Question Liquid Cooling fans are very loud even when PC is doing only basic tasks ?

[Nick C.]

Hello,
Recently I had a problem with my old AIO Cooler Master Ml240p Mirage, so after some tinkering with a friend we figured it out it was the fans that were the problem on the old liquid cooler. Basically they didn't spin above 800RPM at all, not even after changing their speed in BIOS and they practically didn't work on any command, my i9-9900K was reaching temps of 95-98C so I had to change something.

I remembered I have an old NZXT AIO whose pump was broken, so we decided to swap the fans from that NZXT AIO to this. All in all it works, the temps are great(90 was max on 100% load at cinebench) , we were right about the fans etc.

However I have another issue now. These fans are very loud? Even in Normal mode, they just get very loud even when I'm doing basic tasks like opening google, opening apps, entering games, programs etc. I am now wondering, is it now normal or are fans on the cooler not supposed to be this loud? When I say loud I refer to very, very loud. I changed it from Normal to Silent in BIOS but it was still, very loud on basic tasks.

I hope someone can help me a bit.

Thanks in advance!

 

[Fix_that_Glitch]

Have you adjusted the fan curve in bios or changed them to pwm mode?

 

[Lutfij]

I'm curious to learn what the make and model of your case and the number and orientation of the fans are. In fact, which NZXTY AIO are we looking at? Ambient room air temps? Speaking of BIOS, what BIOS version are you currently on for your motherboard? How are the fans hooked up in your platform?

 

[Nick C.]

Have you adjusted the fan curve in bios or changed them to pwm mode?

I tried adjusting the curve, but yet when I open something they spin really fast for a couple of seconds and it goes back down, but if nothing, my curve that I messed with ended up just raising the temps and nothing. Nothing made the fans more quiet. I haven't changed them to pwm mode, what is pwm mode?

 

[Nick C.]

I'm curious to learn what the make and model of your case and the number and orientation of the fans are. In fact, which NZXTY AIO are we looking at? Ambient room air temps? Speaking of BIOS, what BIOS version are you currently on for your motherboard? How are the fans hooked up in your platform?

It's NZXT H710 and the fans are facing the exhaust direction. I have 3 fans on the front that are intake and 1 at the back that exhaust and 2 on the top from liquid cooling that are exhaust. It's 3/3. NZXT AIO that I took fans from is Kraken x63. Newest BIOS version for Aorus z390 Elite, updated it when the newest update came out, few months back.
Fans (Liquid cooler fans) are hooked up on CPU Fan port on the motherboard.

 

[Paperdoc]

Info needed.
What mobo - maker and exact model
WHERE on the mobo is the PUMP power cable plugged in? If that header had an adjustment for MODE, is it set to Voltage (or DC) Mode, to PWM Mode, or to AUTO? What does that header report for its "fan speed"?
These are because ONE cause of your issue may be NOT having the pump running full speed all the time as it is designed to do.

OP, I'm afraid you have fallen for a common misunderstanding. ANY settings to make your FANS quieter can ONLY slow them down, and that REDUCES your cooling. Then you get high CPU temperatures! Since you already see times when the noisy fans are not giving you enough cooling, trying to make them quieter only makes the situation worse!

It is not normal for AIO system fans running full speed and very noisy to fail to give you adequate cooling. That is why I think about pump speed. Another possibility is that the AIO liquid loop has lost a bunch of its fluid and cannot move enough fluid around the loop to carry the heat from CPU to rad.

 

[Nick C.]

Info needed.
What mobo - maker and exact model
WHERE on the mobo is the PUMP power cable plugged in? If that header had an adjustment for MODE, is it set to Voltage (or DC) Mode, to PWM Mode, or to AUTO? What does that header report for its "fan speed"?
These are because ONE cause of your issue may be NOT having the pump running full speed all the time as it is designed to do.

OP, I'm afraid you have fallen for a common misunderstanding. ANY settings to make your FANS quieter can ONLY slow them down, and that REDUCES your cooling. Then you get high CPU temperatures! Since you already see times when the noisy fans are not giving you enough cooling, trying to make them quieter only makes the situation worse!

It is not normal for AIO system fans running full speed and very noisy to fail to give you adequate cooling. That is why I think about pump speed. Another possibility is that the AIO liquid loop has lost a bunch of its fluid and cannot move enough fluid around the loop to carry the heat from CPU to rad.

