G3-571 GPU Fan Fix or Replacement?

Metalkon

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2LFSOyWw-nY

I've been having some trouble with the GTX1060M GPU Fan for the past month in my G3-571-77QK-US Laptop and i'm wondering if anyone has some advice on how to fix it or know where to get a replacement fan for this specific model and how to replace it? I've provided a youtube url for a video of the sound my fan makes when it's on auto(low) and max setting, in predatorsense it shows my fan having 1/4 to 1/2 the rpm of my cpu fan and is usually sitting at zero on auto. I no longer have warranty on the laptop for about 2 years now and i've been experiencing cpu heat issues since 2017 (I hear some fresh thermal paste will fix that which could probably be done at the same time as fixing my gpu fan)
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aphanic

Aha! I hear what you mean, that rattling right? It's as if something (like a blade of the fan) is bumping against something.

This is what I'd do:

• First I'll open the laptop, if you have never done it you'll probably see plenty of dust in the fan and heatsink area but what were're doing here is a first assessment kind of thing. See if there's some big dust thing (there ought to be a word for it, it just doesn't come to me haha) and take it out.
  
• Next step would be to cut the power to almost everything. I say almost, because there's no need to disconnect the button cell that powers the RTC for example, just the battery connector and, of course, the power adapter.
  
• Next stop, take out the cooling assembly. I can't provide you with a step by step way of doing this, but there are bound to be several videos on YouTube showing how to do it in your particular model. It generally boils down to removing the screws that hold the heat pipes-vapor chamber, heatsink and fan to the chassis or motherboard. There may be a number next to each screw, follow those numbers in reverse order when removing.
  
  The fan itself has a connector to the motherboard, and may be held by its own set of screws completely unrelated to the ones of the cooling assembly, as in one could take the fan out without taking the rest.
  
  
• You'll have to replace the thermal grease that came with the laptop with something else, which is a good thing because now you can go for the high end stuff that doesn't break the bank and performs much better, but that's for a later stage. Now it's cleaning time.
• You may begin with a hair dryer to be honest, set to use cold air to get rid of most of the dust that has accumulated over the years (do it in a properly ventilated area please). Or a can or compressed air.
• At this point I think I'd inspect the fan, it could be that a blade is broken for example and the ideal thing in that situation would be to replace the fan. If Acer can't provide you with a replacement maybe searching 3rd party sites like AliExpress or eBay can get you what you need.
• Anyway, time for some IPA, isopropyl alcohol is the right stuff to use to clean get rid or the original thermal grease and you can also impregnate cotton suaves (Q-Tips) with it to gently clean the blades of the fan from dust. If you can't get a hold of IPA or you find it but it's expensive, you could use some rubbing alcohol. Similar thing, not the same but acceptable nonetheless.
• As for a thermal compound replacement, there are options galore. I've had good results with the typical Arctic MX-4 and with others too, like the Prolimatech PK-3. I never did go for one that was electrically conductive, just because I wanted to keep it safe, and liquid metal is also an option. Better performance even, but being metal that is electrically conductive and the way of applying it differs. Again, plenty of YouTube dudes doing it so you'll know exactly what you need to do or how
• Once everything is clean, and the paste applied, I'd secure everything in place again, following the order of the screws for the cooling assembly and don't forget to connect the fan terminal. By the way, don't over-tighten the screws of the cooling assembly / CPU too much, some motherboards don't like it. Keep them tight, just not too tight.
• Next, with the laptop still open, plug in the AC adapter (or battery) and power on the beast. If it doesn't power, remove some pressure from the screws of the cooling assembly, like half a turn for example and give it another shot. I have no idea why (well, some idea, it must have something to do with components flexing), but I've had to go through this several times.
• If it powers on, check for that rattling, see if it still happens. If it does, since you have the laptop open, try to figure out where it stems from. If it doesn't great! You're done! Close everything up and enjoy your new laptop (I mean new because temps are bound to be way lower).

xapim

Metalkon if you suspect you gpu fat its faulty disassemble it and give it a check im assuming youre out of warranty anyway as this model its really old now after you check it if you cant find anything slowing the fan down i suggest you to replace it im guessing its the aeroblade fan you can only get those through  an acer parts partner drop @Kev0806 a pm or go to is shop and contact him from there or you can use a normal plastic delta fan which you can easily find on ebay or aliexpress etc good luck

