Really annoying sound from CPU cooler (Arctic Cooling Freezer64 Pro)

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6 Jan 2007
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Hello!

I purchased an Arctic Cooling Freezer64 Pro for my AMD X2 4000+ CPU as I'd only heard good things about them.

However, there is this really annoying noise constantly from the cooler. The best way to describe it is like the noise a hard drive makes when it accesses data. Only this is constant.

Here's the weird part... When I play a game it completely goes. The thing is quieter under stress than it is idle in Windows.

I've tweaked the motherboard BIOS setting for quiet, and granted the overall noise level is very good when this is done, however I simply cannot stand this annoying background buzzing. Surely there must be a way to stop it.

Any help/advice appreciated
 
Just to add...

There is no overclocking on the CPU or motherboard. Everything is stock.

There are no loose cables, or anything that could be interrupting the CPU fan itself.

What really gets me about this problem is how the noise completely goes away when I load or play a game. Shouldn't it be the exact opposite?
 
Is it on a fan controller, or on the mobo's temperature and speed control ?.
Some fans can make odd clicking noises on lower voltages, which may sound like you describe. If the mobo is spinning it slower on temp control, this could be why the noise goes away once its in game and generating enough heat to spin the fan up.

If you go into the bios and disable the fan/temp control and set it to 100% you can soon find out :)

Hi,

Yeah that's the first thing I did. I turned off the controller in the BIOS and then not only was the fan really load, it also still kept the annoying sound.

It's really weird, I don't get it :(
 
I can play a game for hours and not only is the fan quiet, but there's no annoying sound.

Then as soon as I tab back to Windows the stupid things starts up again.

It's driving me nuts
 
But seeing your post makes me really think it's the PSU fan, maybe its jumping between high speed and low speed really quickly and that's what's causing the sound. :S

Hello,

I can assure you 100% it's not the PSU fan. If I disconnect the CPU fan for a second, the noise stops.

Also, the noise doesn't happen under heavy load... Quite the opposite.

No noise in games. Loads of noise in Windows running nothing.

Very annoying, and makes no sense at all
 
Do you have any applications in windows tryig to control your fan speed? Also, see if you can grab another fan abd stick into the CPU port, see if it does the same. could always just be a dodgy fan

Nope nothing at all controlling fan speed within Windows.

Unfortunately I don't have another fan to test on it. Guess I'll have to buy one
 
Its sounds almost defiantly like the PWMOUT clock. They tend not to give out a constant voltage but a pulse and I have found different fans can react this way at different frequencies.
If you install speedfan you can change the frequency in configure/ advance then select the motherboard chipset. Down the list of controls you should see PWMOUT, try increasing the frequency or if high try lowering it.

Thanks for the tip, but I tried that and it make no difference.

The PWMOUT was set at 3, so I tried 1.5, then above 15. Neither made the slightest bit of difference
 
Do you have an option in the bios for controlling the fan speed? Mine has an option for controlling the fan by voltage or PWM out. PWM makes them buzz but the voltage option is ok.

Yes you can set it to 'Performance' 'Optimized' or 'Silent'

Tried all 3, no difference on any
 
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