Hi,
I have a four year old Predator G3-710.
Around a year ago I noticed that the CPU fan would be idle (not spinning) when turning on the computer and once the CPU temperature rose above a certain (quite hot) point, the fan would start up and spin at around max rmp (4500), until the CPU had cooled down. The fan would then remain spinning at around 1200 rpm for some time and eventually stop. This process would then repeat.
I found out that if I engaged the CPU in computations, so it was kept from not getting "too cold", the fan would keep spinning.
Lately, however, I have noticed that I need to engage the CPU in more computations than before to prevent the fan from stopping. Before it was able to spin happily around 1200-1500 rpm and keep spinning. Now I need to keep it at around 2300-2500 rpm if I don't want it to stop.
The fan still speeds up to 4500 RPM when it has been stopped for a while and the CPU temperature has risen.
I have made sure that the cabinet and the fan and heatsink are free from dust. I have also removed the fan and taken a look at it from the underside, but couldn't find any dust etc.
My question is:
Could the fan be stopping because it's getting old and needs replacing?
To me, it seems like the power supply is ok (otherwise the fan wouldn't be able to speed up to 4500 RPM), but perhaps there is too much internal friction in the fan to keep it spinning at low RPMs, so only the boost to 4500 RPM kicks it running?
I am no expert, however, and would appreciate any thoughts!