Fan Noise Problem !!!

I have the mobo : MSI NEO4 Platinum Nforce 4, and therez a fan in the board which is givng strange grinding noise while it revolves.. it sometimes stop giving the strange noise, but then suddenly it start giving it again, i've checked and there's no wire or anything else in-contact with that fan, below is the excat picture of my board, and i've pointed the fan

any idea what i should do?

PIC :

http://img376.imageshack.us/img376/379/msineo4b5qo.jpg

 

i had a nb heatsink 40mm fan make that grinding noise a while back, i just ended up replacing the fan and the noise was gone. guess maybe it could just be wearing out.

 

what if i unplug this fan? will it effect something?

 

im not sure really, ive always replaced it guess it depends on how big the heatsink is below the fan.

 

Yup. that's the Northbridge (also known as the Chipset) fan and it sounds like it would be safest to replace it.

Chances are if you just unplug it you will very quickly fry your motherboard. It's a cooler, it's there for a reason.

The good news is that there are plenty of options for replacing it with another 40mm heatsink or heatsink+fan.

Have a look at a few fans and heatsinks at a few online shops and buy something from a good maker (e.g I use a Zalman ZM-NB47J heatsink, had a look and Thermaltake have some too). Then you can replace it fairly easily, just remember to clean the old thermal gunk off and replace it properly.

 

before replacing, you may try cleaning it with a can of compressed air. it just may be dirty.

 

probably just a fan dieng, I would reccomend gettign it replaced soon, just shut off the computer unplug it, disconnect the fan and screw in/plug in a new one, don't try to run it without a fan.
this should work well, and it's cheap too.

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16835119049

 

bloody heck, that fan now completely stopped working at all..
i need to replace it.

can u please suggest me what are my options???? and from where i can find them.. the models and names..

remember, the mobo is : msi k8 neo4 -nforce 4

PLEASE REPLY FAST !!

is this the right replacement? will fit into its place??

 

The problem is once you remove the heatsink\fan 'its one unit 'assembly you void your warranty,you have the right to return the whole motherboard for replacement if you so chose,if thats too much trouble you have to be very carefull not to break anything when replacing,msi's northbridge heatsinks are very tricky to remove