On Sep 4, 6:11 am, poachedeggs wrote:

If you say something like WD40, then that's your problem.

No it was 3-in-1.

Yes, not a diagnosis as such but AMD surmised it and were unreluctant
to replace the fan and heat sink so it seemed worth a try.

Better effectively viewed sealed for the life of a non-maintenance
item bought for brandname reputation (or user-review polls) over
bearing/sleeve construction considerations.

I would post and link the noise as an mp3 if I could catch the machine ...

Bloody hell you will. . .there's better things to do besides recording
ants building hills. Get a piece of wooden dowel and put it an end to
the bone directly behind at the crack of your ear. With the usual
care due at the other end, poke around listen to the PC parts... it's
a technique that's proven immensely productive to busybodies waiting
on shipment for the greatest and latest PS everybody else is raving
about.