[QUOTE=kladner;417847]I know LaurV will back me up on this.
[/QUOTE]
Sure! If the fan is not mechanically damaged, like broken/bent blades, uncentered (it vibrates when it turns), or electrically damaged like coils burnt (it will have specific smell if so), then the best solution is oiling it. You can use zinger oil, the one you can buy in any shop, used for fine mechanisms and sewing machines, etc, but I highly recommend engine oil, the one you use in your car or motorcycle.

Engine oil also stands the temperature best, as it is designed to be used in the engine, at high temps. And it comes for free, because every time when we go to change the oil, there is a little bit left in the canister, and the mechanic puts it in our trunk (here you just pay the oil, and the work is "for free", at almost every gas station they sell small canisters and they can change it for you, and there is always a little bit left, which we use around the house, for gates, doors, computer fans, etc :smile:).

Take the fan out (need precision screwdrivers, as said), look for the label and carefully, slowly, peel it of. If you have enough patience you can peel it off without destroying the glue. Under the label there is a seal or rubber cap, which protects the axis. Sometime there is none. Take a toothpick, or a small piece of wood, put it in the engine oil half centimeter to collect a little drop of oil on the stick, put the drop of the oil on the axes, without spreading all around the fan and all around your house, then rotate the fan. Repeat 2-3 times till the fan turns smoothly. Put the cap back, if it was one. Put the label back if you didn't damage it when you peeled it off. If you damaged it, or it is oily and not sticky anymore, cut a small round of aluminum foil, about 1-2 cm in diameter and put it over the hole and stick it with a scotch or kepton tape in top of it. One whole year you will have no problem.

P.S. Don't put the scotch over the hole directly, if there was no rubber lid; the oil will dissolve the glue and make a sticky gel which will lock the axis in time, so you will need to repeat the cleaning procedure more often (weeks!). And resist temptation to put a double-sided tape under the label, to stick it well, this tape has lots of glue in it, even the 0.1mm thin one, is impregnated with glue, which dissolves in oil, and it will lock your fan again, in days. Generally, try to use the original label, and if your fan is not a real cheap stuff, it will have a rubber cap, try not to lose it. A small plastic disk cut from a plastic bottle also helps, if no aluminum foil, for example. The idea is that the label has not to be "sticky", it is enough to cover the hole as much as the oil will not spray out when the fan rotates, but generally this label is fixed against the case when you screw the fan in, so it can't fall off. The idea that you have to retain is not to put a lot of oil, and not to combine a lot of glue with it. You will get the feeling very fast, we did this hundreds of times, and it works magic!

And if you are at it, clean those clogs of dust from between the fins of the cooler too :razz:

Edit: approximately good youtube tutorial:
[YOUTUBE]hPyHBH3WwBM[/YOUTUBE]

GTX 580 on eBay
 

Wow, GTX 580 on eBay go for under $90 these days. If one does not care about electricity cost, there is potential to amass a lot of trial factoring power.

For the cost of a used Titan one could have six used GTX 580.

My TF'ing days are probably coming to an end in a few months. I'll probably be selling mine.

I stopped TF work on Feb 27. The silence in my computer room is very welcome.