Struggling CPU Cooler?

PiE

Hmm... I started up my PC yesterday, and the CPU cooler (TaiSol CEK733092, recommended for up to 1.3Ghz, I'm using a 900Mhz Duron) seemed to make a noise like a dying chimpanzee. Actually it sounded more like the Raptors out of Jurassic Park when they were calling their buddy Raptors, just not as loud

It stops after the initial boot up.

Did the same when I booted up today though, so I'm starting to worry...

Anyway, I installed the Via Hardware monitor program that came with the mobo (Abit KT7A non-raid) and I checked the "CPU Fan Low" alarm. Sure enough, a few seconds later it said "CPU FAN ROTATION LOW!".

I don't know why... could it be an under-powered PSU (Fortron Source, 235W, 230V)?

Or am I worrying about nowth?

Thanks in advance...

Gerry

Its not the fault of your psu, for a start. Check that the fan can spin freely, that the blades are not hitting off the heatsink fins (perhaps the fan mounting is damaged). Check also that all the blades on the fan are ok. Otherwise your fan is more than likely screwed I'm afraid

SantaHoe

While we're on the subject of CPU fans...
My fan is disturbingly noisey in comparison to systems I've had before... are fans just getting louder in general? more rpm's etc?

Is there anything I can do to make my CPU fan that little bit more quiet? Apart from buying a new one :rolleyes:
Or are there any fans out there you'd reccomend for quietness?

Do I use enough question marks d'you think?

Gerry

You could run it on a lower voltage, by either putting a variable resistor in the line going to the fan, or just connecting the fan power wires to opposite ends of a molex connector ( positive to the yellow +12V, and negative to red. +5V) This runs the fan on 7 volts, which may be a bit too low for good cooling, depends what cpu you have.

Keeks

Originally posted by Gerry
You could run it on a lower voltage, by either putting a variable resistor in the line going to the fan, or just connecting the fan power wires to opposite ends of a molex connector ( positive to the yellow +12V, and negative to red. +5V) This runs the fan on 7 volts, which may be a bit too low for good cooling, depends what cpu you have.

Wouldn't that cause the fan to turn in the opposite direction, (or a least thats what i remember from elec theory).

Gerry

If the positive fan wire is still connected to the greater voltage on the molex connector, and in this case its connected to 12volts, the fan will still spin the same way.

sutty

Originally posted by Keeks


Wouldn't that cause the fan to turn in the opposite direction, (or a least thats what i remember from elec theory).

LOL!!!!

you didn't pay much atenchen in elec theory or maths did you

+12v and +5v, now if that was to be the other way around it should spin in the wrong dir.

Anyway back to the post. Both me and Gerry have variable resistor's on our CPU and system fans, you can also do out a crud circt. But for now the variable resistor mod is one of the best ways to go. (compared to the 7v mod) as at lans you may need to run them at full power to keep system stabilty. Its also looks and sounds great to hear them spin down

Keeks

point taken.........(I'm still not awake)

PiE

Originally posted by Gerry
Otherwise your fan is more than likely screwed I'm afraid

Doh!

It's only new, might send it back for a replacement.

(Though that'd probably cost more than buying a new one )

Thanks.

SantaHoe

Originally posted by Gerry
You could run it on a lower voltage, by either putting a variable resistor in the line going to the fan, or just connecting the fan power wires to opposite ends of a molex connector ( positive to the yellow +12V, and negative to red. +5V) This runs the fan on 7 volts, which may be a bit too low for good cooling, depends what cpu you have.

Good idea, I was having a poke around the mobo last night looking for any fan connectors lower than 12V - no joy though
I might have a go at the resistor idea, I'll see if I can salvage anything that'd do the job.

I'm running a Duron 800 (non/oc'ed), idle(ish) temp ~30°C IIRC... I reckon I could get away with less than the 5200 RPM my fan is doing at the moment.

Gerry

Well, are you sure you don't have a molex connector free? Presumably you know I am referring to the power connectors for hard drives and cdroms. Or you might have an extra floppy drive power connector, which also has the four wires on it, carrying 12 volts, ground, ground and 5 volts.

SantaHoe

Originally posted by Gerry
Presumably you know I am referring to the power connectors for hard drives and cdroms.

Well if you had said "power-plug thingy wot plugs into your HD" then I would yeah :P
I'm surprised I haven't heard of the term molex before :rolleyes:

SantaHoe

Yah, I've just checked... I don't really have enough power cable thingies™ left... only two large ones (oh er missus) which I'm not willing to part with
Bah!
The variable resistor sounds like fun though... I could hook up a knob (oh er missus) through the front of one of my 5" bays, for some on-the-fly fine tuning.

I'd still love to hear some ideas on how to quieten the fan by other means... I really think there's something wrong with this one - as it makes the whole chasis vibrate slightly.
Sticking your thumb on it, to stop it while the PC's running is like turning off a hair-dryer... it's that bad/annoying.

sutty

Little question for you, the fan you have is it a Delta?

Do you have a url to the page for it?

If it is a Delta fan, its ment to be loud and make the case vibrate.

You can always put sound profing in the Case and packing foam or bubble rap underneath it the case.

strat

I have a delta fan in my 1.4 athlon (unoverclocked - yet ) and boy is it loud !
Its mega uber loud proll becuse it stins at about 7200 rpm
it, coupled with an SK6 heatsink and AS II, keeps things cool tho at about 38C under load.

I hear (silly pun ) that Sunon fans are very good and alot quiter so il be replacing it with one of them and use teh delta with a variable resistor as an exhaust fan or summit

SantaHoe

It's a CoolerMaster, seems pretty popular.

Funny thing I tried this morning...
I plugged the fan out from the 3-pin power outlet on the motherboard and switched it around 180 degrees, and stuffed it back in (was a tight sqeeze)... but the fan RPM is down to ~3000 now from its previous 5200 RPM, or at least that's what the sensors tell me, which is probably a load of cobblers since one of the pins was the sensor - which is now erm... connected to the wrong end!
Hum...
It's still spinning in the same direction (anti-clockwise) as it was before, and the idle temperature has jumped by about 5 degrees to ~36C... all in all, it seems stable, no signs of overheating (yet).
And the noise level is bliss... you can actually hear the PSU fan now!

Comments?

Mountjoy Mugger

Originally posted by Dead{o}Santa
It's a CoolerMaster

Speaking of Coolermasters - do you leave the pad on them, or is it recommended you wipe them and apply some Arctic Silver?

SantaHoe

As far as I can remember, I just ripped the square pad bit off (or was it just the plastic bit covering the pad?)... there was some sort of adhesive underneath it... placed it ontop of the cpu, and that was that... never had any problems with cooling.
<<shrugg>>

Gerry

You will get a few degrees improvement by using thermal compound (doesn't have to be artic silver) instead of the pad. Personally I hate the pads, because if you take off the heatsink and put it back on again, the contact will not be as good, basically because the thermal pad melts around the cpu die.

Best way to take off is with a cloth with some white spirits on it. Then apply a thin layer of thermal compound to the cpu and reinstall the heatsink.

po0k

What would you use to apply the compund and ensure it's fairly flat?
Credit card? I kinda made a balls of it before.

Gerry

I just spread it around with the nozzle of the tube, you could use a credit card I suppose, but the main thing is not to put too much compound on. The heatsink will smooth it out anyway. Put the heatsink on, without clipping it. Then take it off and check that the compound is spread out ok.