ATI Radeon 9800 fan dismembered

I got this card back in '03, and I've been taking care of my computer since until this year [since I've been away at college.] Last night I decided that I should clean the innards of my machine because it was due for it.

I noticed that there was a dismembered fan on the floor of my tower, and it belonged to my ATI Radeon 9800 video card. The fan seemed to have computer chip transistors [whatever they're called] on it, and seemed like it's important to the system. I couldn't put it back on, it seemed to be completely broken off and impossible to fix.

I haven't really noticed any difference in performance on my computer [although I don't really play computer games anymore.] Should I be worried? Is there anyway to check the exact effect this has on the card? Has this happened to anyone else? Should I fix it? etc.

Jam it back in, in the dark.