5870 strange fan issue, horrific grinding noise when cold

[matte3560]

A while back i took the cooler off my refrence design 5870. Biggest mistake ever. I didn't realize the whole damn heatsink had to be removed just to clean it properly, but i was too far under way when i noticed what i was actually doing. When i was done cleaning it, i reseated the cooler, and applied new thermal paste onto the core. A few months later, winter started approaching. We were away on vacation for a few days, and when i got back my basement was absolutely freezing. I fired up my rig, and to my shock and horror, i hear an intense grinding noise (Imagine trying to chip wood with an xbox 360). At this point, i was sure i would need to RMA it. But when i got back from school the following day, it worked fine again (and the room was a lot warmer).

Now the same thing's happened again. I just woke up, it's freezing in here, and my GPU sounds like a meat grinder at power. Warming it fixed it last time, so i figured i'd take my chances and let it run a few minutes on furmark. After it had run for a bit, it was still making the same noise, so i figured maybe if i stopped the fan for a bit it would resolve itself. I couldn't be bothered with rebooting, so i just put my finger on it. Guess what though? It fucking worked! Now my card is back to normal again. I noticed the fan had some wriggle room (not as in the screws were loose, but the shaft that the actual fan sits on could be moved up and down by like 0.1 - 0.05 cm) and i figure that's whats making the noise. When it's cold, it starts vibrating for some reason. I figure it's got something to do with the grease in the fan bearings or something, but i honestly cant say.

Has anyone else experienced anything like this before? Is there anything i can do to fix it?

[mastermaul]

Maybe cold temperature makes something contract?

[Shadaez]

so look at it and see why it's making the sound, there's probably a wire hitting the fan blades.

[matte3560]

[QUOTE=Shadaez;32889508]so look at it and see why it's making the sound, there's probably a wire hitting the fan blades.[/QUOTE]
I've already checked that. It's not the wire getting in the fan. Besides, the wire doesn't get completely warped when you heat/cool it.

[[EG] Pepper]

It's the bearings

Try put some oil on them

[Van-man]

[QUOTE='[EG] Pepper;32890397']It's the bearings

Try put some oil on them[/QUOTE]

Yep.
Worst case scenario, the fan's bearings are gonna seize up completely soon.

I'd either return the card if it's still under warranty, or replace the cooler.
I've had my fair share of GFX fans fail on me, so I sadly know where this is gonna end.

[Taipan]

I had the same problem on my old 4870. I fixed it by lifting the fan casing up a bit by putting washers between the pcb and fan casing.

[Swarm]

Had the same issue with a 3870 X2. My warranty was already void so I decided to take it apart. Evidently, the fan is mounted upside down so the fan shaft goes through the PCB and a split washer holds the shaft in place to prevent it from falling. Once I replaced that I was good to go. The source of the grinding noise was simply the fan grinding against the plastic cover. Try spinning the fan when you're computer is off to find out if it's coming into contact with anything.