Question CPU Tower Air Cooler noise

[JonatasA]

CPU cooler is Deepcool Gammaxx 400 V2
CPU is I5 4440

Noise (recording was made with the PC in the BIOS with the microphone pointed at the back of the case in 3 different positions)

Standard Setting

Silent Setting

Full Speed Setting

Standard Setting


I don't know if this noise was always there, but I think I'd have noticed it.

I've noticed this noise after I tried a push configuration. I reversed it, placed the fan back as pull and removed the system from the case. I noticed it when I powered it on outside of the case. The noise persisted when I reinstalled the system in the case.

I don't think it was the disassemble because that was the 3rd time I took the system from a case and I had no issues previously.

Before the noise, I had used the computer without a case and also tested it with the case side panel open and in the latter I couldn't even hear the computer working from how silent it was.

I am almost sure I had not heard this noise before. I can't say 100% because I had forgotten the CPU fan at silent in BIOS before I set it back to standard. The thing is that even set to silent I can hear this noise and it gets worse the faster the fan is set to.
You can also hear it from a distance, you don't need to place your ear on the case to hear it.

The fan doesn't seem to be in contact with anything and the blades spin freely when I turn it with a finger and makes no noise.

I really don't want to take the whole sytem apart to RMA the cooler (I have only tested this system after the cooler arrived, barely even used it), but I'd rather RMA then try and apply some oil and risk the noise returning after warranty.

 

[JonatasA]

Will no one help me?


Should I rather ask in a different category in the forums?

Perhaps the noise isn't as clear to hear as I had imagined in the recording.




In any case, here's the update, in case someone happens to be in a similar situation


I have removed the fan from the heatsink and replaced it with a case fan to test.

I didin't hear the noise when I placed the fan in the System-Fan header and I didn't hear the noise when I plugged it back in the CPU-Fan header.

The weird is is that I didn't hear the noise with the case fan in the heatsink either.

[I did hear a low noise that was similar to the cooler fan, but it sounded normal like a sound of the motor or because the fan was running at full speed because it is 3 pin] *

Before putting the original cooler fan back in the heatsink I've swapped the PSU 4-pin CPU cable with the other one but it didn't seem to make a difference.

Then when I placed the fan back in the heatsink the noise resumed.

At least I take that the fan is working and that this noise is either caused by having the case closed, the wind coming through the heatsink fins (because I'm using in pull configuration) or the motor having to pull air through the fins.

Ironically when I did another recording with the case fan in the heatsink, the result was the same sound as in the recordings I've attached.

TL;DR I assume the noise is generated with the case closed or because the fan is exhausting air through the heatsink, rather than pushing.

 

[Lafong]

I listened to the "full speed" file.

Are you referring that brief area about 3 seconds in that sounds a bit like a cloth ripping or someone blowing into a microphone?

That is strange.

Does it occur if you try another fan?

Does it repeat or have a cyclical component at all? If not, when does it happen....only when you first boot the PC or?

 

[JonatasA]

Are you referring that brief area about 3 seconds in that sounds a bit like a cloth ripping or someone blowing into a microphone

No, the sound itself. You have the wind sound and that noise.

It is present in all speed presets, but it gets the most noticeable the more you increase the speed.

As I mentioned, I tried a normal case fan and there didn't seem to be any noise, but the cooler fan didn't make any noise once unclipped from the heatsink either. In fact it was quieter than the case fan clipped to the heatsink.

The noise after 3 seconds is me moving the microphone from where the wind is coming directly to the side where you can hear the noise without the wind. Then I move it to another position to see if I can isolate the noise.

 

[Lafong]

OK;

You say "the sound itself"...........I didn't hear anything else other than what I'd expect to hear from any fan....fan noise, wind noise, moving air, whatever you want to call it.

Maybe I don't have your ears.

 

[JonatasA]

OK;

You say "the sound itself"...........I didn't hear anything else other than what I'd expect to hear from any fan....fan noise, wind noise, moving air, whatever you want to call it.

Maybe I don't have your ears.

Perhaps the recording didn't manage to capture the sound, only the sound of the fan then.

It is a subtle sound, a sound that I've never heard any fan do before, not even stock CPU fans, that's why I made the thread to know if I'd need to RMA it.

If you set the fan to silent in the BIOS for example (600 something RPM I believe), you cannot even hear the fan or wind, but you can hear this noise lingering.

Meanwhile you can't hear my exhaust fan going at 1180 RPM.

 

[Eximo]

RMA is probably not worth the time and effort. Just get a new fan and clip it on to the cooler.

 

[JonatasA]

RMA is probably not worth the time and effort. Just get a new fan and clip it on to the cooler.

Oh it is worth a new fan.

I bought this cooler specifically because my Intel stock cooler was failing. I didn't buy it just so I'd need to buy a new fan.

I also am saving to buy a fan to add to the case. I wouldn't think about having to buy 2.



Could as well have saved the cooler money, the extra fans money and actually buy a CPU that would come with it's own cooler.

 

[Eximo]

Just saying, the Gammaxx 400 fan isn't amazing. There are much better fans in the $7-15 range. If you have to pay shipping even one way, that is going to eat a lot of it.

If you can convince Deepcool to send you a replacement fan for free, that is another matter.

 

[JonatasA]

Just saying, the Gammaxx 400 fan isn't amazing. There are much better fans in the $7-15 range. If you have to pay shipping even one way, that is going to eat a lot of it.

If you can convince Deepcool to send you a replacement fan for free, that is another matter.

It's the Gammaxx 400 V2 fan.
I'd also have to pay shipping for any fan I'd buy.

Warranty here demands the manufacturer to cover all costs. Only exception would be if they deemed the product had no defects or if you had broken it.


I'd have contact them directly, but I imagine they'll ask for me to disassemble and send the whole cooler, rather than just the fan.
If that isn't the case I guess there is no harm in trying.

Just saying, the Gammaxx 400 fan isn't amazing.

Are you saying though, that the fan is worse than the fan you'd get in an Intel stock cooler?

There are much better fans in the $7-15 range.

Would one of those $7-15 also work as a case fan? I was thinking of either getting the Deepcool RF, Corsair ML Pro or Corsair AF for that.

 

[Eximo]

Corsair AF would work, but really you would want one of their static pressure variants. Yes, you can use static pressure fans as case fans.

These days most fans are actually hybrids of airflow and static pressure. They know that people like to have matching RGB fans, so there was a trend towards the middle ground so that fans would work on radiators and you could get matching fans for everything else.

 

[JonatasA]

Corsair AF would work, but really you would want one of their static pressure variants. Yes, you can use static pressure fans as case fans.

These days most fans are actually hybrids of airflow and static pressure. They know that people like to have matching RGB fans, so there was a trend towards the middle ground so that fans would work on radiators and you could get matching fans for everything else.

Indeed I was looking for a static pressure fan, but they're rather hard to find and even more expensive, so I was thinking about settling for a middle ground.

Wouldn't the Corsair ML120/ML140 Pro fit that role?

 

[Eximo]

Yes.

 

[JonatasA]

Yes.

Thank you