How to Fix a Noisy Computer Fan

If you can barely hear yourself think over the fan noise emanating from your computer, it’s probably time to diagnose why your PC sounds like a wind tunnel.

- Whitson Gordon

It could be a major issue, a minor inconvenience, or something in between. Here are a few things to try.

CHECK WHICH SOFTWARE IS RUNNING

Before you rush to grab your screwdriver, look into which software is currently running, the resources it’s using, and whether that fan noise is warranted. On a Windows machine, press Ctrl+Shift+Esc to bring up the Task Manager and click the More Details button. If you’re on a Mac, press Ctrl+Space and search for Activity Monitor. It may also help to download a program like Core Temp (Windows) or Temp Monitor (Mac) to see if your CPU is getting hot.

If you aren’t doing anything intensive at the moment, your CPU usage should be low in Task Manager—less than 20 percent or so. If your computer is sitting idle and your CPU is busting out 100 percent of its power, look through that list to see what program is eating up those cycles. Maybe you have something running in the background you forgot about, or maybe you’ve been infected by malware that’s using your PC’s resources without your knowledge.

If the fan noise kicks in only when you’re purposely doing something intensive, such as gaming or converting a large video file, then that’s the desired behavior, and it’s time to look closer at the hardware itself.

GIVE YOUR PC ROOM TO BREATHE