My PC is very noisy doing basic stuff

pc_fodder said:
@doyll I believe this is the case I have: https://www.overclockers.co.uk/cors...o-atx-case-black-cc-9011029-ww-ca-122-cs.html

It has fans front and back with a nice amount of dust protection: front, back and bottom (there is a grill/vent at the bottom). I think its a decent case (again I am not really experienced here).

Then there are the two CPU cooler fans on the top (which I was talking about.
Click to expand...
Not a bad case.
You said '2 cooler fans on top'. Does that mean you have a CLC cooler on CPU?
What make and model are your case fans? Some fans are okay, some are very good, and many are garbage moving almost no air through grills and filters.
 
It will likely depend on the model of all-in-one watercooler you have, but if you have your pump's power connector hooked up to the motherboard rather than via a molex connector, you should be able to see the RPM of it.
 
@doyll I think it is this one: https://www.overclockers.co.uk/cors...cpu-cooler-240mm-cw-9060040-ww-hs-03n-cs.html

Here is a (bad) pic:
https://ibb.co/DzP9Syv

However - (long story short) since my mobo is a bit old and I want to upgrade my ram etc etc, (I have about 5-6 threads going!) I decided to get a new mobo, CPU and RAM - and as a result I need a bigger case because I did not pay attention to the size of the new mobo!

So I will probably re-build my old PC as was at some point, but my new setup is this (this is the one I want to get right):

This is my new case (same as the old one but taller):
https://www.overclockers.co.uk/cors...4CyTn5DPD19n5aUFIxdzjUs_jLLWEqlxoC0C0QAvD_BwE

I will start with the stock fans. I am not planning to put on my corsair water cooler (at least not to start with) - the CPU comes with a nice big heat sink/fan (in case) so I will probably just leave the top of the case grill empty and see how that goes. The rest of my system is:

My current system:
But now that I have had noisy fans in the past - I am keen to avoid the same issue in the future! - so any suggestions welcome! - I read that article you posted. Feels like I should probably upgrade my case fans (though I don't really know how good the ones that come with the case are). I still have two spare case fans from my old unit - I could put them in somewhere too!
 
@Zefan - I use some software (can't recall the name - but one of the well known ones - afterburn?) it told me the speed was constantly 2300RPM (+/- a little) but then I read somewhere this is a normal reading for a water cool system (which I don't really understand), but I could def hear the fan getting louder.
 
So while I was waiting for my new case to arrive so that I could assemble my new mobo, CPU, RAM etc... I thought I would re-assemble my original setup (the noisy one).

Having given everything a good clean - especially the thick thick layer of dust between the AIO cooler heat sink and its two fans - I put everything back together. I did not have any new thermal paste (it has not arrived yet), so I was a bit worried, so I did not clean off the old paste - and hoped for the best.

I started it up and the fans came on for the usual start-up burst and then went very quiet. I was ready to pull the power at a moments notice. I got all the way to windows and started to monitor the temps - here is what I noticed:

- The temperatures fluctuate a lot more then they did before, but stayed between 40-60*C. The fans are very quiet, but some times where ramping up just a tiny bit if I did something (like open a web browser).
- I ran a VM (to take 50% of my CPUs) and did a quick build (got a few core upto ~80% for a while. The CPU temps still fluctuated a bit, but the fans kicked in a little bit and that kept them below 60/65*C.
- Then I did a full stress test (all cores 100%). Now the temps got up to 80-85% and the fan ramped up, but still not very much - and the temps held indefinitely at around 80-85*C.

The is far better then before where my fans where max'ed out and my CPU temps where exceeding 100*C!

So I think if I clean the old thermal paste off and re-apply some new stuff (in theory) it should be even better.

I am just so amazed by the difference, its like a new PC! - so things to take away from this are:
- Clean the dust out from between the heat sink and the fans (on AIO) - not sure if the same applies to normal CPU heat-sink/fans?
- The old paste looked quite dry, so probably worth a clean/re-apply when I do the dust-servicing...

