Question Do fans report wrong speed?

[Teknoman2]

When my CPU cooler (NH-U12S Redux) revs up, it usually can be heard. Lately however i get throttling. HW monitor shows that the CPU is hovering at 95C with a spike to 97-98 at times, the cooler reports that it runs at 1700+ RPM but the noise it usually makes is not there. Is it possible that doesn't rev up at all and just reports a false speed? I can see it spinning so it at least works. Is there some way to check it?

 

[Paperdoc]

No. The way a fan speed is reported is simply a signal consisting of pulses, 2 per revolution, that the fan header can count. If the header reports 1700 RPM then that's what the fan is doing. So, why is that not delivering enough cooling?

1 . Check for dust clogging the finned heatsink so that the air flow is not removing heat.
2. Check the mounting of the cooler on the CPU. Is it loose? It should be clamped down firmly on the CPU top.
3. It is possible the thermal paste between the cooler base and the CPU chip top has dried out and fails to do its job. For that you need to look up on the internet the process for removing the cooler from the CPU, cleaning off all old thermal paste, applying the right small quantity of new paste, and re-installing the cooler.

 

[helpstar]

tha max. fan speed of this fan is 1700, so maybe the fan is spinning faster than normal and produces lower or a different noise than on a slower speed

 

[JohnBonhamsGhost]

tha max. fan speed of this fan is 1700, so maybe the fan is spinning faster than normal

not possible.
the reported max fan speed actually means the maximum the fan can spin.

and the faster it spins the more heat removal occurs.
it couldn't get hotter based on fans spinning at even higher RPMs.

there has to be another factor here causing the elevated temperatures.

maybe the fan is spinning faster than normal and produces lower or a different noise than on a slower speed

the faster a fan spins the more sound it creates, meaning the louder it gets.
is not possible to create less(lower) noise at higher speeds.

 

[USAFRet]

the faster a fan spins the more sound it creates, meaning the louder it gets.
is not possible to create less(lower) noise at higher speeds.

At different speeds, fans may resonate differently with other components and the case.

It is entirely possible for a fan spinning slower to resonate differently, and cause a 'louder' sound than if it speeds up a little.

Of course, this isn't directly "fan noise', but a user may not recognize the difference.

 

[JohnBonhamsGhost]

It is entirely possible for a fan spinning slower to resonate differently, and cause a 'louder' sound

of course different variations of sound at different speeds is always possible.

but, the OP was asking if it would get quieter at higher speeds.
and i was stating, that the higher it spins the more noise is created.

 

[Colif]

either way, it sounds like that fan isn't getting enough fresh air so I would work to fix that.

how many cooling fans in case? What case are you using?

 

[Teknoman2]

either way, it sounds like that fan isn't getting enough fresh air so I would work to fix that.

how many cooling fans in case? What case are you using?

I said that as the fan reaches 1500RPM+ it makes audible noise. HW monitor says that the fan is at max speed but i don't hear the noise it normally does when its at max speed so i wonder if the fan reports to run at that speed but actually isn't.
As for fans, the case is a rebrand of (probably) some Corsair on the cheaper side that came with 3 intake fans at the front and i added an exhaust fan in the back. I considered that the airflow is not good enough because last summer i used a 6600XT and a 1080p screen and now i have a 7700XT and a 1440p screen so the GPU produces much more heat. I got some Noctua fans to replace the no name intake fans and add another exhaust fan and see what happens.
But the main question remains: does the CPU fan report that it runs at max speed but doesn't? Oh and it does seem to have a bit of coil whine at the 1200-1500RPM range... maybe some WD40?

 

[JohnBonhamsGhost]

case is a rebrand of (probably) some Corsair on the cheaper side

post an image of the case with side panel off & front panel visible.

and if you have a link to the actual product web page, also include.

 

[Paperdoc]

Four items to try.
1. Check the foam dust filters on the case front. If they are clogged with dust that will reduce air flow substantially.
2. Do NOT try to add oil to ANY fan. Virtually all fans today are built in such a way that you cannot disassemble them to reach the "innards" and then re-assemble without actually breaking the parts. So you cannot add a tiny bit of oil to ONLY the fan bearings. Simple spraying WD40 oil into some fan spot may NOT put any oil on the bearings, and may actually force oil into every part of the fan, which is worse then doing nothing!
3. There are other ways to check the CPU fan speed beyond HWMonitor, and you should try these to verify the info you are using. First, you can "see" any fan's speed if you boot into BIOS Setup and go the the fan configuration menus. Of course, in that mode you are not operating with a normal workload, so you cannot see sustained high workload conditions. But also, the CD of utilities that came with your mobo will have installed (probably) a tool from the mobo maker that runs under Windows and allows you to examine and modify many mobo settings while Windows is running. Because this utility is supplied by the mobo maker it is customized for use with that mobo and can deliver reliable readings.
4. Unlikely but possible one. Do your speed readings show small fluctuations, or do they swing wildly up and down? VERY unstable readings may be a symptom that the contacts in the fan header are poor (loose or dirty) and the speed signal arriving there is too "noisy". IF that is your situation do this. Unplug the fan from the CPU_FAN header and then re-connect it. Do this several times. This may "scrub" the contact surfaces and improve the signal.

