Delle310 fan revs up

[judymac307]

Hi, I have a dell e310 that works great, the only thing is the fan revs up so badly it sounds like a plane taking off. I have changed the fan, power supply, cpu, ram, and hard drive. Still the same ole thing. It is not constant, just starts whenever. loud and annoying. Any suggestions folks, thanks in advance.
Judy

 

[Ubrales]

Judy, welcome to Tom's Hardware Forums!

Can you better describe what this noise is and from where it is originating?

High CPU fan RPMs ---> Poor contact between the CPU and the heatsink.

When you hear this noise hold the sides of the computer together and see whether the noise subsides. I have one Dell Optiplex that does this.

The CPU fan is mounted with rubber mounts. Check and make sure that all 4 mounts are in place (none missing).

 

[judymac307]

It is the cpu fan itself, it revs up and sounds like an airplane taking off.
You know how it sounds when you first start your computer (the fan speed), it stays that was for a very long time. Then slows down and is quiet for a short period of time, then back to speeding up again. I have removed the fan shroud and also removed the cpu. Just was wondering why the fan speeds up so often?

 

[Ubrales]

It is the cpu fan itself, it revs up and sounds like an airplane taking off.
You know how it sounds when you first start your computer (the fan speed), it stays that was for a very long time. Then slows down and is quiet for a short period of time, then back to speeding up again. I have removed the fan shroud and also removed the cpu. Just was wondering why the fan speeds up so often?

The fan is responding to the CPU heating up. In this case, above normal temps.

This is due to poor heat transfer between the CPU and the Heatsink caused by improper application of thermal compound.

This can be corrected by dismantling the heatsink, completely cleaning the CPU and the heatsink base by using alcohol swabs and then re-applying fresh thermal compound (Arctic Silver 5 is what I use).

When you clean the CPU ensure that the alcohol does not get inside the socket. It is better to remove the CPU and to hold it upside down and then clean off the thermal compound residue. I did this on 4 Dell Optiplex desktop computers and got improved results.

In addition, while the heatsink was out, I polished the base flat using 600 grit silicon carbide paper (Optional). Do this only if you are familiar and skilled at polishing; if not the result will be worse than before.

Re-seating the CPU/heatsink will improve the heat transfer and thus reduce the fan RPMs.

I am assuming that there are no resonant frequencies that cause the metal side covers to vibrate in their natural frequencies.

Hope this helps!

 

[judymac307]

Thank you, I have removed the cpu and cleaned and applied the compound, didn't help, I then replaced the cpu with a known working cpu, no difference. I did this all before I posted, Mind bloggling. Is there a chance the motherboard is the problem? I have no clue.

 

[Ubrales]

Thank you, I have removed the cpu and cleaned and applied the compound, didn't help, I then replaced the cpu with a known working cpu, no difference. I did this all before I posted, Mind bloggling. Is there a chance the motherboard is the problem? I have no clue.

Yes, it is very possible and probable that the motherboard is the problem.

The CPU fan plugs into the motherboard header marked 'CPU_Fan'. During startup, the motherboard looks for this fan. if it is not present, it will shut the computer OFF. The speed control for this CPU fan is in the motherboard; increasing the RPMs when the CPU temps are high and reducing the RPMs when the CPU temps are lower.

If for some reason this speed control in the motherboard is defective, it will fault to full speed in the fail-safe situation. This could be what is happening.

You have already done the right things to correct the situation. In fact, you have gone beyond what most people do.

'RealTemp' can be installed on some Dell computers, not all. See whether you can install it on your Dell. That will give additional insight to CPU temps, and may provide a reason why the fan is running at such high RPMs.

 

[judymac307]

Thank you, I will try the RealTemp. Have a wonderful day and thanks again for all your help.

 

[Ubrales]

Thank you, I will try the RealTemp. Have a wonderful day and thanks again for all your help.

I forgot to mention; download 'RealTemp 3.40' - the newer 3.60 version has some glitches and reads about 14 degrees higher. I have verified this on 3 different computers. On my i7-920 the EVGA motherboard has a temp readout on the board. It matched the 3.40 readout, not the 3.60 readout.

 

[judymac307]

Thanks, but it says it won't work on wither of my dells. I appreciate all your help. Have a good night. I'm sure I'll be back

 

[Ubrales]

Thanks, but it says it won't work on wither of my dells. I appreciate all your help. Have a good night. I'm sure I'll be back

You are welcome! Good night! We'll be here!

(RealTemp works on my Dell Precision desktop and on my Latitude D630 laptop, but not on my Dell Optiplex GX 745; the CPU doesn't have the sensor)

 

[judymac307]

Well the fan still revs up, but I'm onto another projeck. I have a dell inspiron b130, the b n / and a couple other keys refuse to work on the laptop, I replaced it with another keyboard, the same keys plus a few more won't work. Now, the strange thing, I purchase a dell refurbished motherboard, and the same thing happens. Now what's up with that? New motherboard with the same problem, go figure. Any ideas?? I'm going to try to replace memory, maybe hard drive? I'm about ready to give up on Dell.

 

[Ubrales]

Well the fan still revs up, but I'm onto another projeck. I have a dell inspiron b130, the b n / and a couple other keys refuse to work on the laptop, I replaced it with another keyboard, the same keys plus a few more won't work. Now, the strange thing, I purchase a dell refurbished motherboard, and the same thing happens. Now what's up with that? New motherboard with the same problem, go figure. Any ideas?? I'm going to try to replace memory, maybe hard drive? I'm about ready to give up on Dell.

This sounds more like a settings issue. I am not knowledgeable in this.

Please start a new thread.

 

[judymac307]

Well, problem solved, tried a third keyboard and boom, it worked. Who would have thought two bad ones. But thanks for your help.

 

[Ubrales]

Well, problem solved, tried a third keyboard and boom, it worked. Who would have thought two bad ones. But thanks for your help.

Great!