Also I am amazed that I put the PC back together again first time and it did not blow up! - it did take me like 3 hours though :o - now I feel a lot more confident to put my new PC together (which was the original purpose to re-assemble my old PC)
Thanks to all for various advice and pointers :)
 
pc_fodder said:
One more thing - if I shacked the water cooler heat sink/CPU pad gently I can hear water sloshing about...
Click to expand...

This is one of the tests you would be asked to do. That you can hear sloshing is both a good sign and potentially a bad sign. The sloshing means that there is fluid in there. It also means that there is air in there. So it's a question of degree. You can check the level by putting your finger on the radiator just as if it were a room radiator. You can als make a general check by weighing it. Corsair will list the shipped weight on their website. You also need to make sure that the tubes to the CPU are at the bottom of the radiator otherwise you could end up pumping air.


pc_fodder said:
The old paste looked quite dry, so probably worth a clean/re-apply when I do the dust-servicing...
Click to expand...

Definitely. Do clean both surfaces before reapplying the thermal paste. And compressed air works wonders - just hold the fan blades stationary when you're cleaning a fan.

I'm glad you're making progress!
 
pc_fodder said:
@doyll I think it is this one: https://www.overclockers.co.uk/cors...cpu-cooler-240mm-cw-9060040-ww-hs-03n-cs.html

Here is a (bad) pic:
https://ibb.co/DzP9Syv

However - (long story short) since my mobo is a bit old and I want to upgrade my ram etc etc, (I have about 5-6 threads going!) I decided to get a new mobo, CPU and RAM - and as a result I need a bigger case because I did not pay attention to the size of the new mobo!

So I will probably re-build my old PC as was at some point, but my new setup is this (this is the one I want to get right):

This is my new case (same as the old one but taller):
https://www.overclockers.co.uk/cors...4CyTn5DPD19n5aUFIxdzjUs_jLLWEqlxoC0C0QAvD_BwE

I will start with the stock fans. I am not planning to put on my corsair water cooler (at least not to start with) - the CPU comes with a nice big heat sink/fan (in case) so I will probably just leave the top of the case grill empty and see how that goes. The rest of my system is:

My current system:
But now that I have had noisy fans in the past - I am keen to avoid the same issue in the future! - so any suggestions welcome! - I read that article you posted. Feels like I should probably upgrade my case fans (though I don't really know how good the ones that come with the case are). I still have two spare case fans from my old unit - I could put them in somewhere too!
Click to expand...
Good info! Thanks.

I don't like CLCs, in fact I almost hate them. Your Corsair case will allow you to fit even the tallest air coolers and with good case fans setup properly they cool very well. But if you haven't already got it there are better cases out there for similar money. Corsair doesn't say what their case fans are and without knowing stock fan model number I can't say if they are any good or not. I don't always watch forums, so sometimes it might be up to a day before I reply. Hope that's not a problem.

pc_fodder said:
So while I was waiting for my new case to arrive so that I could assemble my new mobo, CPU, RAM etc... I thought I would re-assemble my original setup (the noisy one).

Having given everything a good clean - especially the thick thick layer of dust between the AIO cooler heat sink and its two fans - I put everything back together. I did not have any new thermal paste (it has not arrived yet), so I was a bit worried, so I did not clean off the old paste - and hoped for the best.

I started it up and the fans came on for the usual start-up burst and then went very quiet. I was ready to pull the power at a moments notice. I got all the way to windows and started to monitor the temps - here is what I noticed:

- The temperatures fluctuate a lot more then they did before, but stayed between 40-60*C. The fans are very quiet, but some times where ramping up just a tiny bit if I did something (like open a web browser).
- I ran a VM (to take 50% of my CPUs) and did a quick build (got a few core upto ~80% for a while. The CPU temps still fluctuated a bit, but the fans kicked in a little bit and that kept them below 60/65*C.
- Then I did a full stress test (all cores 100%). Now the temps got up to 80-85% and the fan ramped up, but still not very much - and the temps held indefinitely at around 80-85*C.

The is far better then before where my fans where max'ed out and my CPU temps where exceeding 100*C!

