My partners PC sounds like a jet engine, need advice on upgrades

David Northmore

David Northmore

David Northmore

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30 Dec 2018
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8
Hi there,

Been a long time since I posted anything, but wanted to check some other opinions before I decide on what to do next.

My partners PC is a build comprised of hand-me-downs from upgrades on my own PC, performance wise they're happy with it as they're not a major PC Gamer, however the thing sounds like a jet engine which makes me thing the AIO cooler is not up to scratch anymore and is on its way out.

It also has 2 Noctua fans (unsure which ones, but they're several years old now) which I believe also contribute to the insane amount of noise.

I've attempted changing settings in the BIOS and via software to try and mitigate the fans going full "fighter jet" but it doesn't seem to make a difference.

Any suggestions to either mitigate the noise or get some new components to improve the cooling would be very much welcome, see below for their current key parts (I'm omitting things like storage as its not really needed)


PC Specs:

CPU : Intel Core i9-7900X 3.3 Ghz 10-Core processor
CPU Cooler : Unsure on the make, but its a 2 fan AIO, came with an old OCUK bundle
Motherboard : Gigabyte X299 AORUS Gaming 7 Pro ATX LGA 2066 Motherboard
Memory : Kingston HyperX Predator 32 GB DDR4-3600 CL17
GPU : Gigabyte GAMING OC GeForce RTX 2080 Ti 11GB
PSU: Corsair 1000W platinum (unsure exact model)
Case: Lian Li PC-011 Dynamic ATX Full Tower Case ( OCUK Store Link )

As mentioned, my current suspicion is that the AIO it has is no longer performing well, I've re-pasted this before but the noise never subsided, so I currently feel replacing this AIO with a new one would be a good idea to reduce the noise as well as removing the old noctua fans and possibly replacing them with some low noise fans just to promote good airflow.

Things to consider:

My partner likes to keep their office warm, but a decent AIO shouldn't struggle that hard (its not a sauna, just warm) and the case has good access/flow from all sides (its not tucked into a corner with the sides covered etc)
 
Potentially, you could get a cooler that has multi socket support instead of the AIO (2066 is getting tricky to maintain support though, cooler kits are dumping it), so it can be re-used if it doesn't do the business.

Fans shouldn't be too hard to replace, are the Noctua fans from the industrial range? This is very easy to test, since you can just disconnect them.
 
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I wouldn't know honestly, its a hodge podge of parts from hand me downs so essentially looking for a low cost solution to the issue.

Unsure on temps as I haven't sunk a bunch of time into it yet, more concerned that it sounds like a jet engine more than anything, I can hear it across the house with headphones on :)
 
David Northmore said:
I wouldn't know honestly, its a hodge podge of parts from hand me downs so essentially looking for a low cost solution to the issue.
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How are the fans connected, are they the old molex ones (same as a PATA hard drive/optical drive)? If they are, that would explain why you can't control them, because they would need fan controllers or resistors.

Modern PWM (4-pin) fans can easily be controlled by the motherboard, but they're fairly recent if much of your kit significantly predates the X299 motherboard.

The original peerless assassin I believe supports your socket and would be a low cost replacement, but the SE version looks like it has dropped it.
 
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You need to figure out the problem before you can get any solutions. Is it the GPU, case fans or CPU making the noise? Manually stop the fans to see which it is.

CPU - Check temps, if high then maybe the thermal paste is old and dry, change it. Could be the AiO is clogged, if so then depending on the AiO/your skills you might want to clean it out/replace it with a tower cooler for ease.
GPU - Check temps, maybe needs a repaste or set the fan curves using your software of choice.
Case fans - Maybe they're just 3 pin and set to 100% in the BIOS, check the fan curves in the BIOS.
 
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Alright, seems I need to go do a bit more in depth testing then, was hoping to avoid that honestly and just replace it but oh well :)

My current suspicion is the noctua fans causing all the noise, just because it sounds like they're spinning very fast... Thanks for the advice!
 
You can't replace until you know what it is causing all the noise at the end of the day, if it's only a recent problem, it's likely thermal paste has gone bad/poor contact on either on the cpu or the gpu, causing the fans to ramp up to maintain temps/clock speeds. AIO rad could just be blocked full of dust/smoke etc also.

If it's always been a problem, it's probably a misconfiguration somewhere, Noctua fans are good and well made and unlikely to be the issue (Unless set to 100% in which case its not the fans fault)
 
David Northmore said:
As mentioned, my current suspicion is that the AIO it has is no longer performing well, I've re-pasted this before but the noise never subsided, so I currently feel replacing this AIO with a new one would be a good idea to reduce the noise as well as removing the old noctua fans and possibly replacing them with some low noise fans just to promote good airflow.
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if this is a recent thing and has suddenly occured, then my first guess would be the aio pump dying or the aio coldplate getting clogged, either way, a new cpu cooler is in order
 
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David Northmore said:
Alright, seems I need to go do a bit more in depth testing then, was hoping to avoid that honestly and just replace it but oh well :)

My current suspicion is the noctua fans causing all the noise, just because it sounds like they're spinning very fast... Thanks for the advice!
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dose it need cleaning?
A friend said his PC is poo and need upgrading.... this is his AIO after 16 months, it just needed a good clean
 
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WARburton said:
pc runs for about 16hr's a day, in an office.
sometime the cleanest places generate the most dust lol.
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But the OP has an O-11 Dynamic which should come with all intakes filtered. I recently checked my filters that I hadn't touched for 3+ years and there was some dust, but the inside was still as clean as a whistle thanks to 6 intake and 3 exhaust giving loads of positive pressure venting out of the case at the top and the back grille. I suspect he might have been using the AIO as either bottom or side intake.
 
MissChief said:
But the OP has an O-11 Dynamic which should come with all intakes filtered. I recently checked my filters that I hadn't touched for 3+ years and there was some dust, but the inside was still as clean as a whistle thanks to 6 intake and 3 exhaust giving loads of positive pressure venting out of the case at the top and the back grille. I suspect he might have been using the AIO as either bottom or side intake.
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and thats the case as my friend(o11 mini but same same) and its also in an office that's why i posted
the AIO was side intake in his case.

even a very clean office are high traffic areas, dust is a given... also they always keep then on the floor...
 
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David Northmore said:
Alright, seems I need to go do a bit more in depth testing then, was hoping to avoid that honestly and just replace it but oh well :)

My current suspicion is the noctua fans causing all the noise, just because it sounds like they're spinning very fast... Thanks for the advice!
Click to expand...
If you just want to spend money and accidentally fix the issue then that's a great approach.
 
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