[SOLVED] GPU fans making noise when they spin up

[rocketpants]

Recently I started hearing what sounds like a HDD in my computer making read/write noises, sort of like a dull click-clack kind of sound every couple of seconds, which will last several minutes and then stop. I was worried a HDD was failing. However, on opening my tower and observing I found that in fact it's the fans on my RTX 2060 Super making this noise. When the GPU is idle, the two fans will stop and start as needed, and every time a fan starts from a stopped position it will make this low click-clack noise. One will start, the other will stop, and this repeats for several minutes continuously until eventually both fans will spin and the noise stops. When the GPU goes back to idle the fans begin their start/stop process and the noise starts again.

1. I assume this is normal behavior for an idle GPU to stop and start its fans?
2. Is the fact that the fans are making this noise a sign of an issue? They are not dirty and seem to be spinning just fine. I don't see them catching on anything when they spin (I know what that sounds like and this doesn't sound like that). I'm not sure what's causing this in the first place or if it's really a problem.
3. My biggest question is, how do I stop them from making this noise? It's really annoying 😅

 

[Colif]

Who made the GPU?
Gigabyte? https://forum.gigabyte.us/thread/5301/2000-series-buzzing-rattling-issue?page=1&scrollTo=23601

a solution might be offered in the link above, it is something to do with the fan curve when its not running, you can use afterburner to keep fans running or change the temp range it uses to start them again

Unpleasant problem with fans and it's nerving! Gigabytes RTX 2080 Gaming fans can not start at low RPM speeds, because of this heard crackle of bearings or something. As it turned out fans can normal start only from 30%.

By Googling I realized that this problem was in past generation of 1060 and 1080 Gigabyte cards. I was surprised to see it on 2080.

Temporary solution to this problem is MSI Afterburner (v4.6.0 beta) with manual fan speed threshold

temp: 0°C - > 50° fans: 0% -> 30%
temp: 50°C - > 60° fans: 30% -> 30%
temp: 60°C - > 70° fans: 30% -> 40%
temp: 70°C - > 100° fans: 40% - > 100%

I chose Afterburner, not AORUS ENGINE because there is a good option "Temperature hysteresis (°C)" when temperature decreases, fans not stop at 50°C, they will stop at 1-15°C below, depending on the value specified. Because there are times when temperature in some games is kept at 50°C and fans started for a minute then stopped and so endlessly... it would be nice to add such an option to AORUS ENGINE.

Why Gigabyte can't make a Firmware/BIOS that fans started from 30%? If this problem not solved with new BIOS, I will never buy a product from Gigabyte, and I will not advise this brand to my friends.

 

[rocketpants]

Who made the GPU?
Gigabyte? https://forum.gigabyte.us/thread/5301/2000-series-buzzing-rattling-issue?page=1&scrollTo=23601

a solution might be offered in the link above, it is something to do with the fan curve when its not running, you can use afterburner to keep fans running or change the temp range it uses to start them again

It's made by EVGA. I had the same idea you did and downloaded EVGA's Precision X1 software, which is very similar to MSI Afterburner. I've adjusted the fans so that they will basically not stop running but will adjust depending on the GPU temp. Haven't heard the noise since then so maybe that's the fix?

Tbh, I think the fans not running at all at times is probably not great anyway to maintain a steady GPU temp. So this is likely to be a good idea regardless of the noise the fans make when they start from stopped.

 

[Colif]

Guess it depends on your case cooling, I think the fans on my ASUS 2070S only start around 52C and some days it takes several hours before they reach that temp. I did notice the fans doing it a few months ago but if I look at them most days using HWINFO they not running at all. They only ran yesterday as I ran a few benchmarks on card. For something to do.. I was bored.

Its summer here, if it was a normal hot summer I might have used Afterburner to set fans speed as constant but it really hasn't been a concern. PC been on 6 hours now and GPU only just hit 47c

 

[Fiorezy]

I had the same issue with my old Gigabyte 2060 Super and current Palit 3070, I solved it in both cards by adjusting the fan curve in Afterburner to always run at 30% when below 60c > cooler idle temps, no more noise and definitely silent fans.

 

[rocketpants]

My case cooling is pretty good - I got new CPU cooling too recently - so it makes sense that the GPU didn't think it needed the fans to be running when the temp was low enough. Plus, the 2060S is a 2-fan GPU which improves cooling. My old GPU was a single-fan GTX 970 which probably always had the fan running.

It also makes sense I guess that if the GPU fans are constantly stop/starting that you'd hear the motor kicking in every time which is what I think the sound was that I was hearing. However, that motor noise is extremely annoying because it's pretty loud, lol. Adjusting the fan curve has definitely helped here so I appreciate the suggestion @Colif. The fans are running now between 20-25% which keeps the GPU at about 45c when idle but I can't hear the fans spinning, so problem solved!

 

[Colif]

i did that for a while, had afterburner running but I could actually hear the difference in my system between when they were on and when they weren't so I just went with default. Even though I don't have afterburner running my fans have not run at all today

I guess my aio fans keep it cool enough.

 

[rocketpants]

i did that for a while, had afterburner running but I could actually hear the difference in my system between when they were on and when they weren't so I just went with default. Even though I don't have afterburner running my fans have not run at all today

That's interesting. So your GPU has reached a max of 52c but your fans haven't turned on. Without using something like Afterburner, what controls if the fans come on? The GPU itself or the mobo?

Maybe EVGA cards have aggressive fans? My card usually sits between 45-48c so I'm not sure why my system thought it necessary to constantly turn the fans on and off. It wasn't just that, it was that one would turn on for a second, then off, then the other would turn on for a second, then off, and repeat that cycle for several minutes. Very strange.

 

[Colif]

That's interesting. So your GPU has reached a max of 52c but your fans haven't turned on. Without using something like Afterburner, what controls if the fans come on? The GPU itself or the mobo?

I think its the bios on the GPU that likely controls its fan curve. Drivers might play a part as well.