So I think if I clean the old thermal paste off and re-apply some new stuff (in theory) it should be even better.

I am just so amazed by the difference, its like a new PC! - so things to take away from this are:
- Clean the dust out from between the heat sink and the fans (on AIO) - not sure if the same applies to normal CPU heat-sink/fans?
- The old paste looked quite dry, so probably worth a clean/re-apply when I do the dust-servicing...

Also I am amazed that I put the PC back together again first time and it did not blow up! - it did take me like 3 hours though :o - now I feel a lot more confident to put my new PC together (which was the original purpose to re-assemble my old PC)
Thanks to all for various advice and pointers :)
Click to expand...
That dust blanket was definitely extremely limiting your airflow through radiator. How old is your CLC? While that dust-bunny blanket was likely most of your problem, if CLC a few years or more old it is likely not cooling as well as it did when new because as pump wears coolant flowrate diminishes. CLC specs don't give us the pump flowrates becaue they flow about as much as healthy you adult can **** after having a few pints, approx 40-55L/h. By comparison AIOs that are not CLC like Alphacool aisbaer & be quiet@ Silent Loop pumps are rated 75L/h and Swiftech Drife X3 is rated 660L/h. For comparison the most popular custom loop pump, the D5 is rated 1500L/h.

Keep in mind even the best CLCs when new cool only a little better than top tier air coolers at same noise levels in case with decent airflow. If It was me I would be buying a new top tier air cooler for my new build. ;)
 
@doyll thanks for your feedback on CLCs (had to look that one up!).

doyll said:
I don't always watch forums, so sometimes it might be up to a day before I reply. Hope that's not a problem.
Click to expand...
No problem at all - I am really appreciating all the great advice I am getting from OC - very friendly forum :)

Its good to know they are not so much better then their air cooler counterparts :) - after re-building my old PC back to its original form, the CLC takes up a lot of space (not that this is an issue anymore), they are more complicated to install and - as I found - have a major dust issue after a few years (I never had that problem before). Also it sounds like they degrade over time - I am not really into that! - far too lazy to have components that degrade.

FYI: my I purchased my original PC from OC in 2014 - so it was about 6 years old. I had cleaned most areas a few times - just never though to look inside the CLC fan/heat-sink assembly.

I just got my new case - so I will stick with that one! - it says in the spec: "Includes three AF140L fans, with room for up to eight fans." Could not see them on the OC website, not really sure how good they are - but they sound like a decent fan from corsair website. There are two in the front (middle-ish) sucking air in and one at the back near the top of the case.

Looks like I can fit two more at the bottom near the front (under the drive bays) and three more along the top. I guess that I could (not saying I will):
- Add two at the bottom that are pulling air in.
- Add 1-2 (or 3??) at the top, more towards the back venting air out
To give a sort of front to back, bottom to top air flow...
 
6 year old CLC is most likely on borrowed time. You have used it longer than many have lasted. I would not re-use it on a new system. I wouldn't use it at all, but that's a differnt story. :)

Needing to clean radiator fins as intakes with no different than cleaning any other intake on a case. You just didn't think about it. We all do a few things in our life just like it. ;)

Those 3x AF140L seem to be garbage. They are 1000rpm rated 67.43cfm with no static pressure rating. AF140 quiet edition 1150rpm are rated 67.8cfm and 0.84mm H2O static pressure. That is how much pressure they can push into a sealed container at full speed when fan stops moving air.

Good case fans need to have more than that. I iike PH-F140MP fans. A 2-pack of them is £16.26 making them £8.13 per fan. All you need is 2x of these as front intakes and block all opening in front not covered by fans so air they push into case has to move through case and not leak back in front of them. Remove all PCIe back slot covers to increase rear vent are around GPU for better front to back airflow and thus lower air temp into both CPU and GPU coolers for lower temps at fan speeds making less noise. Block bottom vents exept for back one where PSU is and block half of top so all air front intake push in has to move back. With this setup you don't need any exhaust fans at all, just the 2x intakes. If you want you could use one of included fans as rear exhasut, but I doubt they will change temps of air into cooler much if any. If you end up needing more case airflow PH-F120MP 2-pack is £14.99 so £7.50 a fan and put them as bottom intake to flow more air to GPU. This might mean putting a divider between GPU and CPU so GPU heated exhaust cannot leak up into and warm up the cool airflow to CPU cooler.

