CPU Fan speed problems.

[Humpy]

I just noticed that my CPU fan won't go beyond 3500 RPM no matter how hot my CPU is. I got a 955 BE with it's stock cooler and it used to go beyond 6000 RPM. I tried disabling the Cool and Quiet and everything but it's still the same. Any suggestions?

 

[N.Broekhuijsen]

as long as your temps are below 62C, it doesn't matter.

Try disabling fan speed scaling in BIOS, and see if it reaches that high speed then

oh and before I forget: 6000 RPM??? That is just stupidly high.

Must sound like a delta engine

 

[sudeshc]

I dont think it will go to 6000 RPM, 3500 RPM fine as long as it keeps your temp under specified range.
If you dont feel comfortable try using some after market cooler.

 

[Humpy]

Xbeater I tried that before and was still the same. Maybe the fan is half broken? Any ideas?

And Sudeshc, it went over 6000 RPM this summer in order to keep the CPU at 40-45C, but now it won't go over 3500 no matter what I do and yes it was loud like hell, it was like having a mini jet plane in my room.

 

[N.Broekhuijsen]

could be that the fan is just old, and that the ball bearing is just worn out, providing too much resistance for the fan to be able to go up to those speeds.

honestly I would advice just grabbing a $20 aftermarket cooler. It will keep the temps lower then now, and it will be a lot more silent. in the end it's just 20 bucks, and you'll love yourself for it.

If you don't care about noise, and the CPU remains below the specified temp threshhold, then this stock cooler should be fine.

 

[Humpy]

Yeah, I thought about buying a new cooler when I've first heard the stock one, but I wasn't sure the corsair h50 or the Noctua NH-D14. The Noctua is kinda bulky but it's better than the corsair, I'm still undecided between these two.

 

[N.Broekhuijsen]

depends on what you prefer: A sexy looking big bulky cooler, or the braggin rights to be able to say that you have water cooling, even though you know that technically the Noctua is better.

Just want to say though, you don't need such overkill coolers for your CPU. Unless you plan on overclocking, thats a lot of money for just a cooler

 

[Humpy]

I know, but a lot of the new coolers (the tower types) block the first dimm slot, I could wait till December for the Spire Thermax Eclipse II which should be half the price of the Noctua but it will be useless for me.

And the Noctua will be really silent, with the fans at ~900 RPM. And the horizontal coolers suck compared to the tower ones, it will be almost the same thing with the stock cooler.


And as far as overclocking goes, I'm a noob, I have no idea how to OC properly, I could do a 20% OC from the MOBO switches. Besides my MOBO isn't the best for OCing.

 

[N.Broekhuijsen]

hmm. Fair enough.

About blocking the first dimm slot: Im using A Cooler Master V8 on a MicroATX board, and yes it blocks the first slot, but I can still fit a dimm with memory cooler underneath the V8...

really for you I would try looking at the Hyper 212+ from cooler master. but no further

 

[Humpy]

Yes, the Hyper 212+ and V8 are both good choices.

But Noctua is so cool. I bet the chicks would form a line at my door and I could OC the CPU just for kicks.

Hard decision, life's so tough sometimes.

 

[Humpy]

You were right xbeater about the ball bearing.

I decided to take a look again at the fan so I took it down, cleaned it and put a bit of oil inside.

Now it runs at 3600 RPM and does a rattiling noise. Thanks for your help. ^_^

 

[N.Broekhuijsen]

lol. it's experience from working in a computer store (like a proper store where we build rigs, not best buy kind of place )

 

[N.Broekhuijsen]

anyways i've tried the OC for chicks thing... doesn't really work, unless chicks these days are into geeks

Anyways I'd just go for the 212+. It is technically superior to the V8, and costs less.

Only sacrifice your making is a sexy looking cooler, but trust me, the 212+ is still a nice big cooler that you'll love.

I just want to mention that all of these coolers we are talking about are quite overkill if your not OCing, so it's just a waste of money.

If you wish to OC a bit to make use of the cooler, that CPU will easily do 3.7-3.8 on stock voltage, simply by upping the multiplier, which is a joke, my 3 legged cat could probably do it.

 

[Humpy]

It's decided, I'll go for the 212+, since it's way cheaper than the Noctua. By the way I can still fit the first dimm module underneath the fan, right?

 

[N.Broekhuijsen]

yeah the 212+ is not that long in that direction. you should be fine.

In my time of building computers in a store with it i've never had a problem with it.

just read the manual on how to mount it, it can be a little bit tricky.