small pic for bensam...

once on the 1070 was maybe bad luck, twice in a year on my two Strix... its not (same 3rd fan failing)
and for sure, this third one is directly connected to the card with a lot of wires
Yup, I've had a few Strix fans fail. It's always the one by the PCIE power connector for some strange reason. Maybe it gets hotter, runs faster, or something. Cards seems to work fine with two fans though so I don't RMA them.
small pic for bensam...

once on the 1070 was maybe bad luck, twice in a year on my two Strix... its not (same 3rd fan failing)
and for sure, this third one is directly connected to the card with a lot of wires
sleeve bearing = quiet, short lived, cheap
ball bearing = durable, loud, expensive
Simply put sleeve bearing is not good for >1 year of mining. You need have replacement ready every year. Sleeve bearing only makes sense for dorm mining even if you can find replacements.
Nothing on the fan mentions the bearing type unless you googled the model number. Asus generally has very good fans and are ball bearing.