These are the part numbers you need to look for:

Metalkon

xapim said:

Metalkon if you suspect you gpu fat its faulty disassemble it and give it a check im assuming youre out of warranty anyway as this model its really old now after you check it if you cant find anything slowing the fan down i suggest you to replace it im guessing its the aeroblade fan you can only get those through  an acer parts partner drop @Kev0806 a pm or go to is shop and contact him from there or you can use a normal plastic delta fan which you can easily find on ebay or aliexpress etc good luck

These are the part numbers you need to look for:

the fan says 1050, i assume its the same fan as a 1060?

Metalkon

Questions:

1) Are the cpu and gpu fan the exact same? The pictures (and a video) shows that they look identical so i'm just wondering.
2) I'm looking around for the model in the above picture but it seems that there are much cheaper options from aliexpress and ebay for about $15 cdn. I assume that these will still work perfectly fine? Also linked with quesiton #1 as many of them are labeled as cpu fan with only a few (more expensive) listed as gpu.

xapim

Metalkon usually the gpu its an aeroblade and the cpu plastic delta but u can also replace both with plastic delta  of course you have a bit less cooling performance with a plastic but will still work fine as i said the aeroblades are acer proprietary be aware you cant find aeroblades outside of acer parts partners for sell if you see any on aliexpess its a scam they are fake theres only plastic delta available they put up the prices and say its for gpu only because they know the gpu official aeroblade its much more expensive they just try to take advantage of it nothing else good luck

aphanic

I must saw @xapim, I'm interesting in seeing one of those aeroblades myself and whether I can substitute them for the default my A515-54G has. Probably not, but what the hell, dreaming is free right? Hahaha

I have to search for one of those parts, or laptops with those parts and see how they are. Curiouser and curiouser...

xapim

aphanic the aeroblade fans are not compatible with any other models than the predator/triton/nitro the aspire 5 its just a really small single fan i took mine apart the same day acer sent it to me as a gift also have A515-54G german models with uK keyboard and 1tb intel p600 nvme

aphanic

xapim said:

aphanic the aeroblade fans are not compatible with any other models than the predator/triton/nitro the aspire 5 its just a really small single fan i took mine apart the same day acer sent it to me as a gift also have A515-54G german models with uK keyboard and 1tb intel p600 nvme

So, we need a mill huh... It would be a fun project, too bad I don't have access to one right now. Imagine making a custom cooling solution for the laptops, machined metal for the whole fan assembly.

As if it were that simple, I'm sure Acer went through a whole lot of trouble to get the angles right and fluid dynamics simulations to end up with aeroblade haha.

But I'm derailing the thread, let's keep on point.

The fan may be the same @Metalkon, regardless of the graphics card, I'd bet they are, it wouldn't make sense in an economy of scale to have custom fan designs depend on the graphics card chip. They cooling solution is probably the same for the laptop regardless of the graphics card inside.

As for the cheaper alternatives, they may work, they're bound to be less efficient though not being made of metal, but if you can't get the real part by contacting Acer or you find their price to be way more than the replicas go for a replica. Because I don't have that laptop and can't tell in which direction the fans turn for example or how they're mounted, so I would get proper replacements (meaning, the ones labeled GPU for the GPU), in case they rotate in the opposite direction or the screw holes are inverted for example.

xapim

aphanic i have my aspire 5 i5 10210U undervolted played a bit of ESO the other day and the temps wont got above 75'ish on cpu  and even lower on the mx250 i havent even repasted it with kryonaut yet i bet i i would would even get better results but again this is a U cpu and not a gaming laptop and the same applies keeping the back lifted will improve the airflow/temps a lot i always play on bed on my knees no matter the laptop no issues and yeah the aeroblade required really engineering/testing and as everyone knows the 4th gen its louder on lower rpm may even create some kinda share effect than on higher due to the owl wing tip design and yes usually only the dgpu has aeroblade because its the component that its more hard to lower the temps but as i said a delta plastic would also be fine assuming the laptop its properly optimised undervolted and repasted with kryonaut the differences should be minimum 

Regarding the fan thermal cooling design they are all the same for all 2017/18 predator/nitro 5