HP Z420 Fan speed problems

[footbrake4life]

Hello, I have 40+ Z420s and only one has this problem. The PSU died and HP sent me a new one via warranty. I hooked everything up and now the PSU fan and I think another fan spin at 100% 24/7. I contacted HP and they told me to update the BIOS and reset the CMOS. I did it and it fixed the problem. Then the computer ran some windows updates, restarted and now the problem is back. They overnighted me a new PSU which I swapped in this morning and the problem is still there. I reset the CMOS after I swapped it in and nothing, the fan(s) still spin at 100% creating a decent amount of noise.

Thank you for any and all help!

 

[footbrake4life]

Also the unit is not using an HP "approved" GPU or RAM. The current config on the unit in question is a EVGA GTX 760 with 16GB of crucial 1600 ram

 

[bambiboom]

Also the unit is not using an HP "approved" GPU or RAM. The current config on the unit in question is a EVGA GTX 760 with 16GB of crucial 1600 ram

footbrake4life,

I have two z420's and the fan actions on both seems odd sometimes. When starting these systems, sometimes the fans roar at full speed for about 8 seconds or so and then settle back to being very quiet. This happens more often when restarting, but that makes sense because the system temperature sensor is still reading as hot. Other times, the systems will start at the lower speed.

Here]'s a possiblity: install a system monitor that displays CPU, GPU temperatures and also the fans speeds. My thinking here is that the CPU or GPU temperature sensor is the faulty part- not the PSU- and it's constantly telling the system that the CPU is overheating. If you see very high temperatures when the system is first started from cold, that would indicate this problem.

Cheers,

BambiBoom

HP z420 (2015) > Xeon E5-1660 v2 six-core @ 3.7 /4.0GHz > 16GB DDR3 ECC 1866 RAM > Quadro K2200 (4GB) > Intel 730 480GB > Western Digital Black WD1003FZEX 1TB> M-Audio 192 sound card > Logitech z2300 > Linksys AE3000 USB WiFi > 2X Dell Ultrasharp U2715H (2560 X 1440) > Windows 7 Professional 64 >
[ Passmark Rating = 4918 > CPU= 13941 / 2D= 823 / 3D=3464 / Mem= 2669 / Disk= 4764]

Pending upgrade: HP /LSI 9212-4i PCIe SAS /SATA HBA RAID controller, 2X Seagate Constellation ES.3 1TB (RAID 1)

HP z420 (2013)(Revision 2) > Xeon E5-1620 four core @ 3.6 /3.8GHz > 24GB DDR3 ECC 1600 RAM > Quadro 4000(2GB) > Samsung 840 (250GB) WD Black 1TB > > M-Audio 192 soundcard > Linksys WMP600N WiFi
[Passmark system rating = 3815 / CPU = 8985/ 2D= 767 / 3D= 2044/ Mem= 2523 / Disk= 2986]

 

[footbrake4life]

Also the unit is not using an HP "approved" GPU or RAM. The current config on the unit in question is a EVGA GTX 760 with 16GB of crucial 1600 ram

footbrake4life,

I have two z420's and the fan actions on both seems odd sometimes. When starting these systems, sometimes the fans roar at full speed for about 8 seconds or so and then settle back to being very quiet. This happens more often when restarting, but that makes sense because the system temperature sensor is still reading as hot. Other times, the systems will start at the lower speed.

Here]'s a possiblity: install a system monitor that displays CPU, GPU temperatures and also the fans speeds. My thinking here is that the CPU or GPU temperature sensor is the faulty part- not the PSU- and it's constantly telling the system that the CPU is overheating. If you see very high temperatures when the system is first started from cold, that would indicate this problem.

