. You can't lubricate the bearing either because they are sealed. I tried,lol.

Either way here are a couple of real good coolers that should fit your card if it is of refrence design.

Zalman vf3000a http://www.zalman.com/global/product/Product_Read.php?Idx=385

Arctic acellero http://www.amazon.com/ARCTIC-Accelero-Xtreme-VGA-Cooler/dp/B0052TIRQI/ref=cm_cr_pr_pb_t

They are pretty expensive, but at the time it was going to cost me $20 for the replacement fan and another $20 to ship it out of the states so I just spent the extra money and grabbed the Zalman. It was awesome and I hated to part with it, but the Twin Frozr III cooler is pretty good as well. The zalman did a better job though and you couldn't hear it even at 100% load. If it would of fit I would of swapped the coolers before I sold the 5870. :)