Replace noisy P1xx CPU fan

So I have my P157sm and the CPU fan is simply unacceptably loud. It reminds me of a vaccuum cleaner and I really dislike the high pitched noise it makes (especially under load). The GPU Fan is bigger and interestingly enough, way more silent and way less annoying, so I was wondering if you guys know some replacement where the noise would be way less or how I could mid my current fan to stop being so annoyingly loud.

 

That's usually how things work with fans - smaller means higher rpm means noisier.

Otherwise repasting with good paste or even liquid metal, a thorough clean, and lube of the fan will help maximise cooling efficiency and lower the speed the fan has to run and ergo its noise

If cleaning makes no difference then it's probably just the bearing wearing out so you may as well order a replacement fan instead of waiting for it to fail as it will only get noisier before it does

 

Do you know if a brushless fan would make a difference in terms of noise?

 

All laptop fans are brushless, so this is really meaningless advertising by the manufacturers. I.e., the rotor of the fan houses only permanent magnets, so no power needs to be transferred from the static to the moving part. Most washing machines use an electromagnetic rotor because these are much cheaper than an equally-powerful neodymium alternative and hence require those carbon brushes you have to replace once in a while.

Could look for a low-rpm, high cfm fan of similar size as to the old one. Doesn't matter if it's a 3, 4 or 5-pin; Clevos are all 3-pin, being voltage-controlled. Simply remove the pwm wire from any 4-pin fan and use only the voltage, ground and tacho wires.

Sunon sells 'maglev' fans, which are marketed as being more quiet. Yet all that does is levitate the blades away from the axle, whereas most fans have it balanced at its tip, like a spindle. Gains are minimal though, since the noise is almost completely due to the friction between air and the blades. Exception would be if the bearing's grease were used up; it will be awfully noisy then. If the current fan uses non-sealed bearings then you can remove the top part and add a drop of vaseline or the like in the bushing. Some are designed to be oiled from the bottom of the fan, so look first whether there's an access point from there.

 

I can remove the fan from the motor no problem. The sound is rather bad, it really sounds like a high pitched vaccuum. The only thing I know is that according to a spreadsheet of the fans, both the CPU and GPU fans should be around the same dBa (45dba vs 47dba), but the CPU fan is way noiser than my GPU fan, at around 20% speed it's already more annoying than my GPU fan on max speed. I'll try with the vaseline and see what result I get.

Could you maybe provide a link to a fan that would be around the same size as mine?
The one I have right now is an:
a data BS6005HS-U0D

 

Not without some searching, but there should be plenty; outside dimensions of the fan proper have similar ranges across different manufacturers. Any that are 60x60x10mm + 5V would be compatible. Problem is that most are sold as replacements for a particular laptop model, omitting the dimensions, so it's better to check product specification sheets of a few of the manufacturers. These list all options within a series (size, voltage, rpm, bearings and dBAs), making it easy to pick the part nr. you want and google that to find a seller.

You could also choose to remove the housing altogether and try to fit a larger fan. This could run at lower rpms and still push the same amount of air. A squirrel cage design is most efficient, but these usually start at 15mm thickness, so that's a system-dependent option (they can be noisy at high rpms as well). Swapped my 50x50x10mm to a 70x70x15mm squirrel (12V 4-pin), but some dremeling was necessary:

Spoiler: Clevo W230SS - new 45 cfm vs. stock 10 cfm

Spoiler: dremeled bottom cover

Spoiler: aluminium fan 'guard'

Mind that Clevo uses the highest-power fans they can find, meaning close or up to 2.5W, which is the maximum draw for 5V fan connectors. Any replacement will have to be rated at a similar amount of power, which narrows the list of potential candidates significantly.

 

Thanks for the informations! I'll see what I can find I'll update for those who have the same problem