I started having some worrying noises from my Asus G75VX laptop yesterday. A very faint grating noise, it sounded like it came from the CPU fan so I ran a stress test. As the fan sped up, it became evident that it was the CPU fan. On full speeds, the grating sounds was gone, probably because the fan stabilize while spinning fast. Once it slowed down to normal speeds, the sound returned. This laptop have a cleanable dust filter underneath the fan, which gives me limited access to the fan. I opened up there just to check, and the fan feels slightly loose, I can wiggle it a little bit. Not much, but it should obviously not be like that. Thankfully I found an authorized Asus spare parts provider based in Sweden. I ordered a replacement fan for my model and some thermal paste. Sending my laptop in for service was not an option as that would leave me without my beloved Arch system for too long. I've never replaced a fan on a laptop before, and opening this beast seems to be a rather complicated process. Provided I get the fan before next weekend then I'll get it done during next weekend. I will just need to find some online tutorials on how to properly open these Asus laptops.
Some Asus guides here: http://www.ifixit.com/Device/Asus_Laptop And for yours, but no full tear down guide: http://www.ifixit.com/Device/Asus_G75VX But, this guide may give you a rough idea: http://www.ifixit.com/Guide/Reapplying Asus G73 CPU and GPU Thermal Paste/4826
A couple of tips: Keep track of all the screws. I use sticky notes and label where the screws came from Don't forget to pull the battery (before you shock yourself) Use the thermal paste on both CPU and GPU chips Take some time and check for loose screws Hopefully its the exact same fan. I've purchased fan replacements from Amazon and Ebay then it turns out to be a little bit different than the original fan and won't fit. Let us know if you have any questions.
Thanks for the links and tips. The place I bought from is Asus Parts and they specifically state what is a CPU fan and what is GPU fan, and they have listings for every Asus laptop model available. They also claim it is original parts, and since they are officially sanctioned by Asus I doubt they lie about having original parts. I just hope this fan can survive until I the weekend.
Smart man! That is the way to go. The fan I replaced was on an old laptop... so I had to resort to Ebay. I have even replaced a cathode for a screen, but it was an absolute pain!
It looks like I have to wait until next week before I can replace the fan. I checked the tracking information and, not unexpected, once the packaged reached my country things slowed to a crawl. We have quite the overly complicated customs laws and things may at times get held up for a few days. At least the fan still seem to work and I can keep using my laptop. I just don't dare do anything too CPU demanding as that would cause the fan to spin up. The last couple of days it sounds quite bad sometimes when the fan speed up. I am constantly checking CPU temp just to make sure it still get adequate cooling.
Yeah, I feel your pain. There have been a few times I have ordered a part from Amazon to find out later on it was coming from China. Takes a few weeks at that point. Wish I had known before ordering the part.
I finally received the new fan today and replaced it. I found a youtube video of a complete teardown of the Asus G75VW, which appears to be completely identical in design. It was about time that I got it replaced because the fan was making some loud noises last night as well as right after work today. The disassembly was a bit complicated, but thankfully I got through it well with the video. As for the new fan, I would recommend Asus Parts to anyone with an Asus laptop that need replacements parts.
