Faster but louder

Yammer · 22 Mar 2013 at 11:10

I just replaced my OCUK 2008 Titan Lite guts with a new overclocked bundle from OCUK. Absolutely outstanding performance! :cool:

I kept the case & PSU, graphics card, SSD, 4 hard disks and DVD writer. Everything else is new. Things are quite a lot louder now.

Previously, I ran a Core2 Duo E7300 (2.66GHz) on an Asus P5Q Deluxe at 3.8GHz. The case has a top and rear fan, and an empty fan vent on the left. I used the turbo fan BIOS setting, which ran fairly quietly and ramped up when things got tough. Even when running at full belt (quite a lot during photo processing), it was more of a whoosh than what I have now, which I can best describe as "inside a stationary aeroplane".

The extra noise must be a combination of the two 120mm Zaward Golf fans sandwiching the huge Prolimatech Megahalems cooler and the case fans running at 100%.

So, short of replacing the case, is there anything I can do to reduce the noise? Is there scope in the BIOS, or would the overclock stop me doing anything there?

Yammer · 22 Mar 2013 at 11:27

zakblood said:
have you tried the fans the other way round?

i use same cooler, came with a bundle from here also, not a massive OC either at 4.6 on a i7 but when i put fans on, they both faced same way, made more noise, turned them around it's lots better, keeps it just as cool and less noise so worth a try before you go out and get better fans

I seem to remember you talking about this board before. I think we have similar bundles (Asus P8Z77-V); I bought mine on last week's special offer. I fitted the fans facing the same way, blowing to the back of the PC. I assumed this was the best way, as they blow towards the rear fan, which also blows backwards. My last (much smaller) set-up blew upwards, towards the top fan. I physically couldn't fit the cooler to point vertically, as it partially covered the RAM slots.

I'll try pointing the fans forwards.

By the way, what Windows utility do people use to monitor temperatures? I'm reluctant to use the Asus stuff, as it usually installs all sorts of crap.

Yammer · 22 Mar 2013 at 12:24

zakblood said:
i use the asus one myself, my rear case fans pulls air out, so one fan on cooler blows and the other sucks, both aimed at the rear etc, when it's the wrong way the air doesn't go out, temps are higher and noise more, so you no straight away if it's right or not tbh

i did mine wrong as well

Hang on, that's the same way I set mine up. Both cooler fans blowing to the rear, where the case fan also blows to the rear.

What did you mean by "when i put fans on, they both faced same way, made more noise, turned them around it's lots better, keeps it just as cool and less noise"?

Yammer · 22 Mar 2013 at 15:10

Actually, I just tried the Asus Fan Xpert software, and it told me that only one fan (rear) can be controlled. The golf fans have 3-pin connectors, so I guess that means they're fixed. Seems a shame that I'll have to change them straight away. It would have been better if I could have paid for a quieter option.

Yammer · 22 Mar 2013 at 15:33

Wish I hadn't bothered now. It didn't do a very good job of uninstalling. Bloody typical.

Yammer · 22 Mar 2013 at 17:03

dacads said:
Are the golf fans connected to motherboard fan headers? If so you should be able to control them via the BIOS.

The Asus motherboard headers are 4-pin, and the Golf fans are 3-pin. The unused pin is labelled CPU FAN PWM. I seem to remember that PWM stands for Pulse Width Modulation, which can be used for control. I don't know if the fans can be modulated, as there was no documentation.

So it looks like I'm going to have to spend more money for quieter fans and/or controller (which I need to look into). On top of that, I found that I couldn't use all of the USB ports as there were no expansion slot adapters in the box—apparently they are optional extras. Charming.

Yammer · 23 Mar 2013 at 10:42

zakblood said:
one pulls and one pushes, if both on cooler face same way, they are both blowing, so turn one around, i know it doesn't make sense, just try it and see the results, it will either work or it wont, for me it worked, what your after is front case fans pulling cool air in and cpu fan one sucking cool air off front case fan, one blowing air back onto rear case fan, and rear case fan sucking it out, if that all makes sense

I think you're describing what I have already done. You just confused me when you said "if both on cooler face same way". I think you must mean 'look' the same way, rather than 'face' the same way, because mine are both facing the same way--to the rear of the computer, like you describe.

Anyway, it sounds like I have a pair of relatively low-end fans which can't be controlled by the motherboard, and aren't damped by the case. To be honest, I was a little uneasy about attaching them to the cooler with the supplied clips too, as they aren't exactly secure. I hooked them around the ridge on side of the cooler and poked the angled ends into the fans' screw holes. I couldn't see any other way of doing it.