Fed up with fan noise

Brazo · 16 Dec 2016 at 22:41

So my i7 4790k 4.6 ghz is cooled by a swiftech h220-x. Which has 3 noctuna industrial 120mm 2k fans attached. They are set to 'silent' in the bios but still operate with a humming noise. Full speed is massively louder so I know that the 'silent option' is working to some extent but still far too noisy for my liking.

Aida64 shows my fans to be running at 1800rpm at 'silent' yet the fans are only rated for 2000rpm and they spin up massively faster when on full power so not sure if this readout is accurate. They should be able to spin down to 900rpm or less.

Have tried speed fan and no difference still this humming noise. On the plus side it's keeping my cores at less than 65c on the aida64 stress test!

Brazo · 16 Dec 2016 at 23:34

Ok update(!) just stopped the fans and the noise was still present so guessing this is pump noise? Anything I can do?

Benjamham · 17 Dec 2016 at 00:00

The pump is PWM compliant so if you have it plugged into a pwm header on your motherboard then go into the bios and reduce the RPM of the pump. This should hopefully reduce the humming noise but unfortunately with aio units like the h220x, small pumps running at high rpms are often used

Brazo · 17 Dec 2016 at 08:42

Benjamham said:
The pump is PWM compliant so if you have it plugged into a pwm header on your motherboard then go into the bios and reduce the RPM of the pump. This should hopefully reduce the humming noise but unfortunately with aio units like the h220x, small pumps running at high rpms are often used

Thank you I will look into that. I was under the impression it wasn't an AIOninit, rather a pre built open loop cooler.

Brazo · 17 Dec 2016 at 09:21

Pump cable only has two wires so not pmw it would seem? This plugs into supplied fan controller but seems pump is on/off only?

Benjamham · 17 Dec 2016 at 14:31

Brazo said:
Pump cable only has two wires so not pmw it would seem? This plugs into supplied fan controller but seems pump is on/off only?

from what I know that fan hub plugs into sata for power and the motherboard for rpm control. It is an open-loop system but an aio at the same time (aio just means all in one, you may be getting confused with clc)

Brazo · 17 Dec 2016 at 22:46

Going to have to check to see what's plugged into where as it shouldn't be making this whining noise.

ubersonic · 20 Dec 2016 at 12:21

Use a toilet/kitchen roll tube held to your ear to find exactly where the noise is coming from.

Sounds like it's either pump whine or the noise of the case vibrating.

deFiniLoGy · 20 Dec 2016 at 12:59

Try booting with the pump powered down (SATA cable carries power to the pump) and you'll know whether the noise is the pump.

Brazo · 20 Dec 2016 at 22:46

deFiniLoGy said:
Try booting with the pump powered down (SATA cable carries power to the pump) and you'll know whether the noise is the pump.

Thanks that's a good idea.

My 1080 is also making a bit of fan noise, wish I'd paid another £150 and got a decent cooler!!

Brazo · 20 Dec 2016 at 22:58

Ok so tried that and yes it went a bit quieter, I stopped the top two fans and it went even quieter. The 140mm fan at the back was also making a little noise. Amazon have agreed an rma on the 220-x. Think I'll do that and get a quieter 1080, a dh15 will be silent with Ula, going to back to air cooling.