Can you test your cooling fans?

My tower is enclosed in a desk so it gets warm. I never realy hear the fans run, and now it smells "warm" or like something is heating up. How can I check this? Or should I just buy new fans?

 

If your fans are connected to the motherboard, you can test the speed. However if they're not, then you have to just observe by leaving the case open and see if they are working alright.

 

If I observe them, when would I expect to see them kick in, or are they always suppose to be running.

 

When you turn on your computer, the fans should start immediately too (unless you have them connected to a fan controller or motherboard that controls their speed).

Open your case and observe the blades of the fan. Power up, and if you cant see the blades anymore, the fan is working.

 

The ones not connected to the motherboard will run at %100. Since something smells right now, I would check the temperatures inside the case using the motherboard makers utility, if it has one. Since you don't mention hearing anything strange then perhaps a fan went dead. I use a paper towel tube to listen if the CPU/chipset fan is running and/or other fans. Better than sticking something in there to check. You also might be just dirty with dust, when's the last time you cleaned it?

 

I am with Augie on the dust. Shut it down, unplug it and use a can of 'air' to blow out all the dust and such. Then plug it back in and start it with the side panel off the computer. Visually verify that all the fans are spinning. If one or more is not spinning, make sure it is plugged in, and if it is plugged in and not spinning, replace it.

If all the fans are spinning, check out your temperatures using software.

Some free temp monitoring programs:

GPU-Z (for the video card if applicable) http://www.majorgeeks.com/download5796.html

CoreTemp (for the CPU) May or may not work with your computer. http://www.majorgeeks.com/download5665.html

Speed Fan (good all around program) http://majorgeeks.com/download337.html

Please note that software temperature monitors should be used carefully as different ones can give different results, so use them more as a guide than an authority.

 

Cheapest and easiest solution take it out of your desk lol.