Fan noise & motherboards

[sygnus21]

Some of you may be aware I built a Haswell system a little over a month ago; see system specs.

That said love the system but the fan noise was getting on my nerves as the system turned out to be louder than my old system; and this was even after replacing both the rad fans on my H100i and the back 140mm case fan.

Anyway my Gigabyte motherboard features 7 fan headers, but two of these are just 3-pin fan headers, and these were what I was using for 2 of my 3 case fans. The problem with these particular 3-pin headers is they’re just straight fan headers with no control or sensor reading. They’re simply a straight power connector.

Getting to the point - I wound up re-routing the case fans to the 4-pin headers where the MB controls them, plus you get sensor readings. Lo and behold... my fan noise decreased as the case fans aren’t running full bore now.

Point... if you guys have a motherboard with smart headers that increase the fans as the temps rise, use those, and some of your fan noise issues may decrease. And perhaps you may not need that fan controller, or those fan speed reducers.

And if need be, the fan headers could be configured through BIOS or software to run at a speed of your choosing depending on BIOS or software options.

Gigabyte's G1 Sniper 5 BIOS...



Gigabytes Easy Tune Software...



So before you purchase that fan controller, check out your board’s fan header options. Might save you some headaches, and money.

For the record I have mine set to normal so as the temps (CPU) rise, so does the fan speed. Obviously those overclocking may require a different solution.

Just a suggestion

 

[Layback Bear]

Your bios sure do have a lot of nice fan controls.
I personally just run quiet fans at 100% but I do over clock.
Your setting should work just fine for your needs.

 

[sygnus21]

As you note, it’s not for everyone, but it is presented as an alternate way of looking at things

 

[GeneO]

I endorse what you say
I do this on my rig with the Asus Fan Expert and I overclock 24x7 at 4.5 GHz. All my fans are temperature controlled. and I have 11 fans (counting GPU and PUS). I want no noise when I am not doing anything stressful on the system. It came to the point my 3 hard drives were the loudest part of the computer so I spin them down after a few minutes now. I also have a sound-dampened case so even at medium load my rig is virtually silent.

Also, the sound level from multiple fans is not additive. More fans at lower rpm will be better than a few at higher rpm a far as noise level and quality is concerned,

 

[sygnus21]

Well not counting the two 120mm Rad fans, the twin fans on the GPU, the tiny fan built into the MB, and the 120? mil fan on the PS.... I only have 3 case fans

Oh... I forgot to exclude the H100i's pump fan, or does that not count

But yeah, with all these fans running, things can get loud if you don't keep them in check.

BTW the noisiest fan in my case is the pump fan. It kind of sounds like an overhead fluorescent light with its slight hum.

 

[Layback Bear]

What is or is not noisy is in the ears of the beholder.

 

[sygnus21]

What is or is not noisy is in the ears of the beholder.

And since my ears are the beholder, they're the ones that count. But... I'm not the only saying that. Checkout corsair's forums on the subject - H100i Pump Noise - The Corsair Support Forums. I don't have the loud gurgling noise, just a constant hum, still...
At any rate, as not to get into a tit for tat, we'll agree to disagree agreeably and move on

Thanks.

 

[Layback Bear]

I'm not disagreeing with you in any fashion. I was trying to acknowledge that your motherboard has some great option for controlling your fans. I thinking that those options will be helpful to many that have the same options in there bios.

 

[madcratebuilder]

What is or is not noisy is in the ears of the beholder.

And since my ears are the beholder, they're the ones that count. But... I'm not the only saying that. Checkout corsair's forums on the subject - H100i Pump Noise - The Corsair Support Forums. I don't have the loud gurgling noise, just a constant hum, still...
At any rate, as not to get into a tit for tat, we'll agree to disagree agreeably and move on

Thanks.

My 100i had some pump noise when new, I opened the loop and topped it off with distilled h2o and that eliminated the noise. The Corsair coolant appears to be standard automotive antifreeze/h2o mix that's aluminum safe. I added about 4 tbsp of h2o or about .06L, not much, but made a significant noise improvement.

PWM with BIOS control or a good programmable fan controller should make a dead quiet PC in most situations. Fans only ramp up when system is pushed hard.

 

[sygnus21]

Well I'm thinking the sound is normal as it isn't doing the gurgling sound, just a constant hum. It's not over powering though, and if I'm not listening for it, or have some other noise going one - gaming, music, or even concentrating on something else, I don't notice it.

Still, when quiet down the other fans, and all you hear it he pump fan it gets your attention. Anyway the system is a lot quieter since moving the case fans to the other fan headers on the motherboard

And yes, PWM with BIOS control works like a champ

 

[sygnus21]

I'm not disagreeing with you in any fashion. I was trying to acknowledge that your motherboard has some great option for controlling your fans. I thinking that those options will be helpful to many that have the same options in there bios.

Got it

 

[madcratebuilder]

Well I'm thinking the sound is normal as it isn't doing the gurgling sound, just a constant hum. It's not over powering though, and if I'm not listening for it, or have some other noise going one - gaming, music, or even concentrating on something else, I don't notice it.

Still, when quiet down the other fans, and all you hear it he pump fan it gets your attention. Anyway the system is a lot quieter since moving the case fans to the other fan headers on the motherboard

And yes, PWM with BIOS control works like a champ

A constant hum? That may be the norm for your pump. I'm sure you have checked all fasteners, mobo standoff's thing like that. I'd pop the pump apart and deburr the impeller, see if I could check it's balance. That's just the crazy stuff I do, not really needed.

The two different Corsair pumps I have used, a 80i and 100i were very quiet, I had to put my finger on the pump to tell if it was running. From the number of noise complaints you see at the Corsair forum I got luck I guess.

I bought a pair of high end Aquacomputer D5's, those I can hear!