GA-P55A-UD3 CPU fan spins up briefly and randomly

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jblang

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I just completed my new build using a GA-P55A-UD3 motherboard about a week ago. I've noticed the CPU fan will spin up to full RPMs for about a second and then spin back down, seemingly at random. I haven't noticed any stability issues with the build or any other problems besides this. There is no corresponding spike in CPU usage or temperatures that goes along with the fan spinning up. I am not overclocking and have the optimized defaults loaded in BIOS, and I'm using BIOS revision F4.

Has anyone seen this? Do you have any thoughts on how to fix it? It's probably not worth RMAing the board over but it is sort of annoying.

Relevant build details:

GA-P55A-UD3 Mobo
Core i5-750 CPU
4GB Kingston HyperX 1600 Memory
Thermaltake Silent 1156 CPU cooler
 
Solution
F


I am on my second P55A-UD3 (I replaced but not for fan reasons). And the both have had this "issue", so it just a bug with the board, its not a short or anything. It doesn't bother me that much but ill probably try and sort it out in the bios settings a some point.
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bilbat

bilbat

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Pretty new design; my guess would be a BIOS glitch - I don't know why, but, having looked at lots and lots of BIOS release notes (what little there is of them :kaola: ) to help out here, it seems that both when GB goes to a new LPCIO (low pin count input/output chip - the 'goodies' that actually do the fan speed sensing/control), or even sometimes when they bring out new boards with old LPCIOs, it takes a BIOS release or two before they 'get it right'; again, I don't really understand this, as they've been using the same manufacturer's LPCIOs for, like, a decade - and they're all 'familial, so new ones 'inherit' functions from the older ones - but, there it is... (But, who knows what the actual trouble is - I'm not responsible for writing BIOS code (just 'hacking' it :D ), and would kill for source code to a BIOS!)
 
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jblang

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Thanks for replying. Not exactly what I was hoping to hear but I guess I'll wait it out until a few more BIOS revs come out. They just released beta F5a this week but I don't think I want to run a beta BIOS.
 
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bilbat

bilbat

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I don't think I want to run a beta BIOS.
Click to expand...
Normally, I'd agree, but there sometimes isn't a reasonable choice; my workstation's 'current' BIOS, for, like, the last eight months has been a 'beta'; they released another 'beta' over it, and subsequently withdrew it, but never offered a 'finalized' version... With these new platforms, the boards and the CPUs can really be considered 'beta', so it's no surprise that they're learning things with every stepping and every BIOS release - in the case of the X58/P55 boards, I'd load every BIOS rev, as it comes out, and be careful to never delete one, as you never know when the 'step back' you want, in the case of a new problem as oppesed to a new fix, will cease to exist on their web-site... Of course, this assumes that you're comfortable with, and confident in, your BIOS flashing technique - and NEVER using @BIOS!
 
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bilbat

bilbat

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That's the spirit! :bounce:

Another thing that I sometimes point out, is that, if no one was willing to ever load a beta anything, software/firmware development would be set back immeasurably! Several of my favorite 'toys' (for example: MCE Buddy, MediaStudio, UltraMon) are perpetually in a beta state - it's how the developers learn what parts of their stuff are working, and what needs further revision... Without the tens of thousands of astute users who loaded the seven betas, as they were released (as well as the millions of 'hangers-on'), and reported back to MicroSloth with the results, seven would likely suck worse than Vista did! And, I figure I contributed to the Vista mess, because after the first couple betas, I gave up on it, having become disgusted with the weekly (if not, sometimes, daily) reformat and reinstall headaches - and MS lost another 'useage data' source...

I do industrial systems, and one of my favorite parts of the process is on-site start-up, as talking with and training the actual users inevitable leads to (sometimes major) improvements, and I thrive on the adulation that comes with their amazement that it can 'work like they want it!' I can't tell you how many times I have worked months on a machine whose operations spec was written by an engineer at the client's facility, and then arrived for start-up, only to hear from the operator "well, that's not how it should work!" - and you find out that the 'spec-writing' engineer was four builings and a half-mile from the factory-floor user, and never thought enough of the 'peons' to ask their opinion about any facet of the re-vamp...
 