 

[helpstar]

try a different fan header and read the fan speed there
run a tool like speedfan and max out the fan there to be sure the fan reading is correct or not
replace the fan

 

[Teknoman2]

Four items to try.
1. Check the foam dust filters on the case front. If they are clogged with dust that will reduce air flow substantially.
2. Do NOT try to add oil to ANY fan. Virtually all fans today are built in such a way that you cannot disassemble them to reach the "innards" and then re-assemble without actually breaking the parts. So you cannot add a tiny bit of oil to ONLY the fan bearings. Simple spraying WD40 oil into some fan spot may NOT put any oil on the bearings, and may actually force oil into every part of the fan, which is worse then doing nothing!
3. There are other ways to check the CPU fan speed beyond HWMonitor, and you should try these to verify the info you are using. First, you can "see" any fan's speed if you boot into BIOS Setup and go the the fan configuration menus. Of course, in that mode you are not operating with a normal workload, so you cannot see sustained high workload conditions. But also, the CD of utilities that came with your mobo will have installed (probably) a tool from the mobo maker that runs under Windows and allows you to examine and modify many mobo settings while Windows is running. Because this utility is supplied by the mobo maker it is customized for use with that mobo and can deliver reliable readings.
4. Unlikely but possible one. Do your speed readings show small fluctuations, or do they swing wildly up and down? VERY unstable readings may be a symptom that the contacts in the fan header are poor (loose or dirty) and the speed signal arriving there is too "noisy". IF that is your situation do this. Unplug the fan from the CPU_FAN header and then re-connect it. Do this several times. This may "scrub" the contact surfaces and improve the signal.

1. i keep it clean so no dust to clog things
2. The WD40 thing was a joke
3 and 4. There are no random fluctuations, speeds are pretty stable and MSI center shows the same fan speeds as HW monitor. though both show speeds that don't match the fans. All 3 fans i got have a speed of 1300 and one of them is shown to barely go above 1000 while the others hit 1500
The new fans i installed seem to help with the airflow and i see a bit of a drop. I think i will get a beefier cooler because the one i have is adequate but not great and summer is not helping.

 

[Colif]

run a tool like speedfan and max out the fan there to be sure the fan reading is correct or not

speedfan wouldn't be my 1st go to anymore, it hasn't been updated in almost 10 years and doesn't really know new AMD motherboards all that well.

I would suggest https://github.com/Rem0o/FanControl.Releases as it can be used to calibrate the fans and show actual values as per the sensors on fans. It does that as part of its set up routine.

 

[Teknoman2]

speedfan wouldn't be my 1st go to anymore, it hasn't been updated in almost 10 years and doesn't really know new AMD motherboards all that well.

I would suggest https://github.com/Rem0o/FanControl.Releases as it can be used to calibrate the fans and show actual values as per the sensors on fans. It does that as part of its set up routine.

I tried to use that. The only sensor it could detect was the GPU and it forced all fans to run at 50% without me being able to change anything. So i uninstalled it and restarted the PC to get the fans back to normal. If the fans work as they should, then maybe i need to refresh the thermal paste. Its Thermal Grizzly but i dont remember which and lately i found that kryonaut is not fit for long term use. If that's what i used then it may not be working too well after almost a year.

 

[bill001g]

You likely can tell how fast the fan is turning by looking at it.

Fancontrol works very well but it can be confusing to setup. I would try again mostly just so you can change the fan speeds manually and watch what the fan is doing. There are a number of youtube videos on how to setup fan control. Just do the simple flatcurve to start and force it to set values.

If you think the fan is defective they are pretty cheap. You could also likely swap one of your case fans for cooler fan just to see if it makes any difference. A case fan is not optimized for a cooler but it will work better than a defective fan. You could then order a proper fan if you think the cpu fan was defective.

Thermal grizzly should easily last a year. It is much better than the default paste that comes with coolers and those last many years for most people.

It could be that the paste is not completely covering the die. A lot of people make the mistake of not enough paste. Too much just makes a mess so it better to have too much. If you really want to be sure I would manually spread it even though it can be rather tedious.

 

[JohnBonhamsGhost]

the Noctua NF-P12 that came with that cooler should be pretty high quality.
never heard of users complaining that any have failed during regular use.
and they usually offer better cooling than a lot of the cooler's out there come with.
the only complaint i've ever really seen is that they may be louder than expected towards their max RPM.

what CPU is this cooler being used on?
i haven't noticed it being listed here yet.

