• Some users have recently had their accounts hijacked. It seems that the now defunct EVGA forums might have compromised your password there and seems many are using the same PW here. We would suggest you UPDATE YOUR PASSWORD and TURN ON 2FA for your account here to further secure it. None of the compromised accounts had 2FA turned on.
    Once you have enabled 2FA, your account will be updated soon to show a badge, letting other members know that you use 2FA to protect your account. This should be beneficial for everyone that uses FSFT.

CPU Fan problems - need advice and recommendations

S

Spacetrucker

Weaksauce
Joined
Sep 22, 2005
Messages
65
Soon after getting my Arctic Cooling Freezer 64 CPU fan I noticed a high-pitched whining noise coming from it. I got an Antec Smartpower PSU at the same time and I was convinced the PSU was the cause of the noise. I replaced it with a Seasonic S12-430 and all seemed well. If you read one of my other threads about my temps you will have seen my CPU fan wasn't spinning and I had to connect it directly to the motherboard instead of into my front panel fan control LED thingy to get it to work. As a result of doing this I have discovered that the whining noise WASN'T coming from the Antec PSU as I thought, it has been coming from the Freezer 64 CPU fan. When I kinda move the holder slightly, it alters the noise, quietening it some. I have tried making sure all the screws are tight on the holder too but the whining persists. It's not loud as such, but certainly loud enough to be noticed and thus be pretty darn irritable.

There's a screw underneath the fan, which is what holds it down to the motherboard/CPU I think but I can't get to it as I don't have the right tool. I doubt tightening that up would make much difference though. I'm not sure really what is causing it to make this noise and am reluctant to try fixing it as I don't really know what I'm doing AND the last thing I wanna do is break it altogether. I'd appreciate any advice you guys could give me, this high-pitched whining is pretty annoying and I could do without it.

If I do need to get a brand new CPU fan I'm not sure what to go for really - I would of course want a combination of of good cooling capabilities and quiet running. I'm gonna sell my Antec PSU to make way for it, so would really appreciate some recommendations. My processor is an Athlon 64 3400+. Another question I have is, how easy is it for someone like myself with no experience of installing a CPU fan to put one in? Many thanks. :)
 
I have no idea why it would be whining, maybe its out of alignment or something.


Either way, if you can install a power supply you can install a HSF, just be gentle, and take your time!
 
Hard to figure out what exactly is the problem, but since Arctic Coolings site lists:

Long Lifetime / 6 Years Warranty
The ARCTIC Ceramic Bearing provides an unmatched Life Time of 137'000h (L10@40°C) resp. an MTBF@70°C of 163'000h and thus a 6 year warranty.

You should probably send it in for replacement.

According to their fine flowcharts at http://www.arctic-cooling.com/service.php it looks like sending it into your reseller for RMA is the way to go.



 
No idea why it would be whining. I thought maybe the fan could be hitting the little temp sensor, but that would not cause a whining sound I don't think. I agree with getting it replaced by the company. I too was nervous about installing a heatsink/fan on a processor, but if you take your time and be gentle all will go well. After you've done it once, you will be open to doing it again and again.
 
Thanks for your replies, much appreciated. The whining was a mystery to me too, but I have today discovered the cause and it's a strange one. When I push the fan holder just ever so slightly forward, like literally a few degrees, the whining stops. What seems to be causing it is the air blowing onto the silver fins - I guess it must be blowing into the gaps which is creating a whiney, windy-like sound. I've taken the fan off and put it back on with all the screws tightened but the whining comes back. I'm thinking a DIY solution is in order here, if I can tie something on the 2 black pieces of plastic of the fan holder then the pressure will move them together enough to stop the whining. I don't really know what else to do, it's certainly one of the strangest problems I've ever encountered PC-wise. Like I say, I'm 99% sure the whining is caused by the air hitting the silver fins. I don't really know what else it can be really. Any help/suggestions would be much appreciated. :)
 
wadec22 said:
... but if you take your time and be gentle all will go well. After you've done it once, you will be open to doing it again and again.
Click to expand...

I know its wrong to take things like that out of context, but that just sounds so ... so ... wrong. :p

As far as the fan noise it very weill could be a wind whistle type noise. Changing the direction of the fan will definatly change the way it blows over the fins. Good luck fixing it yourself.


 
I'm pretty stumped on how to fix it, is such a bizarre problem - but I guess I'll just have to keep thinking on it. Seems a DIY solution is the way to go.
 
didn't SPCR mention something about that particular fan making an annoying sound in their review? any chance you can exchange it for something else?
 
That would be soooo much funnier if I hadn't been the one to say it. :) Man, hate to be that guy. lol.


Party2go9820 said:
I know its wrong to take things like that out of context, but that just sounds so ... so ... wrong. :p

As far as the fan noise it very weill could be a wind whistle type noise. Changing the direction of the fan will definatly change the way it blows over the fins. Good luck fixing it yourself.


Click to expand...
 
flynlr said:
maybe try bending the fins a bit. might change the airflow a little.
Click to expand...

Yeah, might be worth a try I guess. It's so frustrating, one slight movement and the noise stops. :mad:
 
spy_kitty said:
didn't SPCR mention something about that particular fan making an annoying sound in their review? any chance you can exchange it for something else?
Click to expand...

Haven't seen that review, I've only saw parts of the Freezer 4 review. I'll take a look though. No chance of exchanging it for something else really - the best I could hope for is getting a replacement of the same one. Besides, I guess there's nothing wrong with it as such, I mean it does it's job - in a weird way physics is to blame I suppose. It's a strange one that's for sure.
 
OK here's my latest idea. As the air that's blowing towards the silver fins directly above it is causing the whining - how about if I COVERED the silver fins with something? I've tried sliding a really thin bank card under there and it works. Also it doesn't affect the airflow as the fan is still blowing directly towards the CPU and around the rest of the case. I know it's quite a bizarre problem and a bizzarre solution but I'd like to hear what you think.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top