CPU cooling fan

[BTS '76]

Hey everyone, had a question for y'all. ok, I have an Acer with a pent 4 1.7Ghz processor, 512MB mem. about 4 weeks ago, the PC kept shutting down without warning, at random times. I traced it back to the cooling fan on the CPU, when i opened the case and turned it on, the fan wasn't spinning. I bought a new fan, but this one was made for a Pent.3. it's the same size as the one i had, so i bought it and gave it a try, and it worked great for 2 weeks, and then it too stopped working, PC shutdown.

So, i ordered a cooling fan & heatsink for a Pentium 4 online. When i installed the pent. 3 fan, i didn't change the heatsink, (cause it wouldn't fit). When i receive the new fan, i plan on changing the heatsink as well as the fan. Here's the question: Whats causing these fans to quit on me, should i buy a case fan as well, or do you think it was because the fan i bought wasn't compatible with the p-4 heatsink. Just wanna make sure i get it right this time. thanx.

 

[BTS '76]

does anyone have any thoughts on this subject, solutions or opinions?

 

[domscomp]

first off, buying a case fan is deffinitly a good idea, if the fans are dying on you there might be the mobo is sending the wrong voltage and is burning it up in which your screwed as far as i know. try the new fan and heat sink and if the computer keeps restarting and the fan doesnt die then your processors gone to the dogs, if your fan keeps dying then i suggest another motherboard

 

[BTS '76]

thanx for the reply domscomp, but if the Mainboard was sending the wrong voltage to the fan, why would it work at all? Wouldn't it send the wrong voltage on the first boot up and kill it? Oh yeah, and everytime i noticed the pc shut down was when my kid was playing an online game, assuming the game is drawing more out of the processor and heating it up, you think this is possible. thanx again for the reply.

BTS '76

 

[Couriant]

The shutting down is due to overheating. I would suspect a faulty board too. I would think Acer will repair it for a good price. Unless they jacked it up since I last worked with them

 

[winbob]

BTS,

I have to disagree with the recommendation on replacing the Motherboard because 2 Fans went bad!!!

Many fans are cheap pieces of CRAP, and shouldn't even be sold for anything as heat sensitive as a Processor Chip.

Since your Motherboard is "hopefully" of better quality than the Fans you have had, I'd still be looking at the Fan as the problem.

If you have any doubt about the voltage stability at the Fan Header on the MOBO, then you can get a plug adaptor and use a PS lead DIRECTLY to power the Fan.

This time be sure that you are using a quality product that has Ball Bearings in it!!!