Member Avatar for flyerorange

Hello......I have a 2 week old Dell Dimension w/ Win XP. It's great. Although it is relatively quiet, I notice tonight that the fan is louder. I keep the computer on all the time. Because the humidity has shot up in the last 2 days, and the room was very hot when I opened the door, does the fan have different speeds, in that it is responding to the heat and humidity and running faster?


Am I correct in my assumption, and should I shut the computer down overnight, or when we are not home, when the weather is like it is? I'd appreciate any help..........thank you. :mrgreen:

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Several replies (notably and ) correctly suggested temperature-driven control and cleaning. The posts left a few practical gaps: how to identify the noisy fan, how to verify whether speed is temperature‑related, and what to do without voiding warranty. The checklist below supplies safe, step‑by‑step diagnostics and short, realistic choices about leaving the machine on.

  1. Identify the source. With the case closed, listen close to each vent to localize the noise and note whether it is steady, intermittent, or only under load. If comfortable and out of warranty, remove the side panel for a visual check—look for dust build‑up, cables touching blades, loose screws or a wobbling blade.
  2. Check temps and fan RPMs. Use the system BIOS/UEFI hardware monitor or a simple hardware‑monitoring utility to read CPU/GPU temps and reported fan RPMs during idle and under load. A temperature‑driven fan will climb RPMs as CPU/GPU temperature rises.
  3. Clean carefully. If dust is present, use short bursts of compressed air (hold the fan so it cannot overspin). Avoid opening the machine if it is under warranty—contact Dell first.
  4. Distinguish failure from regulation. Grinding, clicking, or wobble indicates a failing bearing and replacement is recommended. A steady louder whine that correlates to higher temperatures usually indicates normal thermal control reacting to hotter ambient air.
  5. Decide about leaving it on. Leaving a healthy PC on 24/7 is generally acceptable; shutting down saves power and eliminates noise while away. If ambient room temperature is unusually high, shutting down reduces stress on components.
  6. Next steps if quieter operation is required. If out of warranty, consider quieter replacement fans, rubber mounts to cut vibration, or fan controllers only after confirming the motherboard supports them; many OEM systems have limited software control.

If warranty coverage exists, prioritize contacting Dell for diagnosis or replacement rather than opening the chassis.

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Member Avatar for dcc

Some fans have thermal regulation, and I know of people who don't turn thier computers off except when they work on them.

Member Avatar for chrisbliss18

Sometimes, if your motherboard supports the option and the fans are connected to the motherboard, you can control your fan speed through software. SpeedFan works really well and should automatically detect your fans. You will want to read up on the site how to change the fan speeds appropriately. Please note that not many Dell systems, including my own, support fan control through software. It's worth a try though.

If you succeed in slowing down your fans, make sure that you keep your temps low (below 50° preferably). Try to find a nice balance between sound and temp.

If you had a home-built system or didn't care about voiding your warrenty, you could install fan regulators on all your fans so you could manually (or even automatically based on temperature) adjust fan speeds.

Member Avatar for chrisbliss18

LOL... I sent Dell a pre-sales question about whether or not any of their systems supported dynamic fan speeds as dcc suggested. I was curious if your system had that or not (I don't think that it does). I received a very technical tech support response about how to open up the machine, find the fan that was noisy, and how to clean it properly. I love how Dell, one of the largest sellers of PCs, can turn a simple pre-sales question into a tech support question and not answer any of my actual questions.

Member Avatar for dcc

Politicians, lawyers, and sales people are artist in prevarication.

Which model dell did you purchase?

Member Avatar for dcc

Politicians, lawyers, and sales people are artist in prevarication.

Which model dell did you purchase?

According to a Dell tech the newer Dimension CPU fans are regulated by a thermistor and fan speed control, but without the model number she couldn't be sure. Nothing like a clear and concise answer. :rolleyes:

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