Old Dell Triple Core - CPU Fan Makes a Lot of Noise

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Kneelbeforezod

Active Member
Sep 4, 2015
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So I run 6 computers pretty much 24/7 and one of them is an old Dell Triple core that's about 6 years old that I got through their Beta program. Anyway It's one of the boxes i use to capture streaming video like CNN for example. And of late when it's doing anything more than idling the cpu fan gets incredibly loud and the the capture video is jittery - definitely not smooth. The jittery video is recent int he last 2-3 weeks but the loud CPU has been going on without the video going wonky. Anyway I'm kinda wondering it's time is done. Asking if anyone has thoughts. Should I pop the HSF and regrease the cpu? I looking at just replacing it with a Dell Optiplex SFF from Ebay. I already run a Dell SFF Ivy box that i got free and that runs perfectly - super quiet as all are my boxes. Just this one is crazy noisy.

thanks
 

cafcwest

Member
Feb 15, 2013
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Richmond, VA
A cooling issue could cause all of this. So what occurs to me off the cuff:
- A dead case fan
- Clogged up with dust/crud
- Dried up heatsink CPU paste