New Socket-T (LGA775) heatsink sporadically spins every few seconds

[purplefire]

Bought a brand-new Intel Quad-core CPU which arrived today, i spent all day taking out my old components from the case and installing the new motherboard which arrived yesterday and the new RAM which also arrived today, all compliant with each other. The motherboard is a Gigabyte GA-P35-DS3L. I finally (after wrestling with it) managed to install the stock Intel heatsink fan correctly. What muppet designed it that way? Such an awkward thing to install, my thumbs hurt for ages trying to push the pins in until they clicked! Anyway, i re-inserted all of my peripherals and went to boot it up (with the side panel off just to clarify functionality of it all), but i quickly discovered the title of this thread was happening. I checked and re-checked the ATX_12V CPU power socket as well as the CPU fan power socket and they were fine. I would find it hard to believe it's the PSU as it's a pretty decent one running at 600W, i've been using it in my old system for a couple of years now without any trouble at all. - Infact it's what's powering me now as I re-assembled my old system so i could google the problem.

Incidentally, the new RAM was thus: http://microdirect.co.uk/(18241)Geil-Black-Dragon-DDR2-40GB-PC6400-Quad-Channel.aspx

 

[Major_Spittle]

This means it works. Run Prime95 and it will turn constantly.

It is the magic of thermal control of the fan motor thru the cpu.

 

[purplefire]

Sorry, could you elaborate on that a bit please? Are you saying that the fan idles to a near-halt while it's cool or not being used? Because as far as i'm aware powerful processors heat up something chronic while just idle, especially quad-cores.

I read through this before posting:

http://www.tomshardware.co.uk/forum/247554-10-system-core2quad-overheating-issue

Most people are under the same impression, infact in some other threads people went as far as to insult the poster for powering-on their system even though they suspected incorrectly seating the HSF.

 

[Mandrake_]

The stock Intel fan might take a few seconds to spin up when you power the machine, but after that it should run constantly. The fan should run slowly while the CPU idles, then speed right up when the CPU is under load. Have you considered that the fan itself might be faulty?

 

[purplefire]

I've certainly considered that, however it seems less likely as it does spin a bit. If it was defective i'd expect it to not spin at all.

Intel really do have crappy customer service out of the box, all i had was the most basic of basic multilingual manuals with just how to install the thing, in pictures, with no real instructions at all. I would have expected more for what i paid.

 

[lv426]

Hi

My fan does the same (arctic freezer 7 pro - c2duo e6750 on a gigabyte p35c-ds3r). if I boot from cold it will start and stop every few seconds, if I leave the pc doing nothing it can even stop spinning altogether. however if load up any games (hl2,crysis) then it starts spinning all the time.

So in my opinion, you have nothing to worry about, but if it does you can change a setting in the bios, and the fan will run at full rpm's all the time.

 

[purplefire]

Oh! Thankyou so much for the info, good to hear from a perspective of a similar situation as mine, that has put my mind at ease a lot!

 

[Evilonigiri]

Could be a mobo function or the fan isn't getting enough power during idle.

As long as the temps are fine, it's all good.

 

[boner]

hey what you can do at first is clear the CMOS by removing the battery, but still the fan wont power up until five to seven seconds later and im telling you that because i have the same motherboard

 

[Shadow703793]

This is the result of SpeedStep. I have personally seen PCs that never have the fan for more than 30 secs at a time when idle. This depends on the CPU, # of Case fan, and amount of airflow, ambient temp, etc.

 

[zenmaster]

You can also check your BIOS settings for the FAN.

The FAN for that board will not start spinning until the CPU hits 40c/104f.

 

[nukemaster]

Turn off gigabytes smart(or what ever they call it) fan if your do not want it....it's in with the hardware monitor....mine does it too.

With a new bios mine spins all the time....it starts at about 600-800 now...use to start at nothing then eventually go to 500....

I appears they have increased the speeds across the board because it lost 2-3c(its cooler) but gain 200-300 rpms(not noticeably louder)...

 

[bliq]

I have an all copper heatsink from CompUSA (pretty nice for $20) and the fan only runs if I play a game- it's usually not spinning. I think if your case has good airflow (mine is an Antec 900 and has a 120mm front fan with an unobstructed shot at the processor about a foot away, with a 120 exhaust right behind the CPU), it won't always run as the CPU doesn't get hot enough, 40C I think someone mentioned. Core 2 Duos and Quads are relatively cool processors and with good airflow, might not get up to 40 during light usage like web browsing and stuff like that.

 

[purplefire]

Thankyou all so much for your insightful replies, they have all helped and enlightened me a lot, and made me less worried about the welfare of my expensive processor.