Clicking noise with Top Fan? How to diagnose?

[Freddyp411]

My i165 machine starts to make clicking noises when rpms go up (from what i can observe at least I believe it is the top fan but not entirely sure)? Would it be safe for me to start up the machine and play a game without the top fan on to see if its the issue?

 

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[Gotchapine007]

Feels like something is touching the blades. It might be something that fell into it, just bent or misplaced.

Did you touch the fan recently? like removing it to open the tower?

[Queeg]

Definitely sounds like either a failing fan or something in the blades.

 

I'd pop the top (but leave the fan connected) and tilt it out a bit just to be sure it's clear of any obstruction and then use iCue to set the performance mode to Extreme. You should be able to see if the fan blades are hitting anything and, if not, hear where the sound is coming from.

 

If you need a new fan, you can search the forum here for threads by others who have replaced the top fan. Some folks have installed a higher RPM fan, but if you want one that runs in the same range as the stock fan (1500 RPM), I can recommend the Noctua NF-A14 PWM Chromax. It's a great, quiet fan that matches the stock fan in performance and sound level.

[Corsair Mint]

Reach out to our support team, we'd be happy to help look further into what could be causing the noise.

https://help.corsair.com/hc/en-us/requests/new