Cheers,

BambiBoom

HP z420 (2015) > Xeon E5-1660 v2 six-core @ 3.7 /4.0GHz > 16GB DDR3 ECC 1866 RAM > Quadro K2200 (4GB) > Intel 730 480GB > Western Digital Black WD1003FZEX 1TB> M-Audio 192 sound card > Logitech z2300 > Linksys AE3000 USB WiFi > 2X Dell Ultrasharp U2715H (2560 X 1440) > Windows 7 Professional 64 >
[ Passmark Rating = 4918 > CPU= 13941 / 2D= 823 / 3D=3464 / Mem= 2669 / Disk= 4764]

Pending upgrade: HP /LSI 9212-4i PCIe SAS /SATA HBA RAID controller, 2X Seagate Constellation ES.3 1TB (RAID 1)

HP z420 (2013)(Revision 2) > Xeon E5-1620 four core @ 3.6 /3.8GHz > 24GB DDR3 ECC 1600 RAM > Quadro 4000(2GB) > Samsung 840 (250GB) WD Black 1TB > > M-Audio 192 soundcard > Linksys WMP600N WiFi
[Passmark system rating = 3815 / CPU = 8985/ 2D= 767 / 3D= 2044/ Mem= 2523 / Disk= 2986]

I have HWmonitor and Core Temp installed on the PC and neither of them showed a spike in heat since startup. All the temps seem normal although this could be because the fans are spinning so fast. I'm still confused why the CMOS reset would work the first time but not the 2nd or 3rd time.

 

[bambiboom]

footbrake4life wrote:

"I have HWmonitor and Core Temp installed on the PC and neither of them showed a spike in heat since startup. All the temps seem normal although this could be because the fans are spinning so fast. I'm still confused why the CMOS reset would work the first time but not the 2nd or 3rd time."

footbrake4life,

Curiouser. The CMOS reset /reset is even more strange, and I can't think that even an erratic, possibly spiky PSU could do that and not wipe it entirely, That's what made me think the problem might be in the fan controlling line such as the temperature sensor.I've learned over the years that workstations don't allow software control of the fans.

If it can be determined that the CPU's are operating at normal temperatures, it might be possible to add a front panel fan controller that could dial back the fan speeds. However, that's a work-around that doesn't solve the problem, only the symptoms.

You mentioned having 40, z420's. Is there anything about this one- GPU (s), software, time in service, or use that is much different from the others? One other wild card question- does this system has a chassis intrusion switch? Neither of my z420's have one, but on Dell Precisions, if the cover intrusion switch has a fault, the fans will run full speed all the time.

At this point, you might post this situation also on the HP support forum, as there are HP personnel that will jump into the conversation if necessary.

Cheers,

BambiBoom

 

[footbrake4life]

footbrake4life wrote:

"I have HWmonitor and Core Temp installed on the PC and neither of them showed a spike in heat since startup. All the temps seem normal although this could be because the fans are spinning so fast. I'm still confused why the CMOS reset would work the first time but not the 2nd or 3rd time."

footbrake4life,

Curiouser. The CMOS reset /reset is even more strange, and I can't think that even an erratic, possibly spiky PSU could do that and not wipe it entirely, That's what made me think the problem might be in the fan controlling line such as the temperature sensor.I've learned over the years that workstations don't allow software control of the fans.

If it can be determined that the CPU's are operating at normal temperatures, it might be possible to add a front panel fan controller that could dial back the fan speeds. However, that's a work-around that doesn't solve the problem, only the symptoms.

You mentioned having 40, z420's. Is there anything about this one- GPU (s), software, time in service, or use that is much different from the others? One other wild card question- does this system has a chassis intrusion switch? Neither of my z420's have one, but on Dell Precisions, if the cover intrusion switch has a fault, the fans will run full speed all the time.

At this point, you might post this situation also on the HP support forum, as there are HP personnel that will jump into the conversation if necessary.

Cheers,

BambiBoom

All of the 46ish PCs use the exact same RAM the only thing that varies is the GPU, about 12 of them use 760s thought and they are all the exact same. The CPU operates at normal temp when the fans aren't at 100% because when the CMOS reset worked the other day the computer was silent and perfectly fine. I've been going back and forth with HP customer service and their solution is that I have to buy an HP approved GPU and put in the stock RAM and if the problem still happens they will send someone out to replace the MOBO. They said update the bios and it will fix it, did that and it only worked till the PC restarted and i'd rather just do some stuff to fix it vs pulling a guy off his work for hours so the HP tech can replace a mobo.