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jblang

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It's not betas in general I'm leery of. I ran Windows 7 RC for the entire time it was out and I regularly use "beta" software that seems plenty stable. I'm actually a tech support engineer (and previously a programmer) so I'm very familiar with the software development process.

However, the word beta attached to a BIOS just makes me a little nervous.
 
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bilbat

bilbat

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Yeah - I hear you... Firmware is so pervasive in nature that you don't want something 'flakey' in your machine for sure, and bad software is rampant - hence the amazement by operators that something can 'work like they want it to...'; thus, we spend our lives using devices whose programming is, at the least, 'sub-optimal', at worst, abominable! I often stand at an ATM, or a grocery store's 'self-checkout' kiosk wondering 'did the *&^%head who wrote this crap, EVER in his whole life, ever USE an ATM?

One of the prime examples that comes to mind, is the series of BMWs whose relative resale value has plummeted, as they have the early version of their 'iDrive' firmware, which made the cars nearly unuseable!
 
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jblang

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One other thought... my BIOS allows me to select between voltage and PWM to control the fan speed. Currently I have it set to Auto. My Thermaltake Silent 1156 supports PWM (4-pin connector), so I'm assuming that's what the BIOS is using. Do you think that changing it to Voltage control would make any difference?

Guess I can try it and find out... but the fan spin up is intermittent and unpredictable so if anyone else has any definitive knowledge on the subject, I'd like to hear it.
 
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ekoostik

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Is it possible your CPU is just kicking into gear? Doing something in the background that raises the temps just enough to cause the fan to kick up a notch, the fan does its job and the background job ramps down and so the fan slows back down. Your anti-virus program or any background task could be running. Open task manager and watch the performance. See if anything picks up. You could also try running realtemp or coretemp and see if the temperature changes.
 
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drummerdude681

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I see its been a while since the last post but i have noticed my cpu fan exhibiting the same behavior as yours. I've got a GA-P55A-UD4P. I thought you may find it comforting you are not the only one experiencing this.
 
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jblang

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Thanks for letting me know.

I actually ended up taking the motherboard back to the store and getting an ASUS P7P55D PRO instead, although it wasn't really because of the fan. My video card died and I initially thought it was the motherboard (I didn't have an extra computer to test the video card in), so I exchanged it only to find my video card still didn't work. Oh well, I'm happier now anyway. The ASUS supports 8x/8x Crossfire/SLI, which the UD3 didn't, and I haven't had any trouble with the fan. I gave up SATA3 and USB3 in exchange, but I didn't anticipate using those features in the near future anyway.

Anyway, I hope you can figure your problem out or that Gigabyte releases a BIOS update that will fix it.
 
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jblang

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I don't think you understand...

The fan WAS spinning under the auto speed control setting. Usually it would spin at an RPM that was appropriate to the temperature that the CPU was running at. For instance, when it was idle, it was around 800-900RPM. When I ran prime95, it would spin up to 1700RPM. That, I didn't have a problem with, since the added speed is necessary to keep the CPU at a reasonable temp.

The problem is that when the CPU was perfectly idle, and the temps were in the low 30s, for no apparent reason at all, the fan would briefly spin up to 1700RPM for a second or so, then go back to normal. It sounded like the computer was revving it's engine at me :).

Most people probably wouldn't have even noticed it, but I am pretty anal about having a silent computer and I tend to notice any change in noise level at all. I swapped out my Antec 300 for a P183 because it was too loud and even with the P183's noise dampening panels, I could still notice the fan spinning up for no apparent reason. And besides, this was just the sort of unexplained mystery that tends to get under my skin.

Anyway, it's a moot point for me now, since I got the ASUS board, which doesn't have that problem. Still, I hope that GB fixes their BIOS for other people's sake.
 
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jblang

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Definitely was an issue with the board since I am using the same fan with the ASUS and don't have that problem. Whether it was the RPM sensor, temp sensor, BIOS, or whatever, I can't guess... and will never know since the board is back at Fry's now (probably being repackaged as new and pawned off on an unsuspecting customer).
 
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FinalJenemba

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I am on my second P55A-UD3 (I replaced but not for fan reasons). And the both have had this "issue", so it just a bug with the board, its not a short or anything. It doesn't bother me that much but ill probably try and sort it out in the bios settings a some point.
 
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