noctua-u12s

Relentless81 · 13 Apr 2017 at 08:12

hi,

installed one of these to my 1600x yesterday, bought it because noctua and its supposed to be silent etc

I absolutely hate whining fan noise so for the price, build quality and reputation I thought this would be a no brainer but it makes the most awful whining sound under any type of load, just browsing the internet its whining away doing my head in

is it faulty maybe? Not sure what to do I've been without a PC for too long and need it for work so returning is difficult, its fitted correctly as far as I can see

is this noise normal for a noctua fan?

thanks

ttaskmaster · 13 Apr 2017 at 11:48

NO fan is silent.
Many are almost imperceptible at low rpm and Noctua are generally some of the quieter ones.
However, all fans will produce airflow noise of some kind, especially under load.

That said, it shouldn't be whining. Noctua have a 6 year warranty on their fans, so do get in touch with them if you have issues.

Relentless81 · 13 Apr 2017 at 12:04

Ok thanks, only had it a day though so should probably speak to OCUK about it

Still seems odd as it performs as expected and at idle temps its silent, its only when it ramps up that you get this turbulent buzzy sound

ttaskmaster · 13 Apr 2017 at 13:08

Might want to check that it's properly secured, again.
If that doesn't help, maybe see if you can move it up or down on the heatsink, by a couple of fins...

Relentless81 · 13 Apr 2017 at 14:53

ttaskmaster said:
Might want to check that it's properly secured, again.
If that doesn't help, maybe see if you can move it up or down on the heatsink, by a couple of fins...

I dropped noctua an email, those guys reply fast, within an hour!

They asked me to remove it and let it run in my hand to see if it still buzzes, makes sense really but how am I supposed to do that without cooking the CPU! Need to put it under load to see if it makes the noise and don't fancy putting a brand new CPU under load without a fan attached to the cooler or will it be ok for a minute do you think?

SC0TTRS · 13 Apr 2017 at 15:00

Been using a Noctua for 3 years now. Get a low hum when just web browsing and general work which increases when under full throttle. surprising considering the size of the thing!, it's one of the quietest I've used over the years and never misses a beat.

ttaskmaster · 13 Apr 2017 at 15:29

Relentless81 said:
how am I supposed to do that without cooking the CPU!

Before I attempt a long (and potentially patronising if you already know this stuff) post on how to do this safely...

Do you have a 24-pin ATX bridging clip in your PSU box?
Do you have a 4-pin Molex adapter in the Noctua box?
Do you know how to use them?

Relentless81 · 13 Apr 2017 at 15:33

ttaskmaster said:
Before I attempt a long (and potentially patronising if you already know this stuff) post on how to do this safely...

Do you have a 24-pin ATX bridging clip in your PSU box?
Do you have a 4-pin Molex adapter in the Noctua box?
Do you know how to use them?

sorry you've lost me I still need to remove the fan from the cooler to do the test, testing it isn't a problem having the pc running without a cpu fan is but in terms of not putting under load you're right, not sure if I have those cables though

ttaskmaster · 13 Apr 2017 at 15:49

Relentless81 said:
sorry you've lost me I still need to remove the fan from the cooler to do the test, testing it isn't a problem having the pc running without a cpu fan is but in terms of not putting under load you're right, not sure if I have those cables though

Not quite so worrying and no need to even power up the CPU...

With the PC shut down and completely unplugged from the mains:

You disconnect the big long plug from the side of your motherboard. You then use a bridging clip (included with all decent PSUs, or get one from Maplins for a couple quid) or a paperclip (Google it, as pictures are far better) to bridge two of the pins in that plug.
You can then plug the PSU back into the mains and power it on with the switch on the back - This powers anything connected directly to it, *without* booting the PC or anything plugged into the motherboard... including the CPU.

As for the fan - Noctua usually include several accessories, one of which is a short cable that has a 3-pin or 4-pin fan connector at one end and a bigger 4-pin Molex connector at the other. Again, Maplins sell these, too. You plug the Molex into one of the 4-pin PSU cables and connect that directly into your PSU, then connect your removed Noctua fan to the smaller 4-pin fan connector at the other end.

Then, when you power up the bridged PSU, the fan will spin up to full speed and you can do the test.
Just remember to keep fingers and stuff clear of the fan blades!!

Relentless81 · 13 Apr 2017 at 15:58

ttaskmaster said:
Not quite so worrying and no need to even power up the CPU...

Ok cool thanks for that, unfortunately for me though when I think about it the only cable that came with my U12 kit was a speed reducer, I'll double check but I'm pretty certain that's all that came with it.

What if I remove the 120mm case exhaust fan, temporarily fit that to the cooler and then plug the Noctua fan to the case fan header and set that to full speed in the BIOS, I think that should be ok as the CPU is only going to into the BIOS and it has a fan fitted so all should be good

ttaskmaster · 13 Apr 2017 at 16:01

Yeah, that should be fine.

Steampunk · 13 Apr 2017 at 17:30

Noctua fans are generally very quiet due to the oil bearings. You may get air noise depending on what the fan is blowing through, but that's more of a "whooosh" sound that shouldn't be annoying. Sure it's not something vibrating in your case, or one of the other case fans?

muon · 14 Apr 2017 at 01:04

At high speed all fans will make a noise by virtue of moving air.

http://noctua.at/en/nh-u12s/specification

22.4 dBa @ 1500rpm or (18.6 dBa @ 1200rpm with the LNA) isn't silent.

However, at low loads you wouldn't expect it to reach far above 600rpm which is generally very silent only noticeable if you put your ear right up against the fan.

Relentless81 · 14 Apr 2017 at 08:02

Yeah it seems the fan might be fine, removed it and refitted it and it seems quieter, no idea why it was fitted correctly the first time. I just don't like the noise it makes under load. The Scythe's I had before made like a bassy hum where as the noctua just seems to be buzzy

Whats the best way to share a video?

Steampunk · 14 Apr 2017 at 09:30

But its not just the dBa's, it the type of noise. 25dBa going "rrrrrrrrrrrrrhhhhh" is much more intrusive than "sssshhhhhhhhh". I've never heard a Noctua fan buzz, and I've probably fitted a few dozen over the years.

I know the fans nowadays come with little rubber corners, and some of the older ones needed a rubber strip installed on the cooler to insulate the fan from the cooler or else you got vibration noise from the fins. If you're refitted it and it's better, I'd say there's a fitting issue somewhere.

Relentless81 · 14 Apr 2017 at 15:03

You wont believe what ended up being the cause of this in the end, the BIOS.

I know right.

Cooler is on a 1600X, I updated the BIOS today and the cooler is completely different, I literally cannot hear it even under load where as before it must have been running at high RPM all the time and revving up and down

An odd one for sure but it was definitely that as its completely different now

muon · 14 Apr 2017 at 15:51

Relentless81 said:
You wont believe what ended up being the cause of this in the end, the BIOS.

I know right.

Cooler is on a 1600X, I updated the BIOS today and the cooler is completely different, I literally cannot hear it even under load where as before it must have been running at high RPM all the time and revving up and down

An odd one for sure but it was definitely that as its completely different now

Well its not really the BIOS then but the fan profile. If it was simply the case that the fan was spinning faster then that is different to the fan being noisy.