Hello thanks for the response!
Mobo is Gigabyte Aorus z390 Elite.
The pump is plugged in CPU_OPT on Mobo. Mode is set to AUTO, I don't know what does Voltage or PWM Mode even mean.
Pump speed is set to normal, as is the fan speed.
Fan speed is usually at 1000 RPM and it goes to 2000 RPMs.

I am not sure if the AIO has lost it's fluid, the temps aren't bad at all the max in cinebench is 90c on 100% load.
But the sound is killing it, it's very, very loud.

 

[Paperdoc]

I suggest two changes, and first I'll explain why.

All mobo fan headers have four functions:
(a) provide power to the fan
(b) read the fan speed signal and display it when asked, also making it available for other uses
(c) control the TEMPERATURE of the area it is cooling, guided by a relevant temp sensor. For the CPU cooler, the sensor is inside the CPU chip and the CPU_FAN and CPU_OPT headers use this. For the Motherboard, its has a sensor on the mobo. To do this the header does NOT use the fan SPEED signal. It concentrates on that temperature, and changes the fan speed control signal to make it do the right amount of cooling. It does not actually care what the speed is.
(d) monitor that speed signal for NO signal, indicating fan FAILURE. If this happens it tries to re-start it and, if it cannot, pops a warning on your screen so you know to get it fixed. But for the CPU_FAN (and CPU_OPT, we hope) most will take much stronger action on failure. It may shut your system down completely without even waiting for the temp sensor inside the CPU to report high temps. This is to avoid rapid overheating of the CPU leading to permanent damage. Many such systems also will not allow you to boot up if it gets no fan speed immediately at startup time.

With an AIO system the one component that MUST be monitored for failure is the PUMP. NO pumping means NO movement of heat from CPU to rad. However, if the pump works but one or more rad fans fail, the temperature rise in the poorly-cooled CPU will be slower and it WILL be detected and trigger a different alarm system and actions. So, I always advise people with an AIO system to plug the PUMP into CPU_FAN where it WILL be monitored closely for failure, and plug the RAD FANS into the CPU_OPT header. That header normally does exactly what the CPU_FAN header does - it's a "mirror" - but we never know for sure whether the FAILURE monitoring intense system is in place for CPU_OPT. The manuals never tell us these details.
Thus my advice here is just that:
Plug the PUMP cable into CPU_FAN
Plug the RAD FAN cable(s) inot CPU_OPT
In BIOS Setup, configure BOTH of these headers eaxactly the same.

Now the next item, and this one is important for you. You have left the header for your pump in its default MODE setting of AUTO. See your manual on p. 29 under Fan / Pump Control Mode. In this setting, on every start-up the header sends signals to its "fan" (in this case, actually your pump) using the new PWM Mode and tests whether the "fan" will slow down when told to. Now, the PUMP is wired just like an older-type 3-pin fan which can NOT respond to such a slow-down signal, so it does not. The header detects that and changes itself to use the older Voltage Control Mode so it can force the "fan" to slow down when needed. The problem here is that the PUMP is NOT supposed to slow down ever! It is designed to run FULL SPEED all the time, and leave control of CPU cooling to changes in RAD FAN speeds. So this "AUTO" option for the header with the PUMP attached is exactly the opposite of what we want, and it reduces your cooling system substantially because it reduces the flow of warm water out to the rad!

So, whether or not you swap the pump and rad fan connection headers as I suggest above for failure detection, your REALLY should alter that MODE setting for each header. More completely, for both headers set them this way:
Fan Speed Control to Normal (the default automatic setting guided by the CPU temp sensor)
Fan / Pump Control Mode to PWM. This will make the pump run full speed all the time, and the rad fan speeds WILL be varied because they are the newer 4-pin PWM type that can be controlled this way.
Fan / Pump Stop to DISabled so they never stop
Fan / Pump Fail Warning to ENabled so you WILL get a warning if this ever happens.

When done, use Esc back to Main Menu, then F10 to reach the Exit Menu (p. 40). There click on Save aand Exit to save your settings and reboot.

When you set things up this way the pump will do its job properly, and that should allow the rad fans to run at reduced speeds and less noise.