[SOLVED] GPU Fans Vibrating PC

[Emshe]

My MSI RX570 OC armor's fans seem to be vibrating the case heavily when on a very big load. I knew when I bought it that the fans were bad, but I didn't think this would be happening. I understand that having minor buzzing/vibrations is normal since there are lots of moving parts in a pc. But will the more heavy fan vibrations harm any parts?

 

[CountMike]

My MSI RX570 OC armor's fans seem to be vibrating the case heavily when on a very big load. I knew when I bought it that the fans were bad, but I didn't think this would be happening. I understand that having minor buzzing/vibrations is normal since there are lots of moving parts in a pc. But will the more heavy fan vibrations harm any parts?

Any more than loud swish of air means that a fan is out of balance, either damaged, dusty or bad bearing. Except for fans themselves, other damage are unlikely.

 

[Nemesia]

If you have a fan vibrating I can give you a simple hack that fix this 100%. I have been using this for years.

Take the fan. Remove the sticker until you see the bearing underneath the sticker. Put 1-2 small drop of oil on the bearing. Move the blades a little. Replace the sticker.

I have fixed 5 fans like that that was vibrating. 2 200mm and 3 140mm. Trust me it works. I'm still using a 200mm that was doing that. It is now running as smooth as when I bought it.

 

[Emshe]

Take the fan. Remove the sticker until you see the bearing underneath the sticker. Put 1-2 small drop of oil on the bearing. Move the blades a little. Replace the sticker.

Thanks for the info!

 

[Emshe]

Except for fans themselves, other damage are unlikely.

Just to be 100% clear, what you're saying is that other parts will not be damaged by this.

 

[MJS WARLORD]

The fan casing could have become twisted , I had a side fan that the blades were rubbing on the dust gauze and all I did was experiment with tightening/loosening off the mounting screws a quarter turn.

 

[Gfost73]

although its unlikely other parts are effected by strong vibrations.. I would have to say that it is still possible.. as any vibrations CAN loosen other screws and fastners over time.. so maybe just keep that in mind and make sure to check other fasteners on occasion (like CPU cooler etc) just to make sure nothing wiggles loose with the vibrations

 

[CountMike]

Solid state parts are too tough for such small vibes. They survived, trucks, planes and ships and most trying test baggage handlers and couriers.

 

[Emshe]

Ok, update. I pinpointed the problem a bit better. When the fans are around 70%, the vibrating happens in a sort of rhythmic wave pattern. The case will vibrate loudly and slowly get softer, and then get louder again, creating a VVRRoooommm, VRRRRROoooommm sort of noise.

The vibration manages to vibrate my desk as well, which isn't good. At this point I do not know if I should RMA or just see if the card works for like the next year until I can upgrade or something.

(I am well aware of how stupid the VRRRRROoooommm is. Best way i can convay it over the internet.)

 

[Emshe]

Uh, it's kind of impossible to tell which fan it is. As there are two fans on the card and if one vibrates then it makes the whole card vibrate. Should I just oil both fans and see if it works?

 

[Gfost73]

taking the GPU apart will most likely void warranty and youd have to take it apart id imagine to get to the bearing where the oil needs to be. a case fan is entirely different as you simply peal back a sticker if you do take it apart be very careful its not always so easy to get to the GPU fans to oil them

 

[Gfost73]

also if you check your GPU temps .. you may be able to adjust the fans to not spin as fast .. I have mine set to not pass 50% until the card temp reaches 70° at which time I have it set to 60,, at 80° I have set to 80% (ive never hit that temp)

 

[Nemesia]

Sorry I thought you were talking about one of your PC case fan. Do not remove your GPU fans because like Gfost73 said it will void your warranty if you have one.

Are you sure it's the GPU?

 

[Emshe]

Yes. The vibrating only happens when the GPU's fans are around 70%.

 

[Gfost73]

personally I would 1) make sure GPU temps are good, (under 80°c).. then id adjust fans to a more aggressive curve or level it out more, perhaps limit fan spin to 50% until card tops 70°C at which time crank speeds up to a max Temp/Speed of say 80°C with a 80% fan Spin. My gigabyte Card also vibrated quite a bit when fans ramped to 70%+… my solution was ,... Krusty was JUST tall enough to support the weight if the GPU, which stopped the vibrations. that could be your issue as well, seems cuz Card is heavy once it ramps up the shroud casing starts to hum...
.

 

[Emshe]

I did a bit more testing to try to narrow down where the vibrations are coming from (around the GPU). It isn't the screws that hold the GPU in the metal bracket, and I do not think that place an object below the card would solve the problem. I tried lifting the card with my hand while it was vibrating and nothing changed (correct me if I am wrong but that would replicate having an object under the card). The vibrations are also not coming from my tempered glass side panel.

The weirdest part of all of this is how the vibration is not a constant noise. Like I stated earlier, it is a sort of rhythmic pattern. If you have anything else that could help that would be great. If not, I'll just try to ride the card out or RMA.

 

[Gfost73]

im really not sure.. and no I didn't expect my solution was yours as well, my card does make a vibration noise when spinning high but min is due to the shroud itself, not the fans.. so the slight pressure Krustys hair causes and I mean its very very slight.. is enough to stop mine from making the noise, and if its constant than maybe one fan is bad im really not sure if it was only over 70% as you've indicated before id see if I could somehow limit fan speed without causing major temp issues.. but if it was constant , id probably return it too

 

[Emshe]

Adjusting the fan curve was enough of a solution. If anyone else ever has this problem here is the fan curve.

Fan speed: 27	50	50	61	74
Temp Celsius: 30	48	63	76	81

 

[Gfost73]

glad it worked out , I thin ki suggested that several posts ago, but either way glad you solved your issue.

 

[Emshe]

glad it worked out , I thin ki suggested that several posts ago, but either way glad you solved your issue.

You did, it was just a last resort since it doesn't get rid of the vibrating, just prevents it.

 

[Gfost73]

well I doubt you could ever get rid of all the vibration, you have to remember those 2 fans are on a small area spinning at 2100RPM, of course some vibration is expected. I think it would be impossible to have any fan spin 2000RPM or higher without any vibration. maybe I'm wrong, but even my card "vibrates" over 2000RPM, hence why I altered my fan speed as It don't really need to spin so fast to keep cool. Either way at least your issues "solved" . if your fans were vibrating so bad though, Id still maybe return the unit. but I'm assuming it wasn't as bad as suspected

 

[Emshe]

Update: Finished RMA processes and got a new card back. It still has vibration issues on certain RPM. Looks like it's just apart of these fans. Hopefully this can save someone else the hassle in the future.