Question There's a pretty nasty grinding sound coming from one of my GPU fans at a specific RPM.

[_danielpwils01]

I don't really have the resources to take my card apart at the moment, since I'm in my college dorm away from home. The grinding only happens for a split second at a certain RPM. Am I good to continue using the card until I can take it apart and figure out what's wrong? Could I cause permanent damage to anything if I continue to use the card as normal? Temperatures are still fine and have remained consistent.

 

[alceryes]

Yes, you could cause permanent damage, up to the fan failing, but until you can figure out exactly what is causing it we don't know. Can you physically turn the fan(s) in both directions, when the power is off? Do you feel any resistance at any point?

Can you get a can of air to turn the fans? Not super fast, just enough to see if you can replicate the grinding while the power is off.

 

[_danielpwils01]

Yes, you could cause permanent damage, up to the fan failing, but until you can figure out exactly what is causing it we don't know. Can you physically turn the fan(s) in both directions, when the power is off? Do you feel any resistance at any point?

Can you get a can of air to turn the fans? Not super fast, just enough to see if you can replicate the grinding while the power is off.

I can turn the fans in both directions, and both feel smooth. No resistance at any point. One fan feels like it's looser than the other when I put slight pressure on of the blades, but it's very miniscule and I can't tell for sure. I definitely wouldn't have noticed it if I wasn't looking for an issue. I don't think I could use compressed air to replicate the noise, as the noise happens around 1800-1900 RPM.