New Hyper 212 Evo, increasing "rattling" noises.

[Orbit Storm]

Recently mounted a new Hyper 212 Evo on my MSI 760GMA-P34 board and until a few days ago, it had been relatively silent but lately there is a persistent "rattling" noise emanating from the fan itself. This is occurring even when the system is idling. Fan bounces between 1800-2000 RPM while the system is idle -- processor stays at a relatively cool 30-40 Celsius. When the noises start, it's more of a pulse. Rattles for a few seconds, then runs quiet for a few more, then back to the noises.

I've already double-checked the brackets and the fan itself doesn't appear to be loose. Fan and heatsink are mounted in a vertical direction, facing the bottom of the case and blowing air to the top, which is taken out the backside. There isn't a ton of airflow and I definitely need to replace the backside 120mm fan but since the temperatures don't appear to be an issue, I'm uncertain if there is any cause for concern beyond the annoying sounds.

Image of the case interior: https://i.imgur.com/ZOWtJzX.png

Is this a known problem for this particular fan? Are there any remedies to the noise? RPMs seem a bit high but I'm not sure what the numbers should look like.

 

[InvalidError]

Looks like the noise you are hearing could simply be the effect of PWM fan speed adjustment on the fan. You may be able to change it by tweaking your fan speed curve to skip over the noisier speed ranges. For example, you could set your fan profile to minimum until the CPU reaches 60C, which should stop it from kicking up under light loads.

 

[dudio]

Be sure that it's not vibration in another part of the case.
Feel around inside and out while it's happening, and try to pin it right down.
If you're sure it's from the heatsink fan only that's causing it, then you can usually manually control the fan speed thru the BIOS, and set up a curve that avoids that rpm area. Or replace the fan.

 

[Orbit Storm]

Looks like the noise you are hearing could simply be the effect of PWM fan speed adjustment on the fan. You may be able to change it by tweaking your fan speed curve to skip over the noisier speed ranges. For example, you could set your fan profile to minimum until the CPU reaches 60C, which should stop it from kicking up under light loads.

TBH, I'm not sure if this fan can be controlled by anything other than the BIOS and even then, I'm not sure that the BIOS can do it. Assuming either are possible, I haven't any idea how to configure the fan speeds as the only BIOS setting available is "CPU Smart Fan Target".

I've reached out to MSI in the past about potentially adjusting fan speeds but they didn't offer any information other than "check the BIOS".

 

[Orbit Storm]

Be sure that it's not vibration in another part of the case.
Feel around inside and out while it's happening, and try to pin it right down.
If you're sure it's from the heatsink fan only that's causing it, then you can usually manually control the fan speed thru the BIOS, and set up a curve that avoids that rpm area. Or replace the fan.

Only other possibility would be the GPU (my wife seems convinced that it is indeed the GPU fan) but I can't tell for certain. It's certainly been running a bit hotter than it used to but that's likely because the ambient temperature in the case has gone up a bit as a result of having a better cooler pushing air about.

GPU fan is running at about 1400 RPMs and 40 Celsius. Card is relatively new, have only owned it for just under a year. I suppose I could try adjusting the GPU fan manually to see if the sound persists. Would you recommend MSI Afterburner and setting a custom fan profile that runs the fan at a low speed for a few minutes? That's my best guess for this sort of thing anyway.

 

[InvalidError]

I've reached out to MSI in the past about potentially adjusting fan speeds but they didn't offer any information other than "check the BIOS".

Some motherboards have more flexible fan profile configuration than others. On mine, I can set the minimum PWM% (30% minimum), the maximum PWM%, the temperature above which the fan speed begins ramping up and the temperature at which the max PWM% applies.

If your only option is "smart" with no ability to tweak it, then you're at the mercy of whatever the 'smart' algorithm and its parameters are.

BTW, I've once had issues with my CPU's HSF making all sorts of annoying noises. When I investigated, it turned out that I had knocked the HSF loose while cleaning the insides and the endless fan pitch shifts from 2000 to 6000 RPM were caused by core temperatures jumping up all over the place under the lightest loads due to poor contact between the IHS and HSF.