What are you thinking of for a CPU cooler? A good top tier air cooler is £50-80.

Using more fans just creates what I call airblow instead of airflow. We don't want air blowing around inside of case, we only what air flowing from intake to cooler then out of case. ;)
 
@doyll Firstly, I have just built my new PC (new case, plus mobo, CPU etc). I used the stock CPU air cooler as you guys suggested (I kept the CLC cooler for my old PC in case I need "something" temporarily, but it is effectively de-commissioned). I also just have the stock case-fans.

Already its a really quiet machine! (well, I am used to ridiculously noisy machine - so I am probably easily pleased!).

It does not really tell me what the heatsink/fan is - it but it just came with the CPU. For the moment I am not tempted to spend too much since I have just forked out ~£600. But I am really interested in your fan setup you suggested. If my fans are crappy, and new good ones are so cheap I might as well upgrade :) - why do they provide such poor fans when they are so cheap? - doesn't make much sense, ah well!

I think I will go with the PH-F140MP fans on the front and seal up the bottom. I might leave the rear fan in place since it can't be worse the a hole! - and remove some more back plates

really appreciate the great advice :)
 
Don't forget to block any other holes in the front fan mounting panel not coverd by fans so the air they push in has to flow through case. Cases come with lousy fans for same reason so many cases have very poor airflow design, because they can and don't care. These companies are owned and ran by business people, not people educated in how airflow works, how computers work, etc. The fans used in cases (axial fans) ideally should have same spacing in front and behind them as their diameter, at a bare minimum it should be 1/3rd of their diametter. This rarely is the case (no pun). Even the least restrictive grills (like 3-5 rings of round wire) restrict airflow to about 71-72% compared to hole with no girll. Punched metal grills (like bottom and back) only flow 25-50% of what an open hole will. Decorative grills in front and top of cases are much worse, and of course filters restrict airflow much more as well.

Fan rating are really a joke. Airflow rating is fan at full speed with no restriction at all. Like a fan hanging in middle of open room blowing air around. As I said before static pressure rating is how much pressure fan makes at full speed pushing air into a sealed container. This is so little pressure it's taken in mm H2O water column. 3.73mm H2O is the difference in air pressure on our body if we are standing at sea level instead of standing 10 feet above sea level. Noise level is again a pressure reading of fan with no resistance to airflow. None of these conditions represent any way we use our fans.

That should work fine.

I happend to have independent test results of AF140Q (your stock case fans) and PH-F140MP. I combined them into one chart with red lines between similar RPM to show how PH-F140MP are quieter, move more air and achieve higher pressure ratings. Looking at it now, I should have red lined between 564rpm and 589rpm too, but I think you can see the difference. ;)
https://www.overclock.net/forum/attachment.php?attachmentid=345100&stc=1&d=1589112194

** Do Not Hotlink Images **
 
Last edited by a moderator:
If you want to monitor in real time what airflow is doing the best way I know of is something like the indoor/outdoor digital wired sensor thermometer at end of guide. There are many out there. There are some fridge, terrarium, aquarium ones with small regtangular meters that can be mounted into case often costing less than even the cheap indoor/outdoor ones. Monitoring case airflow temp into cooler fans is best way to know where fans work best and what speed / rate of airflow works best. Air is a fickled witch often doing what we don't expect. Sometimes lowering a fan's speed will improve airflow to one or the other coolers. Sure, we see temp changes in component, but seeing air temp into their coolers is even better way to monitor. ;)

I don't think you have enough posts to activate your trust account, but if you can I can direct you to sources of these thermometers. OcUK does not allow us to post links to competition, and to them everything is competition on some level. :D
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top Bottom