Hey all - any experience with this?

Couldn't get my PC to turn on today. I pulled it out, wiggled everything, and turned it on. It took several tries, and the only weird thing I saw was the CPU fan - the fan would start to spin for about half a second, and stop. The time it booted the fan ran for half a second, stopped for several moments, then booted like normal. No strange noises.

So is the CPU fan completely dead or just working sporatically? You should replace it ASAP or it'll fry (unless the mobo has built-in overheat protection, but you still won't be able to use the computer in that case).

Try dusting it out with a can of compressed air just to see if it's dust blockage. Replacing a CPU fan/heatsink can be a sticky process, especially with an older manufactured PC.

Home built PC, about six months old. Right now everything is up and running just fine, no noise or temp warnings.

If the fan fails you can take a piece of paper and fold it in a way that waiving it up and down or side to side will create air movement like the fan.

If the system is not booting the fan slightly moving is typical of a power up starting then then something else failing. The fan is simply one of the first things that gets power. I would suspect power supply first. Replacing the power supply is easiest and the cheapest. I would start there.

If the system is not booting the fan slightly moving is typical of a power up starting then then something else failing. The fan is simply one of the first things that gets power. I would suspect power supply first. Replacing the power supply is easiest and the cheapest. I would start there.

/agree

And from past experience with fans that don't spin up I found out that my PSU was the culprit. It's one of the first parts I look at when I have odd glitches.

I was afraid of that...it's not a cheap PSU. Maybe I just won't turn the PC off...ever...

Your PSU may still be in warranty if it's only been six months. I have a nice PC Power & Cooling PSU (single voltage rail @ 1000w) with a three-year warranty and have actually had to replace it once after a power issue with my previous residence, but no troubles with the return process. Look into your warranty.