Rumbling Noise under laptop

I have a persistent rumbling noise coming from the fan area of my laptop, which is a Samsung R580. I do not think it is my hard drive since I have installed an SSD. Although persistent, it is only persistent in the fact that it keeps periodically occurring; there are times when there is no noise and others where it occurs (this ranges from me surfing the web or me playing HD movies). I have attached a 30 sec audio file of the noise along with this email if that helps--sorry for the .rar format but .wma is not supported and the converted .wav file was too large.

Thanks in advance for any aid that is offered!

eternalx said:

I have a persistent rumbling noise coming from the fan area of my laptop, which is a Samsung R580. I do not think it is my hard drive since I have installed an SSD. Although persistent, it is only persistent in the fact that it keeps periodically occurring; there are times when there is no noise and others where it occurs (this ranges from me surfing the web or me playing HD movies). I have attached a 30 sec audio file of the noise along with this email if that helps--sorry for the .rar format but .wma is not supported and the converted .wav file was too large.

Thanks in advance for any aid that is offered!

Thats a fan for sure.

zigzag3143 said:

Thats a fan for sure.

Ahhh...Do you think it is because it is dusty? How would I go about fixing it? I don't know if its very serious or not.

I don't think it is good to ignore it. Laptops can be difficult to keep cool at times without fan problems. Monitor your temperatures.

I would buy a can of compressed air. With the laptop switched off try to find an object to gentle stop the fan blades rotating and give it a blast of compressed air. Clean out any other cooling vents.

Identify the specific fan model and any replacement guidelines and prepare in advance for replacement. The bearings may be on the way out. This may also give you some idea what a reasonable price is for a computer shop to do the work if that's the way you want to go.

eternalx said:

zigzag3143 said:

Thats a fan for sure.

Ahhh...Do you think it is because it is dusty? How would I go about fixing it? I don't know if its very serious or not.

From the sound of that fan I think it is DOA. Download CPU-z to keep an eye on the temps, and if it is under warranty return it.

If not get ready to have a fan replaced.

I have monitored the temp of the comp through Speedfan--I don't see the option on CPU-z. My laptop temperature ranges from 40 degrees to 55 degrees for the GPU, idling and watching HD videos respectively; for the CPUs, it ranges from 33 to 47 degrees, idling and watching videos like before. I have not had to have someone service my laptop ever, so would it be cheaper to send it to the manufacturer or have a local shop do it? I hear horrid tales of laptops sent to the manufacturer returning with scratches and damages, as if it has went through a warzone. Also, would I have to open up the laptop to find the fan model number? I couldn't find info on it online.

Thank you again for the replies.

Re: repair shop. I generally listen to word of mouth recommendations.
Stating the obvious perhaps: Approach the shop with a degree of confidence - eg. "The laptop fan is failing. How much will it cost to replace and give the laptop a clean out while you have the case off? Of course there is no need to touch anything on the HDD is there?"

My local shop wants $100 to replace the fan and clean the laptop. It seems a bit steep to me--the fan I searched online costs $35.