Abnormal Fan Noise

Article ID Code:GK-FAN-02

Hardware Faults

Excessive cooling fan noise is often caused by hardware faults, which typically require opening the device for repair.

• Aging Cooling Fan

  • Abnormal noise generated by prolonged operation of the fan. Lack of internal maintenance and dust cleaning in the machine has led to the aging of the cooling fan components, which is common in devices that have been used intensively for over a year.
  • Solution: Disassemble the device for dust cleaning and maintenance.
    Please use a soft brush to remove dust or a can of compressed air to blow out the vents. After thorough cleaning, restore power and test the device.
  • GEEKOM products have a simple internal design without complex structures, making disassembly straightforward. If you are unsure about performing this yourself, it is recommended to take the device to a nearby repair shop for maintenance.

• Internal Parts Rubbing Against Fan

  • It may be due to an inward dent in the product casing, where the indentation happens to press against the internal cooling fan bearing. When the fan starts rotating, the central bearing continuously scrapes against the inner wall of the casing, producing abnormal noise. (This issue commonly occurs in products with all-metal casings or dual Ethernet port models.)
  • Solution: Slightly loosen the four motherboard fixing screws. When the machine is placed upright, the distance between the cooling fan module and the inner wall of the casing increases, and the abnormal noise disappears.

  • After disassembling the device, you can refer to the following video tutorial for installing the Wi-Fi card antenna.

    https://drive.google.com/file/d/1g4yu3W2N5zDV8GOaKWxDoEA2vQDI3e4j/view?usp=drive_link

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• Optimizing Heat Dissipation Methods

  • Under normal circumstances: High-speed noise caused by increased CPU temperature. As hardware resource usage rises, the CPU temperature and cooling fan speed increase accordingly, leading to progressively louder noise.
  • Optimize system load: Close background programs (end high-usage processes via Task Manager).
  • Improve ventilation: Ensure the ventilation ports on the bottom/sides of the computer are not blocked, and use it on a flat surface.
  • Long-term maintenance:  
    If the device is used intensively in a dusty environment, it is recommended to clean the dust every 6 months.  
    For normal usage in a standard indoor office environment, cleaning every 12 months is sufficient.  
    (Use a soft brush to remove dust or a can of compressed air to blow out the vents.)