OP doesn't seem to want to actually get into their overall system cooling,
just seems to be looking for someone to agree with them that there is a problem with the fan in question and it's reported RPMs.

 

[Teknoman2]

You likely can tell how fast the fan is turning by looking at it.

Fancontrol works very well but it can be confusing to setup. I would try again mostly just so you can change the fan speeds manually and watch what the fan is doing. There are a number of youtube videos on how to setup fan control. Just do the simple flatcurve to start and force it to set values.

If you think the fan is defective they are pretty cheap. You could also likely swap one of your case fans for cooler fan just to see if it makes any difference. A case fan is not optimized for a cooler but it will work better than a defective fan. You could then order a proper fan if you think the cpu fan was defective.

Thermal grizzly should easily last a year. It is much better than the default paste that comes with coolers and those last many years for most people.

It could be that the paste is not completely covering the die. A lot of people make the mistake of not enough paste. Too much just makes a mess so it better to have too much. If you really want to be sure I would manually spread it even though it can be rather tedious.

That last one could be the case because the fins are not that hot to the touch even with the PC on. I will take off the cooler and reapply paste, maybe go a bit ham with it. The CPU is a Ryzen 7700X and the cooler was recommended to me by someone here when i asked for something not too bulky when i got the CPU. Should have chosen something more bulky i guess. I was considering swapping it for the NH-D15 G2 when that comes out next month.

 

[Colif]

I tried to use that. The only sensor it could detect was the GPU and it forced all fans to run at 50% without me being able to change anything. So i uninstalled it and restarted the PC to get the fans back to normal. If the fans work as they should, then maybe i need to refresh the thermal paste. Its Thermal Grizzly but i dont remember which and lately i found that kryonaut is not fit for long term use. If that's what i used then it may not be working too well after almost a year.

That doesn't seem right... it should have seen more than GPU.
How are rest of fans in case wired up? Do they run off motherboard at all? Noctua fans are 4 pin so should be able to adjust speed etc.
Only thing I can't see in program is my GPU

I would have thought it see CPU fan as well.
my rear/top fans are both Noctua 140mm Chromax Black swap

 

[Teknoman2]

That doesn't seem right... it should have seen more than GPU.
How are rest of fans in case wired up? Do they run off motherboard at all? Noctua fans are 4 pin so should be able to adjust speed etc.
Only thing I can't see in program is my GPU

I would have thought it see CPU fan as well.
my rear/top fans are both Noctua 140mm Chromax Black swap

The fans are all connected on the mobo. In my case it shows all connections CPU GPU SYS1 SYS2 SYS3 etc) but none of the fans shows up and everything is greyed out.

 

[Teknoman2]

I removed the cooler and indeed there wasn't enough paste there. I'm sticking to the tried and true bullseye pattern instead of spreaders from now on. I replaced the old paste with a generous amount of fresh and got a decent drop in temperature. I guess the problem was there from the start but because the ambient temperature was relatively low until now that a heat wave came out of nowhere, it wasn't showing.
I don't regret changing those fans though, the new ones push significantly more air into the case.

 

[Colif]

odd they all greyed out. It shouldn't happen if they are 4 pin fans. or if hub they attached to is.

Noctua fans are hard to regret unless you buy too many and find you don't need them all. I have 3 of the fans I have installed but only really need 2.

 

[Teknoman2]

Now i was wondering, is this a HW monitor bug or something is wrong with my CPU or mobo?

 

[Colif]

Info - How to use HWINFO to track Sensor values on Ryzen

Download HWINFO - https://www.hwinfo.com/download/ when you open the app, click the tick box next to show sensors only, and click run in the next window, click on the gear icon in bottom right, this opens settings. On General tab, under polling period, set it to 500 and click the set button...

forums.tomshardware.com

HW Monitor known to give wrong values, try using HWINFO and see if you get same scores... I would be amazed.

CPU max speed is 5.4ghz so getting 10 would be quite a feat.

unless yours at full load, its unlikely its reading right speeds

 

[Teknoman2]

Info - How to use HWINFO to track Sensor values on Ryzen

Download HWINFO - https://www.hwinfo.com/download/ when you open the app, click the tick box next to show sensors only, and click run in the next window, click on the gear icon in bottom right, this opens settings. On General tab, under polling period, set it to 500 and click the set button...

forums.tomshardware.com

HW Monitor known to give wrong values, try using HWINFO and see if you get same scores... I would be amazed.

CPU max speed is 5.4ghz so getting 10 would be quite a feat.

unless yours at full load, its unlikely its reading right speeds

I figured. HW info shows a max of 5500MHz.