Help with Noisy Case Fan...video inside

GinG · 27 Oct 2017 at 17:05

Hi All,

Recently built a new Ryzen PC, all is well and fairly silent however the new rear case fan is making an annoying noise when attached to the PC. Remove from the case and silent, I have made a video below to show you what I mean.

The fan is a Coolermaster RGB Air Balance and the mounting points are all rubber. This is running at the lowest RPM of 700.

Is this normal??

Thanks!

mickyflinn · 27 Oct 2017 at 20:12

Could just be vibration from the the grill it mounts on, does the fan have diffrent speeds if so try it and see if you can elimante the vibration by faster speed..

danny77 · 27 Oct 2017 at 20:25

Agree with above seems to be cause by vibration on the grill , is there any way to tighten it ?

Pocah · 28 Oct 2017 at 11:44

The problem is the type of fan in combination with that there grill. The answer is to place a spacer in-between the fan and the grill. Get an old fan the same size and remove all the motor and blades so you basically have a tube. Screw the tube in place then attach the fan to the other end of the tube. You will be amazed at the difference it will make.

GinG · 30 Oct 2017 at 09:29

Thanks for the suggestions guys.

@Pocah I ripped apart an old corsair fan and added it as the spacer...it has stopped the 'whoosh' noise however I think it is a problem with the fan bearing.

Ordered a replacement put this time the Airflow rather than Airbalance fan to see if it helps and will be sending this one back.

EsaT · 30 Oct 2017 at 11:40

GinG said:
it has stopped the 'whoosh' noise however I think it is a problem with the fan bearing.

Distance between fan and airflow obstacles smooths airflow (turbulence) noises.
But pressing that grill/mesh by finger quitening noise strongly hints it being caused by vibration.
So fan likely doesn't rotate smoothly.

By keeping fan in hand it's possible to get feel for its vibration level.
Unfortunately it's hard to know it before hand from some fan.
Lots of "reviews" don't cover vibrations at all.
Noctua fans bundled with heatsinks have serious vibration level, while cheap Scythe SlipStreams have been very smooth rotating.
So even price isn't good indicator.

GinG · 30 Oct 2017 at 12:04

EsaT said:
Distance between fan and airflow obstacles smooths airflow (turbulence) noises.
But pressing that grill/mesh by finger quitening noise strongly hints it being caused by vibration.
So fan likely doesn't rotate smoothly.

By keeping fan in hand it's possible to get feel for its vibration level.
Unfortunately it's hard to know it before hand from some fan.
Lots of "reviews" don't cover vibrations at all.
Noctua fans bundled with heatsinks have serious vibration level, while cheap Scythe SlipStreams have been very smooth rotating.
So even price isn't good indicator.

Thanks mate.

Yeah I think the fan isn't rotating smooth, I have decided to go for a different fan profile on the one coming tomorrow and see if it helps a little. Doing a little digging Coolmaster recomend the Airbalance for front and the Airflow for rear...will see if it makes any difference either way.

Purchased from Amazon so returns are no worry.

EsaT · 30 Oct 2017 at 13:20

GinG said:
Yeah I think the fan isn't rotating smooth, I have decided to go for a different fan profile on the one coming tomorrow and see if it helps a little. Doing a little digging Coolmaster recomend the Airbalance for front and the Airflow for rear...will see if it makes any difference either way.

Coolermaster claims fully same bearing/motor design so likely there aren't differences.
(besides individual variation)
And hubs looks definitely similar.

So unless blade/fan frame materials are different with some of them resonance prone different blade geometry shouldn't have effect to vibration.
(black standard plastic often better than shiny fashion plastics)
And those resonances really cause "ringing" noise instead of vibration.

Besides keeping powered fan in hand there's very simple way to test possible smooth/rough rotating.
Pushing propeller of unpowered fan by finger.
Slip Streams (or Gentle Typhoons) rotate very smoothly, while Noctuas feel like they have some darn octagon shaft and hole.

GinG · 8 Nov 2017 at 13:17

EsaT said:
Coolermaster claims fully same bearing/motor design so likely there aren't differences.
(besides individual variation)
And hubs looks definitely similar.

So unless blade/fan frame materials are different with some of them resonance prone different blade geometry shouldn't have effect to vibration.
(black standard plastic often better than shiny fashion plastics)
And those resonances really cause "ringing" noise instead of vibration.

Besides keeping powered fan in hand there's very simple way to test possible smooth/rough rotating.
Pushing propeller of unpowered fan by finger.
Slip Streams (or Gentle Typhoons) rotate very smoothly, while Noctuas feel like they have some darn octagon shaft and hole.

Just received the replacement Air Flow version. Exactly the same if not louder!

When I have it in my hand and it is rotating at certain angles (verticle being one of them) there is a noise/slight vibration which I can imagine resonates through the whole of the case. It is almost a fault with the product as turn it upside down with all the weight off the bearings and it is silent...turn it around and the noise is there.

Ideally I wanted to keep the same fans throughout...I assume if I go down another RGB route colours will be fairly similar?

I may just keep with the free bundled case fan as it is silent!

EsaT · 8 Nov 2017 at 17:18

GinG said:
Ideally I wanted to keep the same fans throughout...I assume if I go down another RGB route colours will be fairly similar?

Red, green and blue of LEDs are pretty much all similar coloured because it comes from materials used and isn't something you can decide arbitrarily.

But don't you think that it would be better for fan makers to first make good bearings/motors and thinking about bling bling only after that?
Vs. current situation of bling bling being the most important part...

pigeonguyuk · 9 Nov 2017 at 11:59

definitely a vibration noise had a similar issue with my old nzxt 810 switch case. was a little flex in the fan grill causing it.

GinG · 9 Nov 2017 at 13:05

pigeonguyuk said:
definitely a vibration noise had a similar issue with my old nzxt 810 switch case. was a little flex in the fan grill causing it.

I think this could be the issue...thing is change the fan back to the standard Coolermaster one bundled with the case and it is silent.

As I have changed the standard Ryzen cooler to a Cryorig H7 the fan is even noisier! I do think it could be a design fault with these particular fans...although the 3 RGB Coolermaster Fans built into the case run silent also.

pigeonguyuk · 9 Nov 2017 at 13:59

GinG said:
I think this could be the issue...thing is change the fan back to the standard Coolermaster one bundled with the case and it is silent.

As I have changed the standard Ryzen cooler to a Cryorig H7 the fan is even noisier! I do think it could be a design fault with these particular fans...although the 3 RGB Coolermaster Fans built into the case run silent also.

think I found with this is sold fan (without rubber corners or dampers) seem to apply more pressure to the case eliminating the "flex" whereas with rubber corners etc that still allows for flex