I'm close to replacing my entire system, which is currently a P4 3.0GHz, a good 2 years old. In the meantime, I have to deal with this thing... and it started working overtime a few days ago. I'm pretty sure it's the stock intel CPU heatsink making the noise, as I've got an Antec P190 case with very silent fans and excellent airflow, and a 7900GS that I'm positive doesn't make that kind of noise.

Using SpeedFan, the following are my temps:

System 35C

CPU 61C

AUX 47C

HD0 33C

Core 53C

Ambient 0C

Vcore: 1.41V, +12V: 12.14V, AVcc: 3.36V

Obviously nothing's overclocked. I can bring the CPU fan down to about 90% via SpeedFan before the temp starts rising to 70C and beyond. At 90%, it shows CPU fan as hovering around 3400RPM, which is a little hard to believe, but it certainly sounds like it. The core is running at 3011MHz.

So, uh, what the hell? It's always been pretty damn loud, but in its current state, if I don't get some soundproof earmuffs, I might go clinically insane from the constant humming.

Relevant specs:

Intel Pentium 4 630 3.0GHz

ASUS P5GD1 LGA775 mobo

Thermaltake TR2 W0070 430W psu

Samsung PC3200 2x 512MB DDR400 ram

GeForce 7900GS KO

Lower your overclock and reduce the fan RPM, or get a new HSF. You can get decent HSFs for $20 - $30 which are quiet and perform MUCH better than the stock Intel HSF.

lol epsilon did you even read the post before answering?
He said its not overclocked....

To the OP: Have you cleaned dust from the heatsink? Dust build up will decrease the efficiency of the heat transfer and cause 'intelligently controlled' fan to increase its speed to prevent overheating. Or maybe the ballbearings of the fan are breaking down and causing the noise...

My apologies, I misread the post into saying he DID overclock... LOL!

I agree, it's probably a bearings issue. They are probably worn out, and when that happens it causes a really annoying high pitched whine, which is really annoying.

Clearly the HSF of dust may reduce the fan RPM as well, another option would be to lower the Vcore in the BIOS (basically undervolting the CPU) this would make it run cooler and lower the fan speed.

hey i think you should watch out for dust in your heatsink and it's better if you apply new thermal paste like arctic silver. if that's doesn't do i think it's time to go for new cooler. if don't intendent to OC then you can buy one for reasonable price.INtel Stock HSF been always Noisy when it comes to high rpms.

clean it! or
buy a new computer! or
replace the hsf?

your cpu temp is high for 3.0c at 1.41v it should be lower - with a 3400 rpm fan

i think your hsf is loose or your themal compound is brittle remove the hsf and clean and reinstall with new compound

Thats part of the problem Also, the GPU cooler *might* be making the noise. I know when I manually turn the fan on mine up to 100% it gets pretty obnoxious.

-mcg

The CPU makes no noise at all...Only if they explode; then they go pop.
It's a fan and or bearing.

Re-install the heatsink with new thermal paste and replace the noisy fan with a new one.Problem solved.

I agree, no need to post a thread over this. Get ya that new fan/heatsink, better quality, and put some new paste on it. With those temps you may not even have any paste on it or you forgot to take the plastic film off it???? Its a socket 775 board you may be better off with a faster much cooler Conroe based C2D CPU anyways. You might look into one of those.

Haha, thanks for the advice. I cleaned out the HSF and it's now running at 100%, at 2400RPM. The CPU is running a full 30C lower (no joke) than before I put a vacuum cleaner to it! I didn't realize that much dust could build up in a few months.

Yeah I'm aware that buying new paste, HSF and processor would fix the problem. I was looking for more of a solution to what I've currently got. But anyways, problem solved until i upgrade.