I got a 8800gt 512mb alpha dog edition about 2-3 weeks ago. I do not overclock it but I do use RTuner to increase the fan speed if the card gets too hot (which it does, specially with Crysis). Two days ago, I suddenly hear some weird noise coming from my pc (like a bird singing) so I decided to open my case to take a look. It turns out the noise is coming from the 8800gt's fan.

Now I took it out of the case and blew at the fan to see if it would make any noise just by blowing at it, and it does...

Anyways, I put it back in because I don't want to mess with it. I did notice that if the fan speed is set to ~45 the noise stops. Any suggestions?

"...but I do use RTuner to increase the fan speed if the card gets too hot"

Define what you mean by "too hot". Over 75C? GPUs run hot, that's normal, especially under load.

If your fan is becoming noisy, it's most likely going bad. See if others have had problems with that particular make/model of card. Check if there's anything posted at the manufacturer's website...possibly in their FAQs area. You *may* be able to get a free replacement fan or may even have to RMA the entire card. I'm sure you don't wanna see your "investment" go up in a puff of smoke? You could always buy an aftermarket cooler, but I'm guessing it would void the warranty, not to mention the cost & hassle of installing it.

By too hot I mean above 65C, or is this not hot enough to force the fan to run faster? I will search for a website then. I would prefer not to buy a cooler...

"By too hot I mean above 65C"

You need to be more specific...65C isn't a problem. If you're approaching 75C, then you should start to worry. I'm not sure what nVidia considers the safe max for the 8800 series, but I've seen other GPUs listed as 100C or higher. Obviously you don't wanna come anywhere close to that.

What are the room temp & case temp? If your avg room temp is 20-22C (68-72F), your case temp should be roughly 30-35C. If it's significantly higher than that, you need to work on your case cooling configuration. Common sense should tell you that you can't cool something very well by blowing warm air on it. If you can bring the case temp down, the GPU (& CPU) temps *should* both drop along with it.

As an experiment, try temporarily removing the side panel & see how that affects your temps.

The room temperature is about 18-20C, case temperature is about 40C. I will verify these numbers and try removing the side panel when I get home. It seems XFX offers a "double lifetime protection so they may fix my video card for free :). I just need to register it.

"case temperature is about 40C"

Considering the room temp, the case temp is too high. How many case fans do you have & how are they arranged?

i concur the case temp is too hot.
what you want in a fan on the front sucking in nice cold air at the bottom of the case and at the top behind the cp you want a fan blowing it out. on of the side sucking it it you you must. also make sure the back of the case is a about 6 inches or more away from the wall or any surface. also make sure that there are no blanking pannels of the back left out you want the ait to run from the front over the cpu and out no diving out the space for the blanking pannel. although having said that chips can run hot and i mean very hot. 80c or 90c for a cpu/gpu is high but it can withstand it. good reason why not to put a laptop on your lap especially if its kicking out air of 80 to 90c onto your family jewels. but cool chips last longer.

but to reply to the question i think there may be dirt or a forien body in it that is causing the noise either that or the brearings are going but i doubt it on such a new card. send it back for replacment

all text needs typos. There there for the reader to find,to distract them from the total lack of content.
google it! wasnt the answer to the question i asked so dont be dense and give me that repl