The Great Linux Grinding Noise

My linux box at work as been giving some issues lately. A weird sound was coming from it. I thought it was probably a fan. Because its a work machine, I decided against rooting around and fixing it myself.

Today it finally made enough noise that I couldn't stand it anymore. I put in an IT ticket and they came out to fix it. The guy turned it on, saw that it was the video card fan, and then just unplugged the power. This solution makes the perfect sense because:

1. Its linux, thus rarely run 3D applications.

2. Its quick and cheap ( 5 mins of his time, no material costs).

3. Fixing it "right" would have been at least 20 minutes of his time, and $10 for a new fan.

4. Its unlikely to overheat, given that its in an climate controlled office.

Would I have done the same in his place? If I was exactly in his place, with his job, yes I would have. If this was one of my home machine I would have RMA'd the card or bought a new fan. I'm just like that, I hate knowing that something isn't quite working.

Either way my linux box is up